|
2007 New York International Auto Show: Big Apple Stylin’
It’s show time again and as you have come to expect, Automotive Rhythms was in the House. We held it down with K-Raw and V-Moore doing their thing on ARtvLive.com, giving you “on demand” access to the rides that were unveiled. Let’s see what was hot, and what was not.
Hyundai continued their roll with the showing of the Genesis Concept. This near luxury beauty features a big V8 engine, standard Electronic Stability Control and promises to have Hyundai’s rock solid reliability. Can you believe it? Reliability and Hyundai used in the same sentence. Proves the adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” just isn’t true! Pricing fully loaded will be in the mid 30s. Hyundai also showed their impressive Veracruz near luxury SUV.
 Ford had us a bit confused. We liked the Flex Wagon Concept, but were a bit puzzled by the Funkmaster Flex Expedition. We like Flex, but don’t think enough folks will pony up for the special edition to justify the cost of production.
Ford’s corporate cousins Volvo and Mazda showed strong. Mazda continued to think outside the box with the Hakaze and Nagare concepts giving us hints of what to expect in the next several years. Volvo came out blasting with the XC70 Wagon hinting that in a sea of SUVs, CUVs and SAVs, the venerable wagon -- when done right -- still has a place in American driveways. The XC70 features redesigned styling, the addition of Volvo’s slick, wafer thin center stack, sliding rear cargo floor and special storage hooks and nets, and two built in booster seats
 Infiniti came out with guns blazing with a new EX Crossover and G37 Coupe. Expect the G37 to break all sales records for Infiniti coupes, as it is much better than the already excellent G35 Coupe it replaces. Lexus showed a new Large SUV, the LX 570 and the LF-C convertible concept.
The Germans were very German. BMW improved its already good X5 SAV with a new ‘08 model. Audi showed the hot S5 coupe, but left the A5 at home for some reason. And Mercedes-Benz showed the all-new C-Class and CLK63 AMG, with full DTM bodywork. Expect only a select few to own one as they’ll be priced near $140,000.
 Continuing with the high-end theme, Maserati modeled their new GranTurismo Coupe, essentially a two-door Quattroporte (a two door, four door?). It’s as close we thought to sex on wheels as you can get, that is, until we saw the new Bentley Brooklands Coupe. This huge Coupe will retail for more than $335,000. The interior is about bespoke elegance and superiority. Just stay tuned to your video channel as Jay-Z and everyone else will be rockin’ one soon.
But to us, the true hits of the show were three microcar concepts from Chevy. The Beat, Groove and Trax feature incredible styling, gas, diesel or turbo power, and hot features like LED head and taillamps. Plus, we love the names, as we don’t mind laying down a few groovy tracks and beats ourselves! Could these be GM’s answer to Benz’ Smart Cars? Stay tuned!
| 
Chevy Beat, Trax, Groove
|
Lexus Concept Convertible
|
| 
Spyker D8 Double 12
|
Spyker D8 Double 12 interior
|
| 
Spyker C8 Spyder
|
Caddy CTS
|
| 
Ford Flex Concept
|
Volvo C30
|
| 
Audi S5
|
Volvo XC70
|
| 
Ford Airstream Concept /TD>
| 
Mazda Nagare Concept
|
| 
Mazda Hakaze Concept
|
Hyundai Genesis Concept
|
| 
Chevy Camaro Concept
|
Bentley Brooklands Coupe
|
| 
Brooklands Interior
|
Chrysler Nassau Concept
|
| 
Dodge Demon Concept
|
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
|
| 
Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG
|
Toyota FT-HS Concept
|
| 
Toyota FT-HS Interior
|
VW Jetta Sportwagen
|
| 
Mitsubishi Lancer
|
Kia Soul Concept
|
| 
Subaru Impreza WRX
|
|
|