HITS
Hyundai HCD-14This luxury Hyundai has all the trappings of a concept car -- dramatic styling, forward-looking technology, wide-opening suicide doors, a sleek interior, oversize wheels. The grille is too prominent and the beltline a bit too high for my tastes, but I'd be happy to see some of the styling elements, especially the Audi A7-like profile, carry over to a production car.
Chevrolet CorvetteThe Corvette, the quintessential American sports car, was the talk of the auto show. We've been speculating about the C7 Corvette for several years, and now that it's here in the flesh (or should that be in the metal?), it doesn't disappoint. We've heard Corvette traditionalists complain about the styling--of the rear end in particular--but in my opinion this new Corvette looks great, and the interior has taken a huge step up. It should also be great fun to drive, with a muscular 450-hp V-8 providing the power to move its relatively svelte 3300 pounds.
Audi RS7Speaking of Audi, I would be remiss not to include the RS7 in this list. The A7 is a truly excellent luxury car, and turning it into a stealth bomber with a 500-plus hp twin-turbo V-8 will surely prove to be a winning strategy for Audi.
MISSES
Chevrolet Silverado/GMC SierraI rate GM's pickups losers not because there's anything particularly terrible about their styling, features, or capabilities, but because they got completely overshadowed by the Ram 1500, which was announced as the North American Truck of the Year on the first day of the show, and by the unexpected appearance of the Ford Atlas Concept, which previews the next Ford F-series. A few of my colleagues confessed to walking past the stand on which GM's trucks were displayed several times before recognizing them for what they were. Hopefully for GM, which relies heavily on its big-selling pickups and their high profit margins, this is not a bad omen.
BMW 320iIt seems like a more affordable 3-series would be a no-brainer for BMW. The 320i starts at $33,445, undercutting the 328i by about $4000, which seems like a decent deal until you find out that you're losing 60 hp and not seeing any gain in fuel economy. Still, the 320i has the prestige of the BMW badge, so that might just be enough to move it through dealer lots.
I got my driver’s license in 1975. The first car I drove without supervision was my mom’s Ford Pinto wagon with fake wood paneling. It had no power steering and no power brakes. As bare-bones as it was, I loved it because of everything it represented – independence, freedom, mobility. Then I had my first accident six days after receiving my license, and my parents determined that I might just be too young to have so much independence, freedom, and mobility. They still let me drive the Pinto occasionally, but not as much as I would have liked.
I went to college in Colorado and graduated with an English degree and the ability to drive a manual transmission, thanks to the three-speed Chevy Camaro that my then-boyfriend and future husband owned. Turns out that combination was just what I needed to land a job at Automobile Magazine in the summer of 1988.
Today, the only person with a longer tenure than me at Automobile Magazine is editor-in-chief Jean Jennings, but when I was hired, I was among the magazine’s youngest employees, with no background in publishing but with a good eye for proofreading and copy editing. In the intervening twenty-four years, as I moved from editorial assistant to production editor to managing editor, I’ve seen several coworkers come and go, many of them moving on to successful careers in the auto industry, from PR to consulting to product development – even to some of our competitors. Meanwhile, I’ve remained at the magazine, where I work mostly behind the scenes making sure that deadlines are met, copy is well-edited, and contributors are paid. I don’t get out of the office that much, perhaps a couple of press trips a year, but I never forget how good I have it with the opportunity to drive almost every new car on the market and the tremendous job satisfaction that comes each month when the newly bound issues arrive and I can hold the product of my work in my hands.
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