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L.A. Auto Show concept cars
Mercedes-Benz ConceptFascination
Overview: A 21st-century version of the classic shooting brake. That s how Mercedes-Benz describes its ConceptFascination (no space there -- and M-B likes to put Fascination as all capital letters, but it looks a bit overbearing). This design study starts out as a coupe and ends up as a wagon, all the better to house a small fridge and a cigar humidor. Oh, yes, add the walnut and smoked-glass interior fixtures, along with the saddle-style leather and equestrian theme to realize that concept car excess is alive and well and visiting the L.A. Auto Show.
Our take: On a more serious note, the front part of the car hints at how the new E-class will look.
--Colin Ryan (Mercedes-Benz)
Overview: A 21st-century version of the classic shooting brake. That s how Mercedes-Benz describes its ConceptFascination (no space there -- and M-B likes to put Fascination as all capital letters, but it looks a bit overbearing). This design study starts out as a coupe and ends up as a wagon, all the better to house a small fridge and a cigar humidor. Oh, yes, add the walnut and smoked-glass interior fixtures, along with the saddle-style leather and equestrian theme to realize that concept car excess is alive and well and visiting the L.A. Auto Show.
Our take: On a more serious note, the front part of the car hints at how the new E-class will look.
--Colin Ryan (Mercedes-Benz)
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Inside the 2008 L.A. Auto Show
Nissan reveals its 370Z sports car as the Los Angeles Auto Show opens for press previews at the Los Angeles Convention Center November 19, 2008 in Los Angeles. Against a backdrop of economic upheaval, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will be virtual no-shows with no senior executives in attendance nor holding any press conferences as they concentrate on lobbying for federal bailouts. Ford Motor Co. will be the only big American auto maker to have a significant presence at the annual event and compete with participating foreign car makers. The first major North American auto show of the season opens to the public on November 21 and continues through November 30. (David McNew/Getty Images)
Preview: L.A. Auto Show's Design Challenge
--By Colin Ryan, Special to the Los Angeles Times
A highlight of the L.A. Auto Show, happening November 21 through November 30, is the L.A. Design Challenge, in which competing car companies artistically render their most futuristic visions of what vehicles may be like 20 years hence. This year's contest theme is Motorsport in the Year 2025, which has given applicants plenty of scope to let their imaginations run wild.
Check out the full complement of nine contenders.
(Mitsubishi)
Presidential cars then and now
The President-elect learned to drive in his grandfather's Ford Granada, which would have looked like this one. It may not have been his ideal learning tool. He told an Indianapolis radio station that "it may be the worst car that Detroit ever built. This thing was a tin can." (Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images and Courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
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A Filipino car restorer polishes a modified 1959 Impala limousine at the opening of the four-day Manila Auto Salon at the SMX convention center in Manila on November 20, 2008 sponsored by Chinese and Japanese auto and motorcycle parts makers. Wealthy car enthusiasts displayed their glittering modified cars, trucks and motorcycles. (LUIS LIWANAG/AFP/Getty Images)
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