New York Auto Show Take Two

Hey readers!

Just thought I'd give you one more post about NYIAS to try to sum up a few of the interesting points of the show. 

My last post was about first impressions, and how press people and representatives can flavor someone's taste towards a brand or vehicle. Any good journalist will judge a car from an analytical standpoint, but I always find it interesting to see how much other factors determine what someone thinks of a car. That's where I'll start.

Flash drives. They’re a great way to transport documents, pictures, videos, links, and almost anything you could need for information. A number of companies took the flash drive approach at the show. The presentation is another way that the manufacturers try to please you. Ford had a pretty simple design, with a drive that could rotate out of a plastic Ford emblem housing. Volvo had a tiny steel housing with a Volvo emblem on one side. A 4GB drive rotates out of that minuscule covering. When you’re carrying 30 pounds of press releases and brochures, something like that drive is both awesome to look at, and awesome to carry. For comparison, I carried nearly my weight in Mercedes Benz information...but it was completely worth it, and packaged in an awesomely elegant way.

Hyundai had a stylish flash drive for the release of their new top-of-the-line model, the Equus, but Cadillac won me over when it came to flash drive elegance. I asked for media info and press releases on the new CTS-V Sport Wagon, and I was handed a small black case that was roughly the size of a deck of cards, but a third of the thickness. Trusting that they’d heard me properly at the desk, I assumed that this little packet somehow had the information I wanted. I walked away from the information desk, and looked down at the black case. I turned it over, and saw the word “Cadillac” in a silver cursive font. Turning again to the back side of the package, I opened a flap, and slid out a small brushed aluminum card that had a satisfying heft to it. The front had the Cadillac emblem etched into it, and the same cursive font spelled “Cadillac” below the emblem. I still didn’t quite understand until I noticed a tab the size of a fingernail on the back in the bottom right-hand corner. I pulled on the tab, and out slid the essential connection of a USB drive. That absolutely tiny piece, held to the rest of the card by a shiny piece of metal, was a 4GB flash drive.

That card flavored my opinion of Cadillacs for the time-being. I’ll be sure to forget it if I test a Cadillac anytime soon, but kudos to GM for such impressive marketing on what is normally simple device.

As far as media goes, I have a new way for everyone to see everything that I write about. I have a Facebook fan-page for those of you who are on Facebook. For those of you who aren’t: fear not, I have you covered. I’ll post the necessary links in every article, so videos and pictures will always be available. And if you don’t immediately see the car you’re looking for, don’t forget to check back soon, because I upload 15 to 30 pictures every few days. I already have one video up, and expect many more in the near future. The first video is of the Jeep off-road obstacle at NYIAS 2010, featuring the 2010 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited Trail Rated Edition. If anyone asks, you can just call it “the Jeep.”

But that video is only one of hundreds of interesting experiences that I had at the show. I kid you not, I found that Yankees have an official hybrid vehicle. I’d never have guessed in a million years that baseball and hybrids would join forces, but I saw a 2011 Toyota Prius which was absolutely covered in Yankee and baseball graphics, and said "Official Hybrid Vehicle of the New York Yankees." Comically enough, it was locked, so I decided to sit in an unlocked Rolls Royce instead. Interesting how the exclusivity pecking order works there, with the Prius being locked, but not the Ghost or Phantom Drophead Coupe. Speaking of nice cars that I was in, I guess I’ll give you a few more from the list. Among others, I had the privilege of inspecting the interior and exterior of the Audi R8 V10,  Bentley Mulsanne (the only one in the country at this time), Bentley Continental Supersports (think Continental with spine-snapping seats), Cadillac CTS-V, and many more exciting cars. I don’t know if this falls into the category of “exciting cars”, but I also drove the new electric “E-Mini” around a small track on the lower level of the exhibition center. Another car I sat in was the Audi S5, a car in which I recently received a ride from a friend. As a side note, the exhaust on that car is symphony-level exquisite.

Another interesting occurrence at the show: the new BMW 5 series was unveiled. It looks like it’ll be at least as fantastic as any previous 5 series, and trust me, the current models are nice. I’ll let you know more about it as soon as possible. It was fun to watch the constant swarm of media crews around the 5 series display for both press days, and I saw some recognizable faces, like those of the Fast Lane Daily crew. The downside of all this excitement was that it was quite difficult to get good shots of the new cars, but I managed to get a few of each model. My rush from the airport to the show for the first press day allowed me to catch the majority of Ford CEO Alan Mullaly’s speech about Ford’s current direction and some insights into the tough times in the auto industry.

(This is just a shot of the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3, which is the racing variant of the SLS AMG. I heard itrun and rev while Fabolous reported on it.)

Day two commenced with a media breakfast and press conference for the winners of specific prestigious Car of the Year awards. VW’s BlueMotion Polo won World Car of the Year over the other finalists, the Toyota Prius and the Mercedes Benz E-Class. The Audi R8 V10 won World Performance Car of the Year over the Ferrari California, Porsche 911 GT3, which were the other two finalists.

With that basic summary, I’ll leave you with the link to the Facebook fan-page, and a link to the photo album from NYIAS. I should share that you’ll be much more able to reach me and discuss topics if you join Facebook and become a fan of Transmission Ambition (don’t worry, it’s easy), but I’ll always appreciate comments and questions here in the comment box below, or at transmissionambition@gmail.com. The benefits of joining the fan-page are that you can discuss car-related topics with other car fans, watch all the media in one place, receive updates as soon as new material is up, and meet other car fans.

Facebook fan-page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transmission-Ambition/10150093813095587?ref=mf

NYIAS 2010 album from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=405182&l=8b787cf2e5&id=10150093813095587

Expect some exciting write-ups in the near (yes, NEAR) future, and as always, thanks for reading!