The LA Auto Show, despite its surname, is a convention just the same. The same young men roam its halls, carrying with them the same embarrassing library of product knowledge. Although it is admittedly less of a cultural taboo to be a 'car guy' than a 'comic book guy,' the young men feel the same sense of comfort and brotherhood once inside: "These people understand me. They understand why I would be thrilled - literally thrilled - to see a Gumpert Apollo or a Spyker C8 sitting on the other side of a velvet rope. They understand how I would have heard of these cars in the first place, let alone memorized their horsepower figures or 0-60 times."
I know how these young men feel because I am one of them. I have an embarrassing library of car knowledge. I read an embarrassing number of auto publications. I'm filled with the same young wonder at seeing a Lamborghini or an Aston-Martin - even if, parked in their booths, they are as far away from any actual driving as they could be.
But the Auto Show might be the one convention that non-devotees could enjoy. Families can comparison shop for their next crossover without having to bear the heat of the auto strip mall or the pushy tactics of its salesmen. Girlfriends, dragged around the convention by their car guys, can show momentary glimpses of interest in auto-minutae (example: the Gumpert Apollo generates enough downforce it can drive upside-down).
And yet, the LA Auto Show 2008 is perhaps more a year for window shopping than any in recent memory. The Detroit automakers especially don't seem optimistic that a visit to the show and a stationary test drive will convince many to buy their cars. Chrysler hasn't even invested in overhead lights. Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler sit in darkness across the aisle from an Audi display that has never looked more healthy in brilliant, bright white. General Motors' lone LA debut is a Pontiac econobox that started life as a Chevy Aveo before it was badge-engineered, slapped with a coat of Excitement Red and stuck anonymously in the hall. Ford alone shows signs of a beating heart, with a refreshed Fusion Hybrid that beats the foreign competition in mileage and (surprise) styling and a brand-new Mustang which, if you look hard enough, actually does look brand-new.
As always, the true excitement of the show lies with the real window shopping: Ferrari, Lotus, Bentley, Aston-Martin, Lamborghini. Many an auto journalist waited their turn to sit down in the plush leather of these glorious machines, to run through the gears with their right hands, make rumbling sounds with their lips and pretend.
And that's the point of conventions. To turn everyone - families, girlfriends, old men and young men alike back into kids just at the sight of something so purposely imposing and fast and cool. So that they can forget about the situation in Detroit and the one in Washington DC and just sit and stare with all of the other car guys.
Don't Miss:
• The Ferrari California, making its CA debut.
• The interior of the Volvo XC60, without a doubt the most creative and beautiful interior of the entire show.
• The Chevy Volt
• The Nissan 370Z, which has so much more presence in person than in photos.
• The Mini-E, BMW's first stab at an electric car. Leasing starts at $850 per month (!).
Originally in Los Angeles Magazine
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