I felt fortunate to go to this year’s Detroit Auto Show (er… North American International Auto Show) right before it opened to the public, thanks to my car club. And it was free admission for just $10. <sarcasm>Thanks MotorsportReg.com!</sarcasm>
I thought I would get a chance to walk around the other areas before everybody else came in, but we were asked to hang around our area. There were only a couple of cars that I really wanted to see anyway—the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and the Tesla Model S. I sought those two cars out early, and then just wandered about taking pictures of whatever caught my eye.
Thanks to Porsche for letting the Porsche Club of America into the show early, feeding us breakfast, and letting us fondle the cars. I know inanimate objects are not sexy, but I definitely saw fondling of vehicles going on.
And now I’ve developed a fetish for yellow brakes.
Apparently other clubs got the early treatment as well. I tried not to make contact with the Corvette people for fear that my Porsche accent would be detected.
I was happy to see that the rear lights were not as Camaro-like up close as they appeared in the release photos. I haven’t decided if I like them yet, though.
Overall I like the new C7 Corvette, but it’s going to take a while before I’m familiar with the new look. The previous C6 seems elegant in comparison, but I don’t care. This is a potent sports car.
I thought I would be more excited to see the new Acura NSX, but I wasn’t. I like it well enough, but I think I have such fond memories of the original that the new one doesn’t live up to my expectations. And Ayrton Senna did not use his magic loafers to develop this new car.
I will probably never buy a Lexus, let alone an LFA, let alone an LFA Nürburgring edition. But I’m really glad companies are making cars like these. Car/driving enthusiasts can debate price/performance ratios or the heart and soul of a sports car, but just the fact they exist is A Good Thing™.
What astounds me about this car is not that it has more than twice the horsepower (662 hp) of my car, but that it gets roughly the same gas mileage (15 city / 24 hwy).
This became a game after a while. Every time I tried to take a picture of the three Maserati cars along the main aisle, a model would stand next to the car. I could not get a clean car picture. Not that I’m saying that was a problem.
Before…
…after.
I saw this last year, but I wanted to see it again. I think both my kids would want to ride back here. I just don’t know if I would let them. I like the idea, though. And I could see myself getting a Model S. For my wife, that is. She’s the tree hugger.
I was going to make a joke about using the race car to pick up some milk from Target, but then I realized I have to go there to pick up some diapers.
The Ferraris still nestled in their blankets, fast asleep.
The Ferrari FF, or as I like to call it, the Super Subaru. But I’d like mine in Rosso Corsa.
Crankiness Rating: 1 out 11 (The water for the breakfast tea was not quite hot enough.)
