Hyundai HCO-14

Is Hyundai smart enough to build this?  Were this from an American company, no one would look at it.  Prototypes are how Detroit tells their designers, "Nice try, but no."

Events Surrounding the Concours d'Elegance, Pebble Beach 2013

What an event, complete with the gratuitous use of French!  There were lots of great antiques, hot rods, and many other cars whose owners thought they belonged.  Here's an incoherent series of notes on what happened, because we neither have the time, nor the budget to do any better.

He said, "We're broadcasting live," while taping several takes.  Maybe NBC was doing some of it live.  In any case he did a good job of entertaining the crowd between takes.  "Back to you, Doug!"


Language Usage:  One big difference between British and American English is what gets Anglicized and what doesn't. Every event is filled with ads for future events. The ads in Monterey are for events all over the world.  I saw one for a, "Concourse of Elegance."   Had the term been fully Anglicized, it would have been an, "Elegance Concourse."  Lowering the register for Americans, it could have been an, "Elegance Contest."  Anglicizing various expressions makes their silliness more readily apparent.  Would anyone buy watches because of Cartier's musts?

Best Refreshments:  Hyundai/Kia.  They had two displays, one for each car company.  The company covered both kinds of weather that could happen at the show.  Hyundai was prepared for the North Coast, with hot chocolate, which is perfect on a cool foggy day.  Kia was ready for summer, with a lemonade stand.  Last year was Kia weather.  This year, it was Hyundai.  Covering both bases was a masterstroke.

Biggest Surprise:  A free ride from the Chrysler shuttle.  All 8 of us piled into a luxury minivan.  Attention to detail abounds.  There was a leather interior, an analog clock and seats that collapsed and came back up without landing on the passengers' feet.  Watch out if they get a reputation for reliability.

Biggest disappointment:  The Concours d'LeMons parody is still worth seeing, but the stench of corporate sponsorship is already there.  A 1977 Trabant made the show and ruined it.  It was great to see it, but it had a for sale sign with a long whine about California regulations. He couldn't be selling it because it was unreliable when new and ostalgie in Northern California is in short supply.

Bentley:  There was an old racing Bentley driving around.  It looked like a giant '32 Ford highboy, but with a big, high framed radiator.  On new Bentleys, you can see that updating old ideas doesn't always work.

Rolls-Royce looks as bad as Bentley.

Upstarts from Coventry:  How does Jaguar get away with selling heritage?  The SS90 showed up in 1935, long after the Brass Era.  I have heard Jaguar owners say that they prefer something with a pedigree, unlike a Lexus made by Toyota, an older company which also produced its first cars in 1935.  As such, Nissan was founded in 1934, with a history of car production going back to 1914.  Chevrolet, Buick, Ford, Cadillac, FIAT and even Mack Trucks have much longer pedigrees than Jaguar.

Most Fun:  The FIAT 500 Abarth. Lots of them were buzzing around.  Everyone wanted one.

Lamborghini:  A tragic origami accident.

Absent:  All of GM besides Cadillac, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mazda.

Free Advice from the Other Half:  Ferrari should build something simple that looks like what they made in the 1960's and sell it in the $70,000 range. 

The Mexican Car Market: A short series that's too long

Peugeot!  I remember when they were in the US.  Their cars were a bit odd looking, but luxurious and functional once you got inside.  The few people I knew who had them loved them.  The strike against them was that they never bothered to build a service network.  Outside of places like Los Angeles, owning one was a major headache. 

The second one from the bottom has a Dodge Attitude behind it.

The 2012 Los Angeles International Auto Show 1

The best day to go to an auto show is the last.  While it's all about the facade, it's fun to see it come down.  The spokesmodels talk about their feet hurting. Some booths are out of brochures.  No one is as eager to sign you up for a test drive.

I had a good time as it opened, but they had to turn on the displays.  The net effect is one of exhaustion.   As I left the show, I had the presence of mind to take the above picture, but I lacked the awareness to buy something. I had cash with me, and I was hungry.  Although I haven't heard about it before, it certainly looks worth trying.  Watch for it when you're in Los Angeles.

The worst display was put on by Ford.  Blue is normally a cool, calming color.  At Ford, you get neon until you vomit.  There was a great wall of blue around everything.  The music made it worse.  It was loud and annoying, with no explanation of who it was or when it was made. Knowing what you're hearing makes it more tolerable. Ford's car display is in a rut.  Their cars look like an answer to the question, "What if Hyundai licensed their front end design from Aston-Martin?"  It's hard to believe someone asked.

The best display was put on by Chevrolet.  They have embraced their international destiny. Their spokesmodels looked like people at the finish line of a European bicycle or motorcycle race. "We're sponsoring Manchester United!" one man exclaimed.  I thought it was great.

The worst part of Chevy's display was the whiteboards behind the Sparks.  "Keep it clean and positive!" the sign said.  It looked festive, and I took a pen.  As I made my way to the whiteboard, the atmosphere became terribly judgmental.  They were just lurking.  Because I would love to visit Brazil, I wrote, "Sua terra tem palmeiras."  When I went back a few minutes later, it was gone.

The marketing teams at Mazda and Volkswagen have thrown in the towel. Most of their cars were white.  VW went further to make sure that their cars were overlooked.  The display was predominantly white.  Also, VW has a delusion of being German.  The word comes up over and over again.  Why their collection of global products should have any connection to Germany is a mystery.  I overheard someone say that one of their middle managers ate half of an apple strudel in 2005.

Volvo had the most subtle display.  Wooden flooring evoked old Sweden.  Round, uneven 4 person stools made from 1 cm strips of thick latticed sheet metal looked familiar.  After a while, it was obvious:  It was a nod to modern China, put in place for the parent company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. It was Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

Mystery Meat

What's this?  My guess is either a Mercedes or a Hyundai.  Maybe it's a BMW.  Most of their prototypes are black.  It doesn't make any difference, but it's fun to speculate.