As any of our regular reads know during the Press Days at Detorit our young contributing editor Andrew Gardner put in a heros effort to post over a dozen live releases. So hats off to him. Now we are going to look at the trends and themes that drove the show in 2005
The 2005 Detroit International Auto Show....was really a concert of high horsepower. Captured in a melody scored by designer Ian Callum. Who stole the 2005 Detroit Auto Show. Introducing his latest Jaguar "concept" of a performance sports coupe. Ian tailored smart "original" coachwork around a high horsepower engine. Ian & Jaguar are thankfully recapturing the true essence of alure that many early Jag's sired. You can see many links in style traits seen on jaguars reaching as far back as the C & D types. Also it breaths life & energy making the overall final idea, a leaner expression of performance.
We saw many lesser presentations from other competive auto brands outside Ford's sphere of design groups. Several were just hackneyed cut and paste of the fronts & rears that hopefully never see the light of day. The real question now is how fast can the Ian Callum vision reach actual production.? We can only hope soon!
Yes horsepower and bigger engines was the "back beat" that drove sound levels at Detroit to new all time highs.
Yes, we call it the "500 Club", you either shooting for 500, or over 500 hp or you not even in the race for consumers in 2005. Last year it was the 400 Club! Now with every company targeting the 500 Hp level, it will be the Handling and Styling that will sell cars. I love it!
The show comprised numerous front engine concept performance coupes, and 2005 production releases from Chrysler, Lexus, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW, Ford, Chevy, Cadlliac and others.
Clearly standing head & shoulders above the rest. Ian Callum's Jaguar concept,shows his ability to generate beauty that stands alone as both artform & automotive products consumers demand. So this year we at Motorsports Center.com as awarding the "Best Auto Concept Design at Detroit 2005". So our award will be winging it's way to the UK any day.
If you memory is not quite sharp, Ian Callum is also the man behind the Aston Martin new generation of designs, like the Vanquish. Also involved with development of the DB-9 program, before handing it off to Henrik Fisker for completion. Ian's new Jaguar will be the number one race horse for the future of Jaguar. The reaction to all of those in attandance was excitedly poistive. This car will replace the the XK8 sportscar. Also we will be releasing a special interview of Ian Callum from the Detroit Show very soon. This is a must read, so don't miss it.
As for the bragging rights on who has the most successful motors in the racing world . Regardless of your personal slant, it is Ferrari !
Ferrari as we all know has been crushing every other F-1 team with back to back world championships for several years. The amazing Michael Schumacher, either breaking 50 year old F-1 records or resetting new records. Also Ferrari has now more Grand Prix victories than any other motor manufacture in history, passing Ford's Cosworth engines record for GP race victories last year!
Ferrari has translated this tradition of success into what is now a legendary line of front engine super performance coupes and mid-engine coupes. Detroit saw the world debut of the Super American, and is very trick all glass flip top roof. Also a wonderful technology for on demand "tinting", when the sun is to strong!! The Super America now reborn for modern consumers.
Also Ferrari has the hottest of the front engine coupes in the marketplace the 612 GP, a higher horsepower verson of the 612 released last year. A car who shape and line are one of Ferrari's best. This line of modern front engine performance coupes, sprang from the 456 some 10+ years ago. The 612 really takes the Ferrari "grand touring" concept to a dramaticly higher level. The coachwork is an even more refined statement and again you can see many styling lines that reach over 40 years back into Ferrari tradition.
Maserati also has the MC-12 which is an more exotic visual version of the Enzo platform, but of course with Maserati's big 12cyl engine. The MC-12 is already racing and enjoying success. The car is more visually exciting than the Enzo, but may not see the american market. In our part 2 we will give you a much closer and detailed look.
Yes, the heart of this beast is Maserati's best lump of V12, of course gift wrapped in carbon fiber. The MC-12 has a bravado that is tangible.
Ah yes the SLR / Mclaren the flagship of Mercedes Benz. A great statement of performance and style. But way to late to market! This car was a concept car that stole the show at Frankfurt in 1999. That while we love this package and the styling is steals your breath away, it now looks sadly dated. It is now 2005. Mercedes however had an excellent offering of sedans, which we will feature in part 2 of our Detroit coverage. But now the SLR is just old news.
Damiler-Chrysler has offered it's son of Viper, under the name of "Firepower". An interesting basic idea but flawed, with many ackward finishing issues, and conflicting styling angles. A set of tail lights that look like they we slapped on 5 min. before the actual roll out of in Detroit. The grill is a over statement and detracts from the positives that were part of the basic theme. Now lost. Maybe with a rework the Firepower could be find more a refined real style. We may never know.
Ah an now our award for best "presentation performance" of an executive as entertainer, and the award goes to 2 performers. For the performance of "BoB & BoB" in GM's act three. Bob Lutz cloned himself and so the BOB & BOB act was really only entertainment of the week. Not to mention maybe another award for best make-up for the BoB Lutz clone. All in all Bob Lutz did deliver the best presentation of performance with his excellent introduction of the ZO6 Corvette and the pumped up 500+ hp Cadillac program.
Cadillac is now attacking the European dominated luxury performance sedan market. All anyone needs to do is the basic math of increased horsepower and it's easy to see that the value of new product line will surely make many Euro brand drivers think twice before stepping up to by even higher priced models. The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate will only help Cadillac compete in both Europe and here at home.
Check out the sheer "beef" of the suspension and brakes that are shown off here in this cutway section that was on display. No wonder the overall handling of the Cadillac is also made dramatic improvements. Better driving and braking also are the best benefits to ensure driving safety in difficult conditions of everyday life.
Here is the next development of the Corvette legacy, the ZO6. What a rocketship this thing is capable of 190 MPH in right off the lot. It should be a source of serious competition for several current European Auto brands. The car come this year with Brembo brakes standard.
The most exciting aspect of the new Corvette is it's "hand built" engine! Needless to say the ZO6 is another member of the 500 Club.
Here is the biggest battle in Detroit the GTO and the Mustang GT. Both factories are locking horns in what will be a battle for the hearts and wallets of the mainstream consumer. So again the free market economics of the USA make this battle a win-win situation for every owner, regardless of what flavor you drive home with!!
The Mustang is just so hot that the demand has already created a back order situation at every dealer in Ford's system world wide. At the LA Auto Show the convertible was released. It will also create a firestorm of consumer demand. Here we see the special performance turnkey cars that can be deliver direct from a local dealer.
What's the next big thing on Ford's radar screen for top end performance consumers. We'll unless you've been asleep at the wheel and have misssed our spotlighted coverage of the GR-1, then the roll our of a fully operational GR-1 would be a shock. AS the Ford GT is a limited production situation. The GR-1 is the next supercar that Ford expects to turn loose on the world. This looks almost like a sure thing at this point. Now we have to hope we get to test drive it.
Audi released it's next concept designed by Walter de Silva of Alfa Romero fame. But this car looks like every other Audi and that grill reminds me of a "cow catcher" on an old locomotive. Audi needs to get out of it's rutt and step up to the plate with some excitement.
The much vaunted BMW M5 with the V-10 engine is now being delivered to the American. To bad the basic styling is tied to frumpy looking 5 series. The car is a greate perfromance statement and as it is a "M series" car the driveability is stellar from reports we have heard. We are still waiting for a test of the M5 but that may not happen. Chopping the Z8 from the BMW product a couple of years ago was still a sad day. As that cars styling was a real breath of fresh air.
Lexus offer a very interesting entry to the "500Hp Club" at Detroit. However the overall appeal is sadly not as exciting as the others. Technically the most interesting feature is these rear mounted cooling system. As in this shot the cooling fans are in clear view. The overall styling is well behind the Mercedes-Benz SLR that as we mentioned was born in 1999! Look for part 2 of our Detroit coverage and you will get a feel for the greater sense of what coming in 2005
Ah, yes there is something timless about beautiful cars and girls that will always go together. Yes this years show offers great promise for more horsepower and exciting styling. It also reenforces the fact that more automotive companies are chashing the luxury sports car market. Why? It is the only real market segment that is growing and has a decent profit margin. Also it is what most consumers want to spend the disposable income on.
