Portland Auto Show 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
My dad and I went to the Portland Auto Show this morning and wandered around for a couple hours, gazing at the 2006/2007 offerings of the major automobile manufacturers.
Starting with my favorites (the cars I would conceivably buy, if I had the cash laying around):
2006 Cadillac STS
2006 Cadillac CTS V-series
2007 Saturn Sky
2006 Saab 9-3 SportCombi Aero
However, there were a lot of disappointments in this crowd. Aside from the neat-o 9-3 SportCombi, it feels like Saab as a brand barely showed up. The 9-2X wasn't there, nor was the 9-5 (I'm not sure if they're making that one this year, though.) Volvo styling continues to be bland, Toyota styling continues to be bland (though the Lexus IS350 was pretty but the Toyota Yaris is an eyesore), and Honda's non-car line is fugly. It's amazing to me how much Volkswagen is willing to charge you for a car, and the Dodge lineup consists of so-so cars whose main selling point is the hemi motor. Finally, while Ford ponied up with the 2006 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 (sigh...) both Chevrolet and Dodge neglected to display THEIR concepts for the next Camaro and Challenger.
All in all, though, the big thing about the Portland Auto show is that it's all basically production vehicles. Unlike the auto shows in Detroit, LA, or Tokyo where the concepts about the future abound, we just get to see what's on the table now. The best look forward we get is "next year's model" sometimes, and those are always roped off.
The Portland Auto Show... worth going to (drool...), but don't look for anything that you can't buy in the next 6 months there.
Starting with my favorites (the cars I would conceivably buy, if I had the cash laying around):
2006 Cadillac STS
2006 Cadillac CTS V-series
2007 Saturn Sky
2006 Saab 9-3 SportCombi Aero
However, there were a lot of disappointments in this crowd. Aside from the neat-o 9-3 SportCombi, it feels like Saab as a brand barely showed up. The 9-2X wasn't there, nor was the 9-5 (I'm not sure if they're making that one this year, though.) Volvo styling continues to be bland, Toyota styling continues to be bland (though the Lexus IS350 was pretty but the Toyota Yaris is an eyesore), and Honda's non-car line is fugly. It's amazing to me how much Volkswagen is willing to charge you for a car, and the Dodge lineup consists of so-so cars whose main selling point is the hemi motor. Finally, while Ford ponied up with the 2006 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 (sigh...) both Chevrolet and Dodge neglected to display THEIR concepts for the next Camaro and Challenger.
All in all, though, the big thing about the Portland Auto show is that it's all basically production vehicles. Unlike the auto shows in Detroit, LA, or Tokyo where the concepts about the future abound, we just get to see what's on the table now. The best look forward we get is "next year's model" sometimes, and those are always roped off.
The Portland Auto Show... worth going to (drool...), but don't look for anything that you can't buy in the next 6 months there.
posted by Burton at 1:31 PM
1 Comments:
don't you DARE insult volvo in my presence. your mom's styling is bland.
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