Wow. It’s 1am at the end of another incredibly packed day. Five hours until the wake-up call, so I’d better get moving.
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A few minutes ago I waited in the lobby for an elevator so that I could go up to my room. The bell dinged, the doors opened, and out came two identically dressed men, both wearing those earpieces with the curly wires that you see in any movie featuring the Secret Service. I don’t think they were Secret Service, but it’d be interesting to know who’s on the top floor here.
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The #1 car from another manufacturer that was popular with Saab people today – the new Range Rover Evoque.
The wide prediction was that this car will replace the Mini as the must-have car for the wives/girlfriends/ladies of LA.
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The #1 car from another manufacturer that was regarded as a sad joke by me – the Acura ZDX. I used to respect Honda so much but their mojo is seriously MIA.
It has a front end that can only be referred to as a monstrous proboscis and the rear seat is basically inaccessible without a chiropractor (with a rear door that’s so dangerously pointy it should be classified).
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The stands from today:
- Audi – superb
- Buick – woody
- BMW – truly, as boring as bat$h1t
- Volkswagen – so boring, I think it was bat$h1t, but then they did have Heidi Klum. Seriously, VW’s American range is a giant, unambiguous snooze.
- Suzuki – it really is a wonder that anyone knew they were there
- Kia – very well prepared
- Mercedes – had the excellent cupcakes
- Toyota/Lexus – no, your SEMA cars will not transform you into an exciting company
- Fisker – Spending their federal money well, if you like nice, luxurious stands at auto shows.
- Jaguar – elegance in green, excitement in silver
- Saab – clean and very, very classy
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Dinner tonight was another stunning event – held on a rooftop at The Standard.
The rooftop at The Standard has a pool, a bunch of ‘pods’ with waterbed type lounges in them, sofas everywhere, bars and some very good food. They also had SAAB projected onto the walls like a big, Swedish bat-signal.
They even had the ‘Elements’ video from the Saab 9-4x launch projected onto the gym on a bulding across the street!
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I’m working on getting answers to (most of) your questions posed prior to the LA Auto Show. Unfortunately, Victor Muller and Jan-Ake Jonsson have been working harder than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest with regards to their appointments with the press corps today. Pinning them down has been difficult.
They might be scarce tomorrow, too, but I’ll pin down some others to provide answers wherever I can.
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The gallery below shows images from things mentioned above. Just another awesome day at the LA Auto Show.
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