Sage
Staff Emeritus
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- GTP_Sage
So, on the 9th I went to the LA Auto Show. (And wanted to go with boomie, but he had this thing called “Work” going on. Yeah, uh-huh, riiiight.) Anyway, here’s a compilation of my pictures and thoughts about the cars.
Warning: If you’re expecting lots of pictures of hawt cars, then don’t. My pictures are random at best, and I didn’t take very many, and of the ones that I took, I’m only showing a small number here, because I have a slower-than-granite-decaying dial-up connection.
PETREE HALL
The first hall I visit every time I go to the Auto Show is Petree Hall, which Porsche always hogs all to itself. Anyway, the only thing of real note was the RS Spyder that they had stationed in the corner:
The Cayman looks absolutely gorgeous in person, but the line was too long to sit in one.
WEST HALL
Over to West Hall, where they have the Ford group, the Toyota group, Mercedes & Maybach, Honda, and Suzuki.
First thing I did was visit the Mazda exhibit, now that I’m a convert. There was this MX-5 hardtop that had its top in motion:
Once the top was up I got to sit in that car. Man oh man is it sweet! Perfect driving position, perfect pedal placement for heel-’n’-toeing, perfect steering wheel, perfect shifter position and engagement, everything. Only problem is that with the top up, it feels a little claustrophobic around the head, since it wraps around pretty tightly there. danoff, go buy one ASAP! It’s such a perfect car. By the way, the reason my picture is of the end of the top-up sequence is that it moves really quickly – seriously, the first time you see it, it’s quite shocking how fast it moves, while other hardtops just take they lazy time.
They also had the Nagaré concept there:
Really cool concept – pictures don’t do it justice. For those of you who don’t know, those side strakes are real, not painted on. Mazda will show more realistic concepts at the Detroit and Chicago shows that are heavily influenced by the design of this concept.
I compared the trunks of the CX-7 and the Mazda3 hatchback, and wondered why people even bother with SUVs.
Over to the Ford exhibit: meh. I sat in the Edge, which was okay, but not particularly interesting (I do think it’s a nice-looking SUV though). I meant to sit in a Mustang, but forgot. The Mustang Giugiaro (what?) was there, but not interesting enough to share pictures of. The only thing I liked about it was that its grille looked like a honeycomb grille from afar, but when you got up close, you could see that each little “hole” was cutout in a Mustang shape. Subtle, but cool.
Jaguar: eh. A big chick was talking about the XKR. I sat in the XJ, which was nicely appointed, and I like it when a car feels like it’s wrapped around me, so I didn’t have the typical too-small-of-an-interior complaint that’s lobbied at Jaguar.
Land Rover: skipped.
Aston Martin: they always barricade it off, which is no fun, but I got this shot of the nicest portion of the DB9:
Seriously, those haunches are pure sex appeal. Yummy.
Lincoln: yawn.
Volvo: Not only did I get to see the C30, but I got to sit in it. Here’s a butt-shot:
The interior was what I expected, except the floating center console seemed to be fashioned out of cheap plastic that didn’t look like what they’re supposed to offer, so I think it was just a pre-production thing. The all-glass door is absurdly cool, if absurdly lacking in practicality.
Mercury: who?
Over on to the Toyota exhibit…
Toyota: they had a Tundra TRD concept there:
Folks, the Tundra is effing massive. I walked up to one and uttered “Wholly 🤬, that’s big!” It’s ridiculous. But people will love it.
Lexus: The only notable thing was this neat hybrid exhibit:
I sat in a Lexus IS, which was really slick, although the left armrest did a weird slope-thingy with the door.
Scion: I am so not there.
Mercedes & Maybach: I looked around a little bit and got bored.
Honda: sat in a Honda S2000, which was cool – talk about a driver-oriented cockpit! I also sat in a Honda Civic coupe, which was less cool – the steering wheel looked absolutely silly, and it’s really annoying how instruments that are only two inches apart can feel like half a foot apart due to the steep slope of the cockpit. The far-out speedo is a good idea though, because it’s right in your line of sight. I also checked out the Honda Fit, and oh my goodness does it have a stupid amount of room in the back! Seriously, that thing must violate a dozen laws of physics just to get that much room in the back. Amazingly amazing.
There was also this ugly turd:
Suzuki: skipped. Lame-o’s.
CONCOURSE HALL
Anybody familiar with the LA Auto Show knows that this is where the exotics are (aside from Porsche, which has its own hall, Aston Martin and Maybach, which have to stay with their parents, and Maserati for some random reason). This hall tends to bore me though, because they keep you far enough away from all the cars that you can’t even make out the interiors. So, with that said, the only notable things were the Veyron:
And this oddball creature:
Yes, that’s a Spyker SUV. Serously, what the hell?
SOUTH HALL
Here we have the Chrysler group (including Mitsubishi), the Koreans, the VW clan, Subaru, the GM empire, BMW & Mini, the Nissan group, Maserati, and Acura (which, for some reason, is in a totally different hall than Honda).
Nissan: the only thing I really paid attention to was the Altima coupe. And yes, in person, I still hate it. Look at this awful ass:
Chrysler: not much happening here. I sat in a new Sebring, and the first thing I noticed was that the door made this horribly awful, hollow clunk. Really really terrible. And this coming from a guy who is used to the Subaru clunk. The interior was meh at best. This car just isn’t happening.
Jeep: I couldn’t care less.
Dodge: The Challenger concept was there, which was a nice treat.
Love that wide monolight.
Kia: not for me.
Mitsubishi: I looked at the Eclipse for a few seconds.
Audi: the R8 was there:
As I expected, it didn’t really have any “presence” to it. It looked like a tarted-up version of the TT fifteen feet away from it.
And the rest of the Audi lineup is hideous, so no pictures or comments.
VW: the Eos looks way better in person. In pictures, I thought it had a lack of balance and grace, but in person it almost looks fabulous (I say almost, because the high-mounted taillights make the rear look a bit weighty). Unfortunately, they weren’t demonstrating the top-up-top-down sequence.
Something that I didn’t expect (I didn’t even know existed) was the Fahrenheit series. For example, here’s the Fahrenheit GTI:
The picture doesn’t do it justice – the orange looks almost yellow in this pic, but in reality it’s a very deep orange that’s just drop-dead sexy. I sat inside it, and that was a real treat – it’s mostly standard GTI fare, but there are orange highlights and stitching, and the chairs are black instead of that silly plaid pattern on other GTIs. It also had those slick wheels and a black spoiler to match the grille. This thing was looked awesome. Oh, and, I said “series”, because the Jetta GLI is also apparently available in Fahrenheit trim, except in yellow. That didn’t look anywhere near as good as this deep orange GTI though. 👍
Hyundai: Honda? No, I already did Honda. Next…
Subaru: Nothing new here that I didn’t see at the last show. However, I did find something that should please you all:
Yes, that’s a GT4, uh, thingy. You can see behind the screen that the player rides in a, um, thingy that has three screens attached to it and it bounces around to simulate driving a real car, and then other people can watch on this big screen. Really cool. The guy who went before I took this picture was pretty good – never lost control. The girl who drove while I was taking this picture really really really sucked though – I don’t think she’s ever used a gas pedal before, because she’d get sideways, slam on the gas, and go straight into a wall. I ached just watching. But anyway, I thought it was neat that Subaru set this up.
Chevrolet: The only thing worth mentioning was that the Camaro concept was there:
The car was cool, but even though the lady looked good, she had about as much charisma as a house fly. She sounded like she was being tortured into talking about the car. Very off-putting.
Pontiac: I sat in a Solstice. I felt like I was sitting in a tub, and the interior materials felt cheap compared to the MX-5’s. It is a good-looking car though – with the top down. I really want to like that car, because I think it looks fabulous and is a good representation of the sunny future for GM, but it just didn’t slice the cake for me.
Buick: do I look like I’m dying? No, okay, then I’ll skip this.
Saab: I sat in a 9-3, which was pleasant. Somehow though, the interior looks better in pictures than in person.
What really got me excited though was the Aero X concept. I’ve always loved this concept (impractical as it may be), but in person it has a crazy WOW! factor.
You’ll have to forgive me for only getting one shot of it with the cockpit open – right after I took that shot, the exec closed it up. Anyway, this thing simply kicks ass. Love it.
Hummer: haha, you’re kidding, right?
Saturn: The new Vue was meh, and we weren’t allowed to touch it, so I can’t comment on the interior. I was able to get into a new Aura though. The interior was so-so – not particularly good, but not particularly bad. However, what instantly caught my attention was the door handle – it was loose. Really loose. Every door handle on that car was loose. I found another Aura, and every door handle on that car was also loose. Frankly, I was shocked, because pulling the door handle is the first impression a potential customer gets of a car, so you’d think they would’ve spent more time making it, at the very least, less obvious. It was bad though – I could grab the handle, and rotate it about ten degrees upward or downward, and it felt like hollow plastic. I know I’m making an inordinate amount of noise about this (and YSSMAN will probably give me grief about it
), but it really did shock me that they did such a bad job of something that’s supposed to give the customer confidence. I want GM to succeed, I want the Aura to be a good car, but how can it succeed when your first impression is of sub-par workmanship?
GMC: whatev.
Acura: I present to you the world’s ugliest concept car:
Crap. Utter crap.
In other news, I sat in a new MDX (very nice, if a bit cold in personality) and saw this:
That’s Acura’s contender for the ALMS.
Infiniti: Nothing particularly exciting for me, because I’ve already sat in my uncle’s 2006 M45. I sat in a new G35 sedan, and it was definitely a step up from the previous-gen’s interior, and the exterior looks good, except for the goofy butt. The entire Infiniti exhibit had a modern Japanese theme which was very pleasant.
Maserati: nothing exciting here.
Mini: I sat in a Cooper S – unfortunately, they didn’t have the new-new Mini there. The Mini’s small, yes, but I was surprised at how close the seat was to the door – so close that you can’t put your hand down the left side of the seat (if you want to make any seat adjustments, you have to do it with the door open). Still, I love it.
BMW: I’m pissed at Bangle, so this was mostly a bleah bleah exhibit for me. However, the one car that I do approve of is the 3-series coupe, and I even sat in one. The interior was very stylish in a reserved sort of way, and the maroon leather seats were perfect. I still must complain though about the plastics BMW is using to cover its dashboards – no bueno. Seriously BMW, would it :censored:ing kill you to buy some soft plastics instead of this cheap junk that feels like an overinflated fake football? Good grief.
KENTIA HALL
This is where all the aftermarket stuff is. I spent about five minutes moseying around, and left, because this kind of stuff bores me 99% of the time. Lots of flash and bling, very little taste or substance.
So, anyway, that about wraps up my walkthrough of the 2006 LA Auto Show. Pretty good show, especially now that it’s not butting up against the Detroit show, so the manufacturers are actually paying attention to it. Too bad the manufacturers have gotten stingy and didn’t give out any posters this year.
That aside, I enjoyed it – always a sucker for cars, of course. 
Warning: If you’re expecting lots of pictures of hawt cars, then don’t. My pictures are random at best, and I didn’t take very many, and of the ones that I took, I’m only showing a small number here, because I have a slower-than-granite-decaying dial-up connection.
PETREE HALL
The first hall I visit every time I go to the Auto Show is Petree Hall, which Porsche always hogs all to itself. Anyway, the only thing of real note was the RS Spyder that they had stationed in the corner:
The Cayman looks absolutely gorgeous in person, but the line was too long to sit in one.
WEST HALL
Over to West Hall, where they have the Ford group, the Toyota group, Mercedes & Maybach, Honda, and Suzuki.
First thing I did was visit the Mazda exhibit, now that I’m a convert. There was this MX-5 hardtop that had its top in motion:
Once the top was up I got to sit in that car. Man oh man is it sweet! Perfect driving position, perfect pedal placement for heel-’n’-toeing, perfect steering wheel, perfect shifter position and engagement, everything. Only problem is that with the top up, it feels a little claustrophobic around the head, since it wraps around pretty tightly there. danoff, go buy one ASAP! It’s such a perfect car. By the way, the reason my picture is of the end of the top-up sequence is that it moves really quickly – seriously, the first time you see it, it’s quite shocking how fast it moves, while other hardtops just take they lazy time.
They also had the Nagaré concept there:
Really cool concept – pictures don’t do it justice. For those of you who don’t know, those side strakes are real, not painted on. Mazda will show more realistic concepts at the Detroit and Chicago shows that are heavily influenced by the design of this concept.
I compared the trunks of the CX-7 and the Mazda3 hatchback, and wondered why people even bother with SUVs.
Over to the Ford exhibit: meh. I sat in the Edge, which was okay, but not particularly interesting (I do think it’s a nice-looking SUV though). I meant to sit in a Mustang, but forgot. The Mustang Giugiaro (what?) was there, but not interesting enough to share pictures of. The only thing I liked about it was that its grille looked like a honeycomb grille from afar, but when you got up close, you could see that each little “hole” was cutout in a Mustang shape. Subtle, but cool.
Jaguar: eh. A big chick was talking about the XKR. I sat in the XJ, which was nicely appointed, and I like it when a car feels like it’s wrapped around me, so I didn’t have the typical too-small-of-an-interior complaint that’s lobbied at Jaguar.
Land Rover: skipped.
Aston Martin: they always barricade it off, which is no fun, but I got this shot of the nicest portion of the DB9:
Seriously, those haunches are pure sex appeal. Yummy.
Lincoln: yawn.
Volvo: Not only did I get to see the C30, but I got to sit in it. Here’s a butt-shot:
The interior was what I expected, except the floating center console seemed to be fashioned out of cheap plastic that didn’t look like what they’re supposed to offer, so I think it was just a pre-production thing. The all-glass door is absurdly cool, if absurdly lacking in practicality.
Mercury: who?
Over on to the Toyota exhibit…
Toyota: they had a Tundra TRD concept there:
Folks, the Tundra is effing massive. I walked up to one and uttered “Wholly 🤬, that’s big!” It’s ridiculous. But people will love it.
Lexus: The only notable thing was this neat hybrid exhibit:
I sat in a Lexus IS, which was really slick, although the left armrest did a weird slope-thingy with the door.
Scion: I am so not there.
Mercedes & Maybach: I looked around a little bit and got bored.
Honda: sat in a Honda S2000, which was cool – talk about a driver-oriented cockpit! I also sat in a Honda Civic coupe, which was less cool – the steering wheel looked absolutely silly, and it’s really annoying how instruments that are only two inches apart can feel like half a foot apart due to the steep slope of the cockpit. The far-out speedo is a good idea though, because it’s right in your line of sight. I also checked out the Honda Fit, and oh my goodness does it have a stupid amount of room in the back! Seriously, that thing must violate a dozen laws of physics just to get that much room in the back. Amazingly amazing.
There was also this ugly turd:
Suzuki: skipped. Lame-o’s.
CONCOURSE HALL
Anybody familiar with the LA Auto Show knows that this is where the exotics are (aside from Porsche, which has its own hall, Aston Martin and Maybach, which have to stay with their parents, and Maserati for some random reason). This hall tends to bore me though, because they keep you far enough away from all the cars that you can’t even make out the interiors. So, with that said, the only notable things were the Veyron:
And this oddball creature:
Yes, that’s a Spyker SUV. Serously, what the hell?
SOUTH HALL
Here we have the Chrysler group (including Mitsubishi), the Koreans, the VW clan, Subaru, the GM empire, BMW & Mini, the Nissan group, Maserati, and Acura (which, for some reason, is in a totally different hall than Honda).
Nissan: the only thing I really paid attention to was the Altima coupe. And yes, in person, I still hate it. Look at this awful ass:
Chrysler: not much happening here. I sat in a new Sebring, and the first thing I noticed was that the door made this horribly awful, hollow clunk. Really really terrible. And this coming from a guy who is used to the Subaru clunk. The interior was meh at best. This car just isn’t happening.
Jeep: I couldn’t care less.
Dodge: The Challenger concept was there, which was a nice treat.
Love that wide monolight.
Kia: not for me.
Mitsubishi: I looked at the Eclipse for a few seconds.
Audi: the R8 was there:
As I expected, it didn’t really have any “presence” to it. It looked like a tarted-up version of the TT fifteen feet away from it.
And the rest of the Audi lineup is hideous, so no pictures or comments.
VW: the Eos looks way better in person. In pictures, I thought it had a lack of balance and grace, but in person it almost looks fabulous (I say almost, because the high-mounted taillights make the rear look a bit weighty). Unfortunately, they weren’t demonstrating the top-up-top-down sequence.
Something that I didn’t expect (I didn’t even know existed) was the Fahrenheit series. For example, here’s the Fahrenheit GTI:
The picture doesn’t do it justice – the orange looks almost yellow in this pic, but in reality it’s a very deep orange that’s just drop-dead sexy. I sat inside it, and that was a real treat – it’s mostly standard GTI fare, but there are orange highlights and stitching, and the chairs are black instead of that silly plaid pattern on other GTIs. It also had those slick wheels and a black spoiler to match the grille. This thing was looked awesome. Oh, and, I said “series”, because the Jetta GLI is also apparently available in Fahrenheit trim, except in yellow. That didn’t look anywhere near as good as this deep orange GTI though. 👍
Hyundai: Honda? No, I already did Honda. Next…
Subaru: Nothing new here that I didn’t see at the last show. However, I did find something that should please you all:
Yes, that’s a GT4, uh, thingy. You can see behind the screen that the player rides in a, um, thingy that has three screens attached to it and it bounces around to simulate driving a real car, and then other people can watch on this big screen. Really cool. The guy who went before I took this picture was pretty good – never lost control. The girl who drove while I was taking this picture really really really sucked though – I don’t think she’s ever used a gas pedal before, because she’d get sideways, slam on the gas, and go straight into a wall. I ached just watching. But anyway, I thought it was neat that Subaru set this up.
Chevrolet: The only thing worth mentioning was that the Camaro concept was there:
The car was cool, but even though the lady looked good, she had about as much charisma as a house fly. She sounded like she was being tortured into talking about the car. Very off-putting.
Pontiac: I sat in a Solstice. I felt like I was sitting in a tub, and the interior materials felt cheap compared to the MX-5’s. It is a good-looking car though – with the top down. I really want to like that car, because I think it looks fabulous and is a good representation of the sunny future for GM, but it just didn’t slice the cake for me.
Buick: do I look like I’m dying? No, okay, then I’ll skip this.
Saab: I sat in a 9-3, which was pleasant. Somehow though, the interior looks better in pictures than in person.
What really got me excited though was the Aero X concept. I’ve always loved this concept (impractical as it may be), but in person it has a crazy WOW! factor.
You’ll have to forgive me for only getting one shot of it with the cockpit open – right after I took that shot, the exec closed it up. Anyway, this thing simply kicks ass. Love it.
Hummer: haha, you’re kidding, right?
Saturn: The new Vue was meh, and we weren’t allowed to touch it, so I can’t comment on the interior. I was able to get into a new Aura though. The interior was so-so – not particularly good, but not particularly bad. However, what instantly caught my attention was the door handle – it was loose. Really loose. Every door handle on that car was loose. I found another Aura, and every door handle on that car was also loose. Frankly, I was shocked, because pulling the door handle is the first impression a potential customer gets of a car, so you’d think they would’ve spent more time making it, at the very least, less obvious. It was bad though – I could grab the handle, and rotate it about ten degrees upward or downward, and it felt like hollow plastic. I know I’m making an inordinate amount of noise about this (and YSSMAN will probably give me grief about it
), but it really did shock me that they did such a bad job of something that’s supposed to give the customer confidence. I want GM to succeed, I want the Aura to be a good car, but how can it succeed when your first impression is of sub-par workmanship?GMC: whatev.
Acura: I present to you the world’s ugliest concept car:
Crap. Utter crap.
In other news, I sat in a new MDX (very nice, if a bit cold in personality) and saw this:
That’s Acura’s contender for the ALMS.
Infiniti: Nothing particularly exciting for me, because I’ve already sat in my uncle’s 2006 M45. I sat in a new G35 sedan, and it was definitely a step up from the previous-gen’s interior, and the exterior looks good, except for the goofy butt. The entire Infiniti exhibit had a modern Japanese theme which was very pleasant.
Maserati: nothing exciting here.
Mini: I sat in a Cooper S – unfortunately, they didn’t have the new-new Mini there. The Mini’s small, yes, but I was surprised at how close the seat was to the door – so close that you can’t put your hand down the left side of the seat (if you want to make any seat adjustments, you have to do it with the door open). Still, I love it.
BMW: I’m pissed at Bangle, so this was mostly a bleah bleah exhibit for me. However, the one car that I do approve of is the 3-series coupe, and I even sat in one. The interior was very stylish in a reserved sort of way, and the maroon leather seats were perfect. I still must complain though about the plastics BMW is using to cover its dashboards – no bueno. Seriously BMW, would it :censored:ing kill you to buy some soft plastics instead of this cheap junk that feels like an overinflated fake football? Good grief.
KENTIA HALL
This is where all the aftermarket stuff is. I spent about five minutes moseying around, and left, because this kind of stuff bores me 99% of the time. Lots of flash and bling, very little taste or substance.
So, anyway, that about wraps up my walkthrough of the 2006 LA Auto Show. Pretty good show, especially now that it’s not butting up against the Detroit show, so the manufacturers are actually paying attention to it. Too bad the manufacturers have gotten stingy and didn’t give out any posters this year.
That aside, I enjoyed it – always a sucker for cars, of course. 
) is probably coming this February, so I might go check it out this year. I usually attend every other year or so. I'm sure it's less than half the size of the L.A. one, but good thing about it is that shorter line to sit in cars. I usually get to sit in most cars. I guess the bad is that we never see something like the Subaru's simulator there. 
Yeah, I would have loved to go but I'm the new guy at work so I get the poopie schedule.
