ShimmyT Was Here

Another year and another auto show. The G word I would use this year wouldn’t be “Glamour” but “Green”. Every manufacturer seems to be rolling out concepts of vehicles that will “revolutionize” the auto industry and batteries, and blah blah blah. When I was here 3 years ago they said this technology would be coming this year but now it’s 2 more years out. Well here are the highlights so far that I’ve gotten to be a part of:

Sunday:

• Got here kind of late so missed the car and truck of the year awards (my bad).
• General Motors had Mario Impemba (kick ass) do a rolling intro of some of their new this year and next year cars Chevrolet Volt, Cruz, Equinox, and the Cadillac SRX. The Equinox was a lot nicer in person then it was online which is a good thing. It looks like a smaller Chevrolet Traverse which isn’t a bad thing. The SRX is very hot. Imagine a tall CTS station wagon. Lastly they introduced their concept which is the Cadillac Converj. Yeah it’s just a volt with chrome and a Cadillac crest. Wasn’t too impressed. I’ll try to get more time with it on Tuesday.
• Lexus introduced another Camry I mean Lexus… I was zoning out during this press conference.
• Ford touted how their sales are doing and hyped up how well the Focus, and Fusion are doing. Every time I see that Fusion I like it a little more. Plus with the new hybrid version getting kick ass MPG it’s looking better. They also rolled out the new for 2010 Ford Taurus… Well at least they didn’t mention how many golf bags it could hold like they did for the 500. I personally thought the 500 was a damn sharp car but the market didn’t agree with me so hopefully this one does better.
• Chrysler rolled out three EV hybrids. No production cars. I don’t think you can sell concepts so what’s the point?
• Went downstairs and rode in the backseat while Marion drove an Escape Hybrid around the track downstairs. That’s actually pretty cool the little track. They have a whole green scene setup and everything. If you go to this years show head downstairs and check it out.
• Skipped the rest of the day lol
• Went to Bucharest Grill in downtown Detroit. Fantastic little lunch / bar place. Had my first shwarma. Not really my thing but a very cool atmosphere to say the least.

Monday (Today)

• Saw the Lincoln press conference this morning. The new MKT is pretty cool. Imagine a lincolnized Ford Flex with more rounded edges. It’ll take some time getting used to but definately not like anything else on the road. Their concept was kind of ho humm i’ll get more details and pictures about it tomorrow. They really hyped talking to the computer in it. Go figure.
• Saw the GM presser next. They talked about the batteries for their future hybrids and how they are going to be built in MI!! Well I guess assembled but hell it’s more jobs for the area. They are also building / opening the headquarters for their battery research in MI (yay!!), and partnering with UofM for education, and engineer progrsams. LG Chem got the cell contract for manufacturing of the cells.
• Toyota unveiled the new Prius. Looks like the new Honda Insight actually, but some damn cool new features. 50mpg, and it has a solar sunroof that aids in powering the batteries on sunny days, and when the car is parked on a hot day the sunroof powers the fans to circulate the air in the cabin to keep the car cooler. Very cool stuff indeed.
• Drove one of the Tesla’s around the track downstairs!! It’s kind of frightening how much power those things have for being so quiet. Had to wait in line for a while for them though. They were only running them for an hour. Something about 0 to 60 in less then 4 seconds freaks people out.

Well that’s about it so far. I’ve got some video that I’ll be putting up on youtube today as well as some photos that will be going up on flickr. I’ll post them all to the blog as I finish up.

Well start of a new year, so therefor hopefully the start of many big things. Or in my case the continuation, and the finishing of big things from 2008. Ironically I’m back on Vista to start 2009 so maybe things have come full circle. I do have a couple of major milestones this year to look forward to. I will be turning 30 as much as I try to fight it I don’t think I can roll back time. Also it’ll be 5 years that my wife and I will be married and 10 years together. A lot of interesting times together indeed. I don’t think I’d rather go through them with anyone else. Maybe go through them less but with no one else.