2019 NAIAS Detroit Auto Show

i haven't been to an auto show in 40 years. can't imagine the changes. last time i went, it was to ogle everything i couldn't afford.

 

This is the last January Detroit Auto Show. Moving to June in 2020. Glad you liked it.

 

I think the idea is to make it a more hands on event with outdoor demos, etc. Also, Detroit is more pleasant in the summer.

 

Toyota sent a couple dozen of us (from around the world) around 2009 iirc. Motor city hotel. Weird . . . . hearing gun shots when stepping outside. Reminded me of childhood ... lived in compton. appropriate .... my childhood put the hood, in childhood.

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I’m excited it’s moving to June. It will be interesting to see if the schedule will force other shows to move their dates.

 

I dropped by the NAIAS a few weeks ago too. I think you're missing a few things here.

The Cruze hatch has been a thing for a few years now. I think they even have a diesel version of it.

How can you not mention Toyota's star of NAIAS? The new Supra (love it or hate it).

That Yaris you saw was not just a rally-prepped car - it was the Yaris WRC. Probably the most expensive thing on display there and probably second most expensive vehicle at NAIAS, seconded by the Sauber/Alfa Romeo F1 car. The two Daytona Prototypes that Michelin and Cadillac were displaying are up there too but harder to pin down price-wise.

Subaru was displaying two interesting cars: the first being a Vermont SportsCar prepped rally WRX STi (that is realistically not entirely a Subaru anymore) and the limited-edition WRX STi S209, the most powerful STi Subaru has ever built (and I'd bet the last one before they replace the aging EJ255).

The Mahindra is really notable in that it represents their entry into the US market (they had been hiniting on doing so for something like half a decade now).

There was also a Gulf-liveried Ford GT.

Anyway, here's a few pictures. Imgur gallery in case they don't show up.

 

I'm hopeful about the Supra, but I'm a little surprised that so much BMW stuff was left on it from the Z4 - pretty much the entire interior is BMW. Given that it's mostly the same car, I expect the car to be quickly flashable from the 330hp Toyota factory power level to the ~380hp that BMW is rating the engine at in the Z4.

That said, it's only a matter of time before someone in Japan buys the JDM-only 4cyl version and stuffs a built 2JZ in there (hell, I'd bet that there's probably a fully built 2JZ sitting in a garage somewhere just waiting for the donor car to arrive).

I've been to rally driver school and I've personally done the whole "stand by a rally stage and wait 2 hours for cars to come buzzing by for 15 minutes, 10 seconds at a time" as a photographer (not WRC though). I'd argue that it isn't streaming video which has made the biggest impact in bringing rally to the proverbial masses, it's the widespread use of drones. The drones really give such an immersive view of the action and makes for so much better video that it turns what looks like a kind of sedate event (resulting from the telephoto shots even taken from helicopters) into a very dramatic one.

Look at this DJI promo video:

Bonus picture of that Yaris WRC (with Corolla Hybrid in the background): https://i.imgur.com/GC6J3wM.jpg