DC Auto Show, Part II

Picking up from my last post, Lotus displayed several of their road cars including this Elise SC.

This Lotus Exige attracted quite a bit of interest.  It took a while before I could get a good photo of it!  These cars are a far cry from the old Lotus 7 America and Super Seven that I owned way back when.

B is for Bentley.

This cabriolet would be fun as long as one didn't think too deeply when filling the fuel tank.

The "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot from the business end of a Rolls Royce.  This reminded me, in a random way, of a line from a Hilaire Belloc poem:  "The rich arrived in pairs and also in Rolls Royces and talked of their affairs in loud and strident voices."  I think that line is from Belloc's "Cautionary Tales for Children" but am not clearly certain of that.  Perhaps someone can leave a comment and put me straight in that department; odd what triggers  the mind.

Next up was Ferrari.  This is the new all wheel drive FF.  $377K seems like an awful lot of money for a station wagon!

Here is a two seater open Ferrari painted "refrigerator white".  I didn't think such a thing was possible!  This may well be illegal in some countries--in Italy probably so.

I heard a commotion behind me and turned to see this group of elegantly  costumed Chinese reminding us that this is the year of the dragon.  Not sure what that has to do with the Auto Show, but it was colorful never the less.

Meanwhile over at the Honda stand we inspected this Indy Car.

This particular car was driven to first place finishes at Kansas City Speedway in '08 (Dan Wheldon), Toronto in '09 (Dario Franchitti) and Milwaukee in '11 (Franchitti again).

Of course Honda is hoping that all that racing activity rubs off in the showroom and boosts sales of Accords.

What's an auto show without a few concept cars?  This is the Lexus LF-LC.

Hyundai's concept car was the "Veloster".  For the life of me I see no connection between this car and a "velo" as in cycling.  Perhaps they plan to run over a few velos...

There were many other curious things to see on the lower level but with time running on we decided to head upstairs for a look at the domestic offerings.  I'll report on the cars displayed on the upper level in my next post.

The 2012 DC Auto Show

Since our son was shopping for a car, your diarist family decided to ring out the wimpy month of "Junuary" with a visit to the Washington, DC Auto Show.  The show takes place about this time each year but it's been over 10 years since we've bothered to go. The show is held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, near Mount Vernon Square.

The first thing that caught our attention as we came into the lower hall was the FIAT display.  FIAT had a "test track" and was offering rides around this small driving range in a half dozen of their  new 500 model.  They also had a DJ constantly spinning Euro-pop and Hard Rock to keep the atmosphere hopping.

The various array of FIAT 500s included Abarth and Gucci versions.

This Gucci Cabrio started off at about $27,500!

Matching Gucci shoes and luggage could be had at extra cost...

Gucci-Schmucci--your diarist preferred this classic 500 FIAT better than any of the newbie 500s on offer.

Things were simpler when this baby was built.  Bluetooth?  Fogitaboutit.

Mini-Cooper was showing the new to the U. S. market 2-seater Mini Roadster and Coupe.  Here is the Roadster.

And here's the John Cooper "Works" version of the Coupe.

We moved on to the Volvo area.  Diaristwoman was initially taken with this felony red C30 coupe.

But she was less impressed with the lack of storage room in the boot.

Further along we discovered a display of classic cars offered by a local collector car company.  Here is a '67 Corvette.

This '57 T-bird was a nice bit of eye candy.

Your diarist was taken by this tastefully hot rodded '38 Chevy Stepside pick-up.

Here's the Chevy's interior.  Note that the windscreen cranks open at the bottom.  Nothing worse than a stuffy cab...

Other tasty Chevys included this '69 Camaro RS/SS.

This nice '62 Impala had a 327 cubic inch V8.  Back in the day, one of my high school buddies borrowed his Uncle Skeeter's brand new Impala and we hit 100 MPH on our way to pick up our dates for the senior prom.  Beau could chirp the tires in fourth gear.  "A fast car on a foggy night--sure hope the road stays straight."  Yeah, we were reckless and stupid but somehow avoided collecting the "Darwin" award that night.  Brings back memories...

The National Capital Region Mustang Club had a corral full of vintage Mustangs including this nice Shelby  GT 350.

Now days, this soap box derby car is about my speed.

 They race them down Capital Hill in the spring.

But then, perhaps your tastes run to Lamborghinis,

or Maseratis. You could find them here.

 On my next post we'll move along and look at offerings from Lotus, Ferrari, Rolls, Bentley and more!