As we’ve noted before, some of the most interesting stuff at the North American International Auto Show never makes it into the media coverage. Here’s the rest of the show, including a big photo gallery.
What’s NAIAS all about? Really, a goodly number of the 50-odd vehicle introductions each year are ordinary passenger automobiles—daily commuters, grocery getters, mommy cars. These products are important to consumers and critical to the industry, so a major portion of the media coverage is concentrated on them, naturally.
There’s a lot of this news to cover at Detroit, so journalists are often too busy to stop and spend some quality time with the enthusiast-oriented stuff the automakers have on display: classic cars, animations and cutaways, racers and concepts. If you’re a hardcore gearhead—and we know you are—these exhibits are worth a look. So just as we did last year at Mac’s Motor City Garage, we’ve devoted an entire photo gallery to these sideshow attractions. A few of the items that caught our eye:
+ Three Indy racers—two Dallara-Chevrolets in the GM exhibit and a Honda-powered Dallara in the Honda space. The current-generation Dallara with with its broad rear haunches is no great beauty, we have to admit, but it’s better looking in person than on television.
+ Tucked away on the mezzanine of the Lincoln exhibit was a 1932 Lincoln KB Coupe with body by Raymond Dietrich. If Lincoln could somehow recapture this magic (a tall order, make no mistake) the brand’s future would be assured.
+ In the Chevrolet display we found a current example of the division’s R07 NASCAR V8, complete with fuel injection system. (You can read MCG’s Hot Rod Magazine tech feature here.) Of course, this engine is built to the unique rules and requirements of Sprint Cup racing and shares absolutely nothing with any production Chevy V8, past or present. Actually, the R07 has far more in common with the Toyota TRD NASCAR V8 that was on display over in the Toyota area.
+ MCG’s favorite piece in the entire show was the 1962 Mustang I at the front entrance of the Ford display. The exquisite two-place roadster, originally built for Ford by famed race car fabricators Troutman and Barnes and powered by a Ford of Germany Taunus V4, is still a knockout today. The one-of-one concept car is usually on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Check out all these attractions and more in the gallery below.
