I went to the Los Angeles auto show yesterday evening and had to place
relatively to myself as there are very few people who would venture to
downtown Los Angeles on a Tuesday night just to see a bunch of cars.
As to be expected from a roadster owner, I am partial to small cars, and the
monster Mercedes and Lexus holds no appeal. Among the small sports cars, the
Saturn two-seater is the most attractive, but with the top down it can barely
hold a duffel bag in its so-called trunk. Even with a hard top the Miata (or
whatever the hell they call it now) has a bigger trunk and feels, at least
when it's standing still, more nimble. Of course, none of them compare with a
five speed 2000. I sat in the BMW Z4 coupe, it reminded me of sitting in a
240Z, the visibility was terrible.
There is a substantial move towards more chrome in the interiors of all cars,
which I do not like, and a lot more hard-edged styling.
I think that these will look dated in 10 years. The Lexus line continues to
remind me of fine jewelry, even the b cheapb ES350 is gorgeous and finished
to perfection.
Ford still doesn't have a clue, styling is dull and the interiors are
pathetic, but their affiliates Mazda and Volvo are much better. In
particular, the Mazdaspeed 3 is very cool.
General Motors appears to be doing a better job than Ford, and in general I
preferred their line to Chrysler's where the big cars are ponderous and the
little cars look cheap and plasticky. The Corvette continues to be wonderful,
and believe it or not the Buick line comes close to Lexus in its
understatement and appearance of quality.
The best interiors and styling is at Audi, the little A3 hatchback is very
appealing. And my favorite car is the Volkswagen EOS, a retractable hard top
convertible that looks like it's the perfect car for someone in Southern
California. It is much better looking in person than it is in photographs.
With a 2 L turbocharged engine and six speed transmission, I think it can be
bought for well under $30,000.
For those loyal to Nissan, take heart, the new Altima coupe is one of the
best looking cars at the show and is substantially more attractive than the
G35 coupe, to which it is quite similar. It will go on sale next year. I did
not see the interior.
In the totally out of reach category, the most desirable car the entire show
was the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, a car that reminded me of the old GTO and was
as close to perfection as anything I've ever seen. If they weren't already
sold out, I would try to buy one with my milk money.
Gary C
2000, 1600, 1600
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