Audi A8L TDI

Seen but not photographed: Passat TDI

They're trying again! Will it pass smog?

Seen but not photographed, Volvo SUV

This had a suspension that appeared to be independent and more robust than most.  Other than that, it was a fat brick.  It answers the question, "What if Lotus tuned an ox cart?"

Mustachioed Saturn

It's a shame that Saturn never made it.  When I was working on Japanese Car Magazine, I met some people there.  It was 1995, and they had just decided to ruin it, by folding it into the larger GM empire.  No one said that the other divisions were great, but using their stuff was cheap.  I only talked to the PR people, who were charged with selling a bad idea.

Some people think that the company is continually derailed by "beancounters," but they are wrong. GM is beancounters.  Accounting is the company.  Executives get special editions that rarely leave Michigan, while the rest of us get GM cars.

Occasionally, something slips through that is unusual or that gets a cult following.  If you own a GM car, you might as well decorate it.

Another Mercedes Prototype.

Mercedes with a Running Board.

The running board might be there for shuttle duty, or it might be part of the design.  This one was outside the auto show, which is another good place to find prototypes.  At times, it's also a good place to check industry people, who often live in an impenetrable bubble.  Many of them think that every product they work on is exciting.

Scion Lowrider

When you get it right, you get it right.  Old school lowriders were and often are big American cars.  Toyota went all out with this Scion and still nailed it.