Detroit Auto Show: The Unvarnished Truth
Of all the car critics mouthing off their opinions these days — too many for my taste — a few stand well above the rest. Brilliant writers who see through the mists of hyperbole surrounding the industry and reveal the truth in witty, entertaining ways.
One of the best is Peter DeLorenzo, who expounds weekly on his Auto Extremist site. His review of the Detroit show, though lengthy, is devastating and worth the time it takes to scroll through. Here, to whet your appetite, are some choice quotes.
On the show itself DeLorenzo says "the Detroit Auto Show, or the North American International Auto Show as it is officially (and tediously) named, was mired in a severe case of the 'blahs' right from the outset." Seeing no hope for Lincoln he wrote "One more example of Lincoln marketers wandering around lost in the desert." Followed by: "When Anne Stevens, the newly minted COO of Ford of the Americas came out at the Lincoln media event and said that the defining element for Lincoln going forward is growth, we knew that there was no hope for The Land of the Clueless."
No such problems with Lexus, apparently: "If you hovered quietly near the all-new Lexus LS460, you could observe the steady parade of German-speaking executives gathering for a good long look at their future nightmare. They weren't smiling or joking." But DeLorenzo had harsh words for Chrysler design. "The media darlings formerly known as the 'geniuses' at Chrysler Design imploded at Cobo Hall in an embarrassingly overwrought performance that won't soon be forgotten… it wasn't just the monumentally silly Imperial, which will go into the Toon Car Hall of Fame."
Some welcome good words for GM: "The new Camaro captures the visceral essence of the '68 and '69 models; in short, the new Camaro is a grand slam home run." And on Buick, this praise: "The new Buick Enclave crossover was a regular stop for designers on 'tour' at the show's media days, for some obvious reasons… it may just save the division, it's that good." Great stuff, Peter! There's more like it in Auto Extremist plus an excellent selection of photos, one of which, the Enclave, we display here.
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Excellent post – somehting that needed to be said.
I’ve added my own comments specific to Ford on my own blog.
-Jeff
http://www.jwfisher.com
(blogs and site)