Two days, free admission, $42 to park, hours on foot, a few cars sat in, one hotdog, and a purchase decision not yet made...
Quite surprisingly, the typically choked freeway traffic was absent. Very unusual for me not to get caught up in yo-yo stop-and-go, hoping the dude behind me puts down his cell phone and quits texting. Not sure why the runs into town were that clean, but I'm happy.
My brother-in-law and I went to the show on Monday afternoon with two main objectives: check out the new Corvette, and do some think-tanking over the Focus ST. A brilliant red C7 rotated slowly on the turntable so we could see all the nuances of body creases and overall form. I think they'll sell 'em all! We'll all get used to the back end (well, most of us) because the rest of the car is pretty attractive. It is a Corvette, after all, and based on all the ogling, the overall mood was one of acceptance. Yeah, it's overstyled, but so are Ferraris and the other exciting cars in this l.e.d.-laden world.
The interior definitely favors the driver, makes changing radio stations more difficult for the passenger. But the passenger gets enough "shut up and hold on" room. As it should be. The roof taper toward the rear high-mount stoplight pleased me, but the add-on spoiler...spoils the look. Brother-in-law mentioned it ought to be integrated into the body better. We can critique all day, but in the end, it's a winner.
The Focus ST should never be seen in white. Never. It's dumb. Has no pizzazz. The other ST was in (you guessed it) Tangerine Scream. I did confirm that I need to drive the base car to give the base cloth sport seats a chance. And the only question I asked the young salesman was not answered: "Is this a drive-by-wire or does it have a throttle cable?" He had multiple empty earring holes: trying to fit into the establishment now. I believe I found a servo-motor on the throttle assembly on the display cut-out motor on the floor. Damn.
Mine--if there is a mine--will be a silver base model. I don't want the weight and complexity of the sunroof, or any of the other electronic wizardry, and if the base seats hold my fat middle then we'll be OK. Or maybe Deep Impact Blue. Or maybe I'll wait until 2014--perhaps they'll make 'em in that beautiful dark red metallic...
Tuesday, I went back again with my son and grandson. The show is giant. It goes on and on. Showmanship is at a minimum until you walk into the Sham-Wow/Vegematic/gimmick aisles--a good place to find overpriced diecast metal models. And Monster Truck-sized wheels. Illinois Secretary of State (always get a new Illinois map!), State Police, Marines pull-up competitions, and Ryba's Fudge. Sometimes someone pours lighter fluid on a recently waxed hood and lights it. Drama! Not this year, though.
The manufacturers try to find a theme. One had all white cars. One had all the cars' lights on. One had individual presentation kiosks for each displayed car. Some had driving simulators--my son and grandson and I blew half an hour waiting in line, giving up our precious personal information, for a chance to "drive" the Lime Rock track in a Cadillac ALMS(?) sedan. Yeah, it was cool, but embarrassing, because no one can do a good job on a video game simulator the first time he tries it. My son was first: crashing, spinning repeatedly, making me wonder if I should trust him to drive us home. I was last, with a pitiful showing. But my grandson, the 12 year-old electronic toy savant, stayed on the track better and showed remarkable recovery skills when the tail end slipped out. Geez... We should let him drive home! I have great hopes for that kid.
There were shiny, impressively clean cars everywhere. It was mesmerizing. I even liked the Kia's. Grandson was taking phone picture after phone picture. My son was trying out all the high-end convertibles. I really liked Jaguar's XK-E-like cars. The Aston Martins were in the same cordoned-off area as the AMX-3 (a rare Detroit Iron experiment). The Lamborghini Aventador, also prominently cordoned off, was a cool 1/2 million. Every manufacturer had his "halo" car, and if he didn't have one for the floor, he had a custom version on a turntable. I tried not to stare at the girls on the turntables. It's not polite. They sure had their presentations down! They knew everything about the cars! Cool.
Then we left the smaller arena and went across the hall to the large display area. All of a sudden, you realize that you're less than halfway through the show. So, legs and hips hurting, you plow ahead to the next set of manufacturers with great cars, more brochures and shiny colors. And we loved every minute of it.
When I got home, my lovely bride asked me what car was my favorite. I considered for a long time, and came up with "I can't answer your question. I don't know." There's so many nice cars out there and the Auto Show so unfairly presents them in such beauty. That's why we go every year: to be fascinated by the industry that stole our hearts. But Monday, as my brother-in-law and I drove home in my humble old Focus, I was happy. That has to mean something.
1 comment:
If Hotshoe doesn't buy a Focus ST within 18 months, it will not be for lack of trying on the part of Pilote and Watchtower. We lobby him purely as a disinterested public service on his behalf. We have no interest in driving an ST on the Tail of the Dragon. None.
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