Car news

CAS 2012: Final Thoughts

By Manja on | From syok.sripengantin.com

Media days at this year’s Chicago International Auto Show has come to a graceful close. Apart from the delicious free pizza and cupcakes, thousands of pictures I took, and many miles of walking I did the past 48 hours, the two best parts of this show were the great media friends I got to see again, and the boatload of sweet cars sitting under the shining lights.

I’ve been coming to this auto show since I was a young teenager, and I still walk out of it with a big smile on my face. As my friends said to me last night, “Robby you were probably a kid in a candy store there.” Indeed I was. So on the theme of candy, let’s get started:

Yummy Hot Tamales!:

Fiat 500 Abarth, Jaguar XKR-S, Nissan’s 370Z, new Shelby GT500 and Dodge’s 392 Challenger SRT8
Huge Army Vehicles
The 2012 Shelby GT500 Dyno runs….ahhhhh it sounds amazing!!!!!!
The Foursome of Lexus LFAs
Lincoln’s beautiful exhibit area with a giant expanding Hoberman Sphere (Google it)
Blue Mercedes-Benz CLS with classic AMG rims
The very first SVT product, the 1993 Cobra R
New models like the Camaro ZL1, Suzuki Kizashi, Scion iQ, Ford Fusion, Buick Encore, Infiniti JX and the Hyundai Azera
Volvo’s You and Chevy’s Tru40S concept cars
Mazda’s RX8 race car
Swarm of customized Chevy Sonics

Boring, Lame Bit-O-Honeys:

The plastic abyss grille on the front of Buick’s Verano
NO 7-speed manual new Porsche 919
The cheesy Monopoly Police outfits the workers at Toyota’s Hybrid Ride-along thingy wore
BMW’s display area…..
Not being able to sit in the Subaru BRZ or Scion FR-s
Dodge Dart and Mini Cooper Coupe
Random Panda bear inside the new Honda CR-V
Nissan’s sad looking NV200
Scion had no CD samplers this year, I’d been loving those since 2004
Acura’s forgetful mind not bringing the NSX concept to Chicago
The “I-work-when-I-want-To” Wifi connection in the press room
The 90-something year old lady that called me an “asshole” for tripping over her walker…really?

Honorable Mentions:

Smart’s awesome Sharpie art car
McLaren’s gorgeous MP4-12C
The 90s Pontiac Grand Prix with Indian murals painted on it
Kia Trackster concept
Scion’s TC race car and free swag
Dodge’s off-road truck ride-along course
The Toyota Yaris….because, well it’s a car!
Half-and-Half Camaro
1954 Mercury Xm800 concept car

I’ll be editing and uploading more pictures to my Flickr accountthis weekend, but for now take a browse through some other unique cars seen at this year’s Chicago International

Auto Show: