- Jan 13, 2004
- 583
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First, the bad news: No 2005 Mustang! No 2005 Focus. No Pontiac G6. No 2005 Golf. No 2005 Dakota. No C6 'vette (except on the sign in front of the Chevrolet section. This makes no sense to me.
They had the Ford GT up on a turntable with an announcer doing the dog and pony show. That thing is absolutely perfect. They also had the silver '05 mustang concept car parked next to it. Still looks good, even though I saw it last year.
The cabin in the new F150 is truly amazing. Dare I say, Audi-like in it's execution. If this is an indicator of the fit-finish in the new mustang, I will be very impressed. Body fit-finish and panel fits were also very good.
The Ford 500 and Freestyle are much better looking in person. The Freestyle was especially surprising, with a more aggressive stance and being generally better proportioned than I was expecting. I couldn't get too close to them but from what I could see, their interiors looked as good as the F150.
There seemed to be more parity this year among auto manufacturers with respect to paint finishes. I didn't see anything really offensive. I would say the best looking finishes went to the high dollar european stuff, but it was pretty obvious that a lot of those cars had been hit with a buff and polish before they went to the show. Maybe they do this as part of their normal dealer prep, I don't know. Bang for the buck, the american cars were the best. Jaguar was the best overall, dispite the fact that there were no tell tale buffing marks in the paint.
There were two morons standing around a Merc. SL600 roadster, droning on and on about the bad fuel economy indicated by the window sticker. I guess they failed to notice the big V12 under the (open) hood.
Pontiac had a GTO there, up on a platform, roped off so you couldn't get in it. Come on guys. This thing has been out for a year already. I can go to the luxo car section and get into everything form and 5 series bimmer to a $100k Mercedes. Even the 'vettes (C5) are open to everyone.
The Chevy Aveo is $10k, and is shows. The interior was was actually quite good for the cost but the shifter had the worst linkage I've ever experienced. Like it was made using spaghetti or some other pasta-based technology.
The award for the most aggressive seat bolsters wen to the golf GTI with recaro's in it. I had to contort my body so much to clear the side bolsters that I banged my leg on the steering wheel every time it got in or out. This got old real fast. The seats in the SVT Focus and Civic Si were just as good and didn't require a bronze medal in gymnastics to dismount the vehicle.
The Hummer H2 is still crap.
The new Chrysler 300 is pretty amazing, inside and out. Some people might be put off by the styling, but I like it.
They had a cut-away of a new dodge hemi engine on a stand. It seems that they have applied some of their NASCAR tech to it, as the camshaft is located very high in the block. I had to do a double take to make sure the engine wasn't tipped over on the stand because the exhaust valve pushrods are nearly horizontal.
I'm still very impressed with the interior in the Mini but I get more annoyed every time I get into it. I expect if I spent any amount of time in that car, I'd have to punch someone. The very definition of overstyled. I bet my nieces would think it's cool. It's just too bad the oldest is only 7.
The RX8 is very nice. I'd like to see where a turbo version comes in price wise.
Car I could spend the most amount of time in: Jaguar XJ8.
I was really impressed with the Volvo s40. judging from the proportions, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a Mazda 6 chassis under there. The thing that really interesed me was the seats. They looked a lot like the ones in the new mustang. I have heard a few people say that the headrests in the new stang look like volvo units, but even the side bolsters and seat cushions look a lot like the photo's I've seen. They are very comfortable and provide a surprising level of support. If the units in the '05 mustang are like these, I don't think you'll hear anyone complain.
They had the Ford GT up on a turntable with an announcer doing the dog and pony show. That thing is absolutely perfect. They also had the silver '05 mustang concept car parked next to it. Still looks good, even though I saw it last year.
The cabin in the new F150 is truly amazing. Dare I say, Audi-like in it's execution. If this is an indicator of the fit-finish in the new mustang, I will be very impressed. Body fit-finish and panel fits were also very good.
The Ford 500 and Freestyle are much better looking in person. The Freestyle was especially surprising, with a more aggressive stance and being generally better proportioned than I was expecting. I couldn't get too close to them but from what I could see, their interiors looked as good as the F150.
There seemed to be more parity this year among auto manufacturers with respect to paint finishes. I didn't see anything really offensive. I would say the best looking finishes went to the high dollar european stuff, but it was pretty obvious that a lot of those cars had been hit with a buff and polish before they went to the show. Maybe they do this as part of their normal dealer prep, I don't know. Bang for the buck, the american cars were the best. Jaguar was the best overall, dispite the fact that there were no tell tale buffing marks in the paint.
There were two morons standing around a Merc. SL600 roadster, droning on and on about the bad fuel economy indicated by the window sticker. I guess they failed to notice the big V12 under the (open) hood.
Pontiac had a GTO there, up on a platform, roped off so you couldn't get in it. Come on guys. This thing has been out for a year already. I can go to the luxo car section and get into everything form and 5 series bimmer to a $100k Mercedes. Even the 'vettes (C5) are open to everyone.
The Chevy Aveo is $10k, and is shows. The interior was was actually quite good for the cost but the shifter had the worst linkage I've ever experienced. Like it was made using spaghetti or some other pasta-based technology.
The award for the most aggressive seat bolsters wen to the golf GTI with recaro's in it. I had to contort my body so much to clear the side bolsters that I banged my leg on the steering wheel every time it got in or out. This got old real fast. The seats in the SVT Focus and Civic Si were just as good and didn't require a bronze medal in gymnastics to dismount the vehicle.
The Hummer H2 is still crap.
The new Chrysler 300 is pretty amazing, inside and out. Some people might be put off by the styling, but I like it.
They had a cut-away of a new dodge hemi engine on a stand. It seems that they have applied some of their NASCAR tech to it, as the camshaft is located very high in the block. I had to do a double take to make sure the engine wasn't tipped over on the stand because the exhaust valve pushrods are nearly horizontal.
I'm still very impressed with the interior in the Mini but I get more annoyed every time I get into it. I expect if I spent any amount of time in that car, I'd have to punch someone. The very definition of overstyled. I bet my nieces would think it's cool. It's just too bad the oldest is only 7.
The RX8 is very nice. I'd like to see where a turbo version comes in price wise.
Car I could spend the most amount of time in: Jaguar XJ8.
I was really impressed with the Volvo s40. judging from the proportions, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a Mazda 6 chassis under there. The thing that really interesed me was the seats. They looked a lot like the ones in the new mustang. I have heard a few people say that the headrests in the new stang look like volvo units, but even the side bolsters and seat cushions look a lot like the photo's I've seen. They are very comfortable and provide a surprising level of support. If the units in the '05 mustang are like these, I don't think you'll hear anyone complain.