Detroit News: The Detroit Auto Show Sucks
Who asked the Detroit News' Show Biz reporter to chime-in with his feelings about the 2008 North American International Auto Show? I mean Jeez; David Phillips is raining on a parade that his employer has been hyping since Buick was asking people if it was time for a real car (ready when you are). Then again, it's an itty bitty blog post, And I suppose that an entertainment writer is the most keenly aware when the stars of the show are off skiing in Park City. "Lexus, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti and Suzuki are taking a pass this year. Porsche is gone altogether. Aston Martin has quietly vanished from the Ford stand for obvious reasons." Which are… "the cost of doing business inside Cobo Center, an automaker's product cadence, the growth in overseas markets, other opportunities, venues and auto shows to showcase new product, etc." Hmm. I wonder if that cost has anything to do with some union or other, and whether Big Ron Gettelfinger could sort them out. (You gotta bend over like this. No, not me. You.) Phillips final remark shows how quick Detroit is to react to economic challenges. "Show organizers should be worried." Ya think? [thanks to starlightmica for the tip]
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I was there a few years back. Downtown Detroit is appalling overall. I took the people mover and saw an architecturally fascinating downtown area and some beautiful buildings, but no middle class person of sanity would set foot anywhere but Greektown. The security guards for some of the old buildings were nice, and let me see some of the "great lobbies of capitalism". There were some grand entrance spaces built in the 20's - 40's. Cobo was a horror even then. In the same year, I found myself in Berlin, and saw the Berlin auto show. Comparison ? Owch.
That ZR1 hickfest intro speaks volumes. Best car in the stable, worst stage show..ever.
Hmmm...I see this year's show is shaping up to be a repeat of last year's. I say that because in the picture of the Buick display above I noticed that they are using the same wall displays as last year. Guess it's a sign of the times. It used to be that everything was changed from year to year, so you really were wowed, now I can pretty much give guided tours each year from memory. Since moving back to MI in '99, I have made it a tradition to attend the show every year, because well, there's just really not anything else to do here in the winter! And despite the fact that I have a seriously messed up leg at the moment (leg came apart at the knee Christmas Eve, go figure) I am bound and determined to go and take in all the sights and watch the reps get all flustered when I ask them why their company did such and such stupid thing-it's rather entertaining. Oh, and the trip into Detroit with my friends who have never been there is quite fun too! (Look out for that speeding car!!! Yeah, what's your point?) I can hardly wait!!!
If Mayor Kilpatrick was more concerned with replacing Cobo, and less with his body guards and mansion stripper parties, perhaps we wouldn't be commenting on this blog post today.