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Auto Show Coverage: 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show
Film director Ridley Scott once envisioned 21st century Los Angeles as a strange, diverse metropolis where poverty and incredible wealth would exist side by side. Without commenting on the level of truth in that, it seems to have made a pretty prophetic summation of said city's 2006 auto show.
How else to explain a new $10,000 Chevy Aveo just feet away from the $1,300,000 Bugatti Veyron? The simultaneous unveiling of the fuel-sipping Toyota Yaris and Earth-crushing Suburban? How about a Volkswagen tricycle? A Volvo that's actually interesting?
There was quite a smorgasbord of wheels, all right, and no single manufacturer dominated the show. In the sub-$30,000 market in which we proletariat shop, the best of news was probably that Toyota Yaris, an echo of the Echo that still runs on the same gear and nets gas mileage above 30 MPG, but now wears a much more presentable wrapper. After the Chevy Aveo and Volkswagen's 200-horsepower GLI (Jetta) and GTI (Golf), the practical side of the show was pretty much over. Maybe we could include the Volkswagen Eos, the company's first stab at a convertible that stands a chance of appealing to both genders.
Mazda's taking a leap into the now-crowded sea of crossovers with its Mazda 6-based CX-7. Unique in offering a turbo 4 instead of a V6, this sportier-than-thou five-seater SUV will also serve as architecture for the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. In other SUV news, GM brought back the Tahoe it revealed at the California International Auto Show a few months ago, reinforced with the new Suburban and Escalade.
Audi probably had the highest number of new models, even if their newness is only partial. The Volkswagen Touareg, aka Porsche Cayenne, finds itself born again as the $50,000 Audi Q7. The A4 goes all-out for speed with the hyper-fast RS4, and the A8 does the same with the S8. Audi's longtime buddy Porsche applies a similar trick to its Boxster, chopping off the roof and adding more punch to create the mid-engined Cayman. Elsewhere in Germany, BMW had its long-awaited M6 in the flesh, 500 horsepower and all. The big kahuna in Teutonic luxury is the S-class Benz, whose all-new design enjoys a sleeker profile and two very potent V8s.
L.A.'s show has always been one of the more popular venues for exotics, so the Germans had much company taking the form of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and several more marques ending in "i". Matching them pound for pound was Spyker, a Dutch company with a quartet of six-figure, sub-4-second cars, one of which you will see soon in Kim Basinger's possible springtime blockbuster Basic Instinct 2. And offering yet another alternative for bored billionaires is Fisker Coachbuild, which specializes in an extensive reworking of two revered luxury cars. Look at the pictures and try to guess which ones.
The usual selection of concept cars was scattered throughout the massive showroom floor; most of them will never see the light of day. Among the most likely and the most groundbreaking, is Lexus's LF-A concept, a 500-horsepower, V10, rear-drive exotic that represents Japan's first challenge to Italy's supercar monopoly.
Best news: all this automotive nirvana comes in a double-dose this year, as every L.A. Auto Show set for 2007 and beyond will be held the preceding November. That's a likely recipe for getting more vehicle debuts – and earlier, too. Change is good.
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