I went and was a little disappointed. Have you seem Ford's new Fusion and Linchon's Z.....something? We could not believe our eyes, so we took a few pictures just because it is ugly.

With the exception of the Mustang, many new Ford cars look so bland and boring. It makes me wanna short Ford's stocks.

It is amazing some companies consistently dilvers lack luster products and wish to turnaround their business.

The following are the two cars that I like the most there.

The Satune Sky

Honda Civic hybrid

 

I found alot of focus this year to be on interior designs. Makers seem to be straying away from the typical Gray and Beige interiors, nice. The Civic Hybrid comes to mind with the blue/biege two-tone to match the blue exterior. There was even a Green Pilot with a green toned interior. Not bad.

I actually was quite impressed with the Fusion/Milan/Zephyr. HUGE step up from the Taurus, in so many ways. Still not an Accord, but a decent offering. The manual Milan that was on the floor had a baseball bat for a shifter, ugh. For comparison, I checked out the G6 sedan (I am NOT a GM fan) what an absolute disaster. For a company that is currently struggling as much as they are, the G6 reflects all that is wrong with them. Chintzy, cheap and ergonomically back asswards. The new Enterprise favorite.

The Saturn Sky is an impressive piece even though when I asked the girl how much, she mentioned 26k to start. Looking at about 30 grand loaded if the Solstice pricing is any hint. The Turbo version in the mid 30's.

 

I too was very impressed by the Sky and Solstice. They are both much more impressive in person than in pictures. Also, the ladies showing off the Sky were HAWT. I actually liked the Zephyr. I didn't look too closely at the Fusion and I didn't even go in the Mercury section. The BMW M5 was SICK. I saw the exact same car on the highway on the way home. I sat in a Mustang for the first time. I was HUGELY disappointed with the interior. The design on many parts was very over done and all the materials felt REALLY cheap. I really wanted to go on the Jeep test track, but the line looked like it was 3 hours long. Some other cars I really liked were Range Rover Sport, M-B SLK55 AMG, Ford GT, and Corvette Z06.

I saw this car. It had like $20K in leather options.

 

Did you check out the Miata? I couldn't help but think that the S was the canvas for the design. Loved the new M5 as well, that thing is Mean looking. And since April mentioned her new A6, we checked out the Audi line as well. Nice cars, I'd even give them kudos over the BMW lineup funny because I never really paid too much attention to Audi before yesterday.

The new Lexus IS! OMG what an amazing car. WAY too expensive! An IS350 for 44 grand??? I had my name on a waiting list for one before I bought my S, kinda glad I didn't go with one. Even an IS250 is 30k before options

 

I didn't bother with the Miata IMO it's a car for the gentler sex. As far as Audis go, I had a TT before my S and it was always in the shop. In fact, everyone I know who has owned an Audi has complained that it breaks all the time. After the warranty expires they get REAL expensive to maintain too. As far as the Lexus IS, a great looking car inside and out. The reviewers so far have not been terribly impressed with the car's driving abilities. Apparently, Lexus tried to use a lot of computer programs to try to make it handle better instead of just building a great handling car. Personally, I think all Lexus' are overpriced. IMHO they are just glorified Toyotas. You wouldn't catch me spending $80K for a Toyota. However, if you compare the IS with a similarly equipped BMW 3 the IS would be a few thousand cheaper. I would rather spend the extra $$$ and get the Beemer. Especially since you can get a 330 with a manual and AWD. No manual no AWD available on the 350. Although the extra 50 hp of the IS350 would make me stop to think for a second.

 

Miata is geared more towards women, just seemed like overall size and exterior body style cues were taken from the S. Especially the Taillights.

I agree on the Audi reliability being not so swift, but for a lease, I'd give them a chance. Not downing the 3 series though, I just thought the interiors were a bit warmer and headroom as well as ingress/egrss was better with a more upright A-pillar. Rear seat room was a plus as well.

The IS350 will get a 6-speeder as soon as Lexus wakes up and remembers that that was the biggest downfall of the outgoing IS300. Lack of manual doesn't exactly exude 3 series competitor and a 330xi with a stick would be the one to beat (Speaking of which, I forgot to ask Bill about his new car or the Healey...) I expect to see a manual withing the next year or so to bump up sales on a then dated model.

All in all it was a perfect day for the show, rainy, gloomy, blech... Now the countdown begins for the New York show!