{"id":14164,"date":"2014-01-17T14:58:34","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T18:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=14164"},"modified":"2014-01-17T14:58:34","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T18:58:34","slug":"detroit-swagger-your-guide-to-the-greatest-show-on-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/detroit-swagger-your-guide-to-the-greatest-show-on-wheels","title":{"rendered":"Detroit swagger: Your guide to the greatest show on wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

MIDSIZE SEDANS — Chrysler 200: The only thing notable about the previous 200 was that Eminem introduced it in a Super Bowl ad. The sleek new 200 won’t need a rapper to sell it. (Chrysler)<\/p>\n

The Christmas holiday is over, but the shelves are full of automotive toys at Cobo Center for the 2014 North American International Auto Show. If November\u2019s Los Angeles Auto Show is all about Hollywood green and April\u2019s New York show bows to Park Avenue luxury, then Detroit honors corn-fed American swagger. It\u2019s where the world\u2019s automakers come to show off their trucks, performance cars, and family haulers.<\/p>\n

Detroit has gone from\u00a0zero-to-wow\u00a0<\/i>in four short years.<\/p>\n

Reborn from the ashes of the Great Recession, American automakers are leading an extraordinary convergence of automotive hardware and electronic technology. The dashboard embraces iPad design. Horsepower joins chip power. The Industrial Revolution meets the Digital Revolution.<\/p>\n

Where taxpayer-funding compelled companies to show half-baked green displays (who can forget GM\u2019s push for ethanol power?) in lieu of their meat-and-potatoes products, automakers this year are bringing innovation on their own terms to pickups, sports cars and luxury vehicles. The Detroit show offers everything to every customer with displays of tech, power and connectivity in vehicles across every segment. Increasingly, all those things can be found in a single vehicle.<\/p>\n

Take the new Ford F-150, which sports an all-aluminum skin (once found only in small-volume super-cars), all LED lights (once found only in luxury sedans) and a powerful, turbocharged V-6 engine (once found only in\u00a0sports sedans\"\"<\/a>). Or the luxurious, dual-climate control, 625-horsepower Corvette Z06. Or the loaded, rotary-dial shifting, roomy, sculpted Chrysler 200 … That\u2019s right, even the midsize grocery haulers are sexy. So grab the kids and get down to the Greatest Show on Earth. Here\u2019s your program. Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n

Living large<\/h3>\n

After ogling Cobo\u2019s airy, Metro Airport-like makeover (you half expect a 747 to be parked at the south bay window), plunge into the show at the central Macomb Hall entrance.<\/p>\n

Behold the most beautiful\u00a0sedans\"\"<\/a>\u00a0on the planet.<\/p>\n

Acura, Cadillac, Tesla, BMW, Audi, and BMW displays flank the carpeted aisle. It\u2019s like you\u2019ve died and gone to luxury heaven. Did I mention Bentley is wedged in there too? Its land yachts seem old school in such athletic company.<\/p>\n

The stunning Caddy CTS was my 2013 Detroit News Car of the Year and it holds its own in this rare air. Indeed, Cadillac\u2019s show introduction of its more modern logo complements the sedan\u2019s cutting-edge styling. The logo adorns the grille of the new ATS coupe, but the two-door is a reminder of how much ground is still to be made on class-leader BMW and Audi. The German brands not only have coupe versions of their best-selling 3-series and A4 sedans, but that they have created whole new numerologies to market the coupes (4-series for BMW coupes, A5 for Audi) and their earth-pawing BMW M and Audi S sports versions. BMW chose Detroit to debut its new M3 and M4, stealing Caddy\u2019s thunder.<\/p>\n

The competition is also stiff for Cadillac\u2019s sharp, new $75K ELR plug-in \u2014 call it a Volt in a tuxedo. Next door lurks the $70K Tesla Model S, the darling of the country club, and BMW\u2019s electrified i-series. The 357-horsepower i8, Bimmer\u2019s first super-car in 35 years, will bring grown men to their knees.<\/p>\n

Cute corner<\/h3>\n

Hang a right at BMW and gold chains give way to beach balls. Literally. Volkswagen offers a Beetle Dune Concept, an update on VW-based dune buggies that kicked sand in the seventies. Next door, the Mini Cooper stand gives the Bug stiff cuteness competition \u2014 even its muscular John Copper Works concept is huggable. Not to be outdone, Kia sports the redesigned Soul \u2014 its diet-conscious hamsters never far away.<\/p>\n

Kia\u2019s got Soul, and much more. The nominal budget brand from Korea stole away Audi\u2019s chief designer a few years back and the brand has been transformed into one of the hippest lineups on the floor.<\/p>\n

The titans<\/h3>\n

The rear, west wall of the exhibit is dominated by the titans, Toyota and GM, which perennially vie for the title of biggest global automaker. Toyotaville\u2019s avenue of Prius, Camrys, Scions, and SUVs gives way to miles of Chevys, Buicks, and GMCs. They should hand out Segways to explore them all. But notable in the acres of smart vehicles are two sports cars that burn with passion.<\/p>\n

The Toyota FT1 concept is a ruby red roller-skate that will get speeding tickets standing still. Toyota calls it a concept, but its racy lines hint at the second-coming of the late-\u201990s Supra, the stallion that brought to the street Toyota\u2019s years of racing experience. The Chevy Corvette Z06 is so closely aligned with the General\u2019s racing program that it debuted alongside the Chevy C7.R race car that will take the green flag at the 24 Hours of Daytona later this month.<\/p>\n

The 625-horsepower Z06 joins a lineup that already boasts a 455-horsepower base model and a convertible. You could buy all three for the price of a Lamborghini.<\/p>\n

The underdogs<\/h3>\n

The exhibit space\u2019s core features the smaller American and Japanese companies that try harder because they have to stay ahead of the titans galloping hooves. Nissan\u2019s flowing Maxima concept and Mazda\u2019s nimble 3 are the heart of these sporty brands while nearby Subaru\u2019s AWD commitment has bred a cult of followers.<\/p>\n

Detroit\u2019s underdog, Chrysler, has rebounded from bankruptcy led by workhorses like the Grand Cherokee and SRT Viper GTS. This year, the company births a new entry into the\u00a0midsize sedan\"\"<\/a>\u00a0segment. Want to see the child of an Italian-American marriage?<\/p>\n

The Alfa Romeo-based Chrysler 200 is sleek, roomy, and loaded with tech \u2014 including a nifty rotary dial shifter that frees up the center console.<\/p>\n

The engine boys<\/h3>\n

Anchoring the east wall of Cobo are Honda and Ford, a fitting couple. No two companies have been more innovative in bringing new drive-train technology to market. Both have storied racing histories. Both also bleed green. This year they add to their legends.<\/p>\n

Honda shows the Honda Fit, a remarkably versatile tool for the compact car market with a cute face yet interior room that would make a minivan proud. Ford\u2019s light-weight, turbocharged F-150 is the most talked about vehicle in town, a daring truck that refuses to sit on its laurels.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the iconic Ford Mustang. The muscle car turns 50 this year with a plan to the conquer the world with more European styling and fuel economy while retaining its muscular attitude. Transformed, but still a pony car. Efficiency, but on Mustang\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n

That Detroit attitude is back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIDSIZE SEDANS — Chrysler 200: The only thing notable about the previous 200 was that Eminem introduced it in a Super Bowl ad. The sleek new 200 won’t need a rapper to sell it. (Chrysler) The Christmas holiday is over, but the shelves are full of automotive toys at Cobo Center for the 2014 North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14165,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14164\/revisions\/14165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}