The 2009 Detroit Auto Show, also known as the North American International Auto Show, is in full swing. Being among the largest shows of its kind, it suffered its own minor recession when some manufacturers pulled out, but there are still enough new car launches to keep it interesting. Following is a quick look at all the fresh models.
In Ford’s GCC line-up, the Taurus badge had pretty much disappeared at the turn of the century. However, the name was kept alive in the United States, as the car we know as the Five Hundred was sold as the Taurus in America. The full-size sedan is a competent but boring car, and Ford went back to the drawing board to completely redesign the model, apparently inspired by the immensely smarter design philosophy of their European division. The result is the 2010 Ford Taurus, unveiled at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show yesterday.
The most hyper version of Jaguar’s XF sports sedan is going to be revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show this month. The 2010 Jaguar XFR is meaner than ever and official images have already been leaked.
The much-awaited 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V has been unveiled in Japan. Contrary to popular rumours, there are no power upgrades, as Nissan instead focused on reducing weight to create a track-biased car. This leads us to believe that the standard engine-gearbox combination is already running at optimum, and any performance modifications done by tuning companies are simply reducing the life of the car.
The Tokyo Auto Salon always features the quirkiest concepts, but Honda has toned down the fun this year for the 2009 auto show, showing only modified versions of their existing cars.
It is already known that Mercedes-Benz is dropping the “CLK” badge in a bid to simplify its stupidly-crowded line-up. The enlarged two-door model being readied for 2010 will be called the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe, and near-production prototypes are being spotted all over Europe.
The Ford Shelby GT500 returns in the new-and-improved Mustang shell, with more power and refinement to boot. It comes in coupe and convertible forms.
In a bit of a surprise, I got a call from BMW’s people yesterday morning saying they have Mini Clubman S lying around, and whether I wanted it. I have nothing better to do nowadays so I said “sure, why not.” And now it stands under my apartment, thanks to BMW’s awesome home-delivery service for press cars. It goes back to their stable after five days.
Motor accessories superstore Yellow Hat is saving up to three million gallons of fresh water every year by recycling its car wash usage. The company treats and reuses about 70 per cent of car wash water.
Japan-based tuner Ings has revealed the latest addition to their line-up of body kits for popular compact cars, now including the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.