Doug Harden

Saturn Sky: The reason I went…..”Product specialist” said it wouldn’t be until ’08 for the Redline version….damnit! He did mention a turbo 4 or even a V6! (grain of salt duly noted) I loved it otherwise! Best thing to come out of GM in a long time….except the C6 of course. My only complaint so far….a lot of hard plastic dash and door panel areas. Also, there’s a part of the body shell in the upper rear corner of the door opening that appears to be a point of impact when getting into the car…I’ll try and post a pic later….the body actually comes to a point where it looks like you’d hit your shoulder entering….of course I couldn’t actually get in it to test it, but we’ll see when the Solstice comes out.

Saturn Aura: Nice improvement over the weird stuff Saturn normally shows…but it’s 4 door so I didn’t even look twice…

Z06: “Z Oh Sex”…..’nuff said. I was interested in the engineering behind having individual brake pads for each caliper piston….20 brake pads on this baby?!? BTW, I thought I’d seen earlier pics of the emblem showing the 500hp…but they aren’t there on the show car….. minor issues to be sure. I rode back in my buddy’s C6, Z51 coupe….GREAT CAR!!

Impala / MC: Nice updates to cars I wouldn’t personally buy, but the target market should like them…

HHR: Why? It’s bigger and therefore more useful than a PT, but I just don’t get the effort….might have been better off using the $$ to pay off Fiat….

G6 variants: Convertible had JayLo syndrome…fat@$$...but at least GMNA solved the rear seat access the Aussies didn’t with the GTO. Coupe was tolerable. Multi-pane sunroof looks like a leak/warrantee issue….we’ll see.

GTO: Better with the right hood…..but still looks 8 years old….

Didn’t even bother looking at trucks and SUV’s…not my cup of tea. BTW< What in the HELL are those semi sized pickup trucks for?!?!

Looked at the CTS, STS, etc… sat in a XLR….nice enough, but it only reminded me that I’m only 2 years away from 50 ….Caddy had a great crowd around all their offerings though.

Dodge Magnum Sedan…oh I’m sorry, the “Charger” poser: Even uglier in person. My God what were they thinking?!? It looked like a truck and had the same proportions. My wife saw the pictures and even she said “that looks like a truck”. To make matters worse…it was one of the “retro inspired” Daytona metallic orange, stripped (semi)HEMI models. Made my stomach turn…and then I turned around and saw the ultimate sacrilegious use of the legendary Daytona moniker slapped on a fuggin’ pickup truck!?!?…complete with said orange paint, stickers and a big @$$ed ol’
****!?! . God please make them STOP!!

300C: A big ol’ brick on wheels…quality was a definite improvement for Chrysler, but does absolutely NOTHING for me….the “boys from da’ hood” seemed to like throwing Dubs on it though….

Viper GTS Coupe: Have to look real hard to tell it from the previous version…but still nice enough.

Crossfire coupe: Holy blind spot Batman! Needs 100 more horse to make me interested….

Firepower: If this is Chrysler’s answer to the ‘Vette, they need to loose the disco interior and some of the bling on the exterior….seems like a rip-off of the Ford GR2 concept.

Nitro SUV concept: Eye-candy describing the otherwise uninspired concept was the only reason I looked at it…hey I was bored and she wasn’t as hard to look at as the truck was….so shoot me.

Subaru: New face looks like HELL! Edsel couldn’t sell the puckered look, why do they thing they can? Had to laugh at the drive train model they had on display, as you could see under the huge engine cover (that seem to be the rage these days…I hate them) and there wasn’t a whole lot there…flat 6 isn’t much to look at. LOL!

Ford GR2 concept: WTF did they make it polished aluminum for?!? Damned near blinded me….otherwise, I thought the painted version I had seen on TV looked better. The @$$ end looks unfinished…..as did the original Daytona coupe did too. Really looked like the Firepower concept….same dude do both?!?

Ford GT: Over-priced and about to get it handed to them by the new Z06…was glad the suspension pieces didn’t break and the car fall off the display ……(sorry, I had to)…car is the definition of RETRO…but kudos to Ford for the effort.

Mustang: Ford at least “get’s it”…they must have had 8 different versions from Saleen and Roush, et. al. surrounding their exhibit. I really wanted to like this car, as my first 2 cars were 1st gen Mustangs…..but the interiors felt as cheap as an old Fairmont. WTF!?! The plastic shifter handle had a parting line ON TOP OF IT! Looked and felt like 25 cents. The emergency brake handle IS ON THE WRONG SIDE….and also felt as cheap as a Yugo. You could twist it and the plastic cover would separate along its visible parting line. The handle was raw rubber…looked like a bicycle inner-tube. The top dash panel looked like a piece of plywood….too thin and hard plastic…good to break your nose on in a crash I guess. The gauges were too dark and deeply recessed into the retro dash to be able to read on a sunny day. The “rear seat” was there by definition only….with the front seats all the way back (where they were placed in the two I sat in) left about 4” of leg / knee room for the poor bastards trapped in the rear cocoon. Why bother?!? Honestly the two seats almost touched! I’ve seen three “bodies in white” here in Indy (at an undisclosed location ) and my honest impression was that I wouldn’t want to be in a crash in one. The words TIN CAN come to mind….I know it sounds like I’m bashing, but I still can’t understand why anyone would buy one of these over even a 4th gen….

Ford 500: Half SUV, half car… looked really tall for a sedan. If I still had a grandpa alive (or a father for that matter) I’m sure he’d love the kitchen chair height seats.

European supercars, MB’s BMW’s, etc…: I don’t give a rats @$$. If I charged what they do for cars, I’d sure as hell build a good one too. Pass….

Smart Cars: Quirky to say the least. Interiors seemed huge for a tall go-cart. I’m really interested in the “personal” transportation type cars and concepts…..but why do they have to be so weird looking?

Chicago is a dirty, over-populated sewer ….I’ll stay down here on God’s country, thank you very much……

Raven99

Take it easy on ChiTown! LOL It's a much better place in the summer I'm going to the autoshow Wednesday - thanks for the preview.

FiefSS

Chicagos not that bad lol! I'll be goin to the autoshow next saturday and pretty much will feel the same way about all those cars I think I think though that if they are gonna have the 'exotics' there we should at least be able to sit in them. Dunno what they are doing this year but they always let us sit in the vettes and vipers at one point.

Z28Wilson

Yikes Doug tell us how you really feel!

Interesting takes though. After hearing how greatly improved it was, I too was disappointed in the disco look and feel of the interior on the new Mustang. The entire dash is much too "bling" to not be annoying to drive every day.

Meccadeth

A few friends of mine just got back from the Chi. auto show as well and didn't even bother with the Saturn display The best production-intended concept there and they missed it. We're all going Friday though so maybe they'll have the chance to check it out this time.

Z284ever

You were there yesterday Doug?

Too bad we didn't hook up....I was back there also, my boys wanted me to take them.

Also, don't judge Chicago by the neighborhood which surrounds McCormick Place.....that area is admittedly the armpit of the city.

eagleknight97

Go back between your shoulders, we dont want you in our great city anyways!

Z28x

Even though it is a 99% visual close of the old GT40 it doesn't feel retro to me. If the GT40 never existed no one would even think retro around this car. Maybe the GT isn't retro, the GT40 was just futuristic.

Better than Detroit......

but it's no NYC

Doug Harden

Charlie,

I was there Saturday....would have liked to ran into you though

Chi-towners....don't take it too personal....I HATE all cities....but you'll have to admit, the drive in from the SE side ain't exactly pretty.

Besides this is my point of reference...
http://icons.wunderground.com/data/w...nstigall/4.jpg

Doug Harden

Here's the Sky door "point" detail I mentioned...look on the other side of the car from the photo vantage point....also note the use of the post style door locks...just like my 1969 Camaro?!? Makes it easier to break into the car I guess!??

http://www.hardenmotorsports.com/images/skydetail.jpg

Here's a better shot....

http://www.hardenmotorsports.com/images/skydetail2.jpg

Here's a shot under the rear...for the gearheads....

http://www.hardenmotorsports.com/images/skydetail3.jpg

Raven99

Wonder if an STS turbo would fit under there

Doug Harden

They have replied on the Saturn boards and YES, they're making a kit as soon as they can.

Josh452

As I broke a few months back, a V6 does fit in Kappa. Could get interesting.