| Proof that California is the car design capital of the world, the annual Design Los Angeles competition brought out concepts from 10 automakers ranging from the extreme to the ridiculous - I posted a fuller package on it a few months ago. |  |
| Veiled from the eyes of the automotive press - the new V12-powered Mercedes S600 lurks awaiting its debut. |  |
| Just what the world needs. Another Teutonic, race-tuned SUV that will get its only good wringing-out in the hands of Beverly Hills parking valets. Re-tooled from the cheaper VW Touareg and pricier Porsche Cayenne, the Audi Q7 will deliver as many passengers as you can squeeze into three rows of seats wherever you want to pay $45,000 to $65,000 to have a 4.2-liter, 40-valve V8 deliver them. Uh, yawn. I'd rather drive a '62 Suburban |  |
| BMW's firebreathing M6 coupe uses a 5-liter V10 to pump 508 horsepower through a 7-speed gearbox. Just standing in front of it you can feel your eyebrows charring. |  |
 | Ah, the Veyron 16.4, at long last. For years, Bugatti has taunted speed freaks with promises of a 1,001-horsepower, V-16 banshee capable of hitting 60 within 3 seconds and topping out at 250 mph. It's voluptuous in person. Some elderly auto editor sat there for several minutes, stroking the gearshift for his photographer. |  |
 | HowStuffWorks offers a delightfully geeky walk-through of the Veyron - which is about as close as most of us will ever get. While shooting, I hovered close enough to fog the paint with my breath, but didn't quite have the cojones to jump in, grip the wheel and mumble, "Rrrmmm, RRRMMMM." At somewhere north of $1 million, with a powerplant that can drain the gas tank in 17 minutes at top speed, it's too damn rich to even dream of. |  |
| The six-figure pricetag of the Ferrari notwithstanding, this picture has a sort of mid-50s timelessness for me. Some things about the Auto Show never change - On media day 50 years from now, you'll probably still see natty car-sales execs chatting up willowy gown-clad models curbside while booth-grunts massage final details into the coachwork. |  |
| The Chevy HHR is another PT-Cruiser-like attempt at nostalgia (it stands for Heritage High Roof) of the sort that my friend Dennis calls "retro-boogers." Can't say it does much for me, but it does look spiffier than usual in this two-tone "Open-Air" edition with multi-louvered glass roof. |  |
| The Auto Show is the ultimate tease giving you a thrill in the moment, and sending you home with a gigantic case of unrequited lust. You can look but you cannot drive. This one's close to the top of my list of attainable, but can't-afford-it-this-decade: The Mini-Cooper S by Dinan Cars skulked in a side hall near Brabus and other tuner booths, promising 182 horsepower via bolt-on hot-rodded cams and carbs, but delivering only a static come-hither smirk. The wicked little bastard. |  |
 | DUB Magazine put together this slamming variation on the already-ballsy '06 Dodge Charger, complete with phat rims and gorgeous 2-tone paint. Street Concepts delivered the goods. |  |
| Ex- LATimes car scribe Paul Dean wrote in the Robb Report that the Ferrari F-430 is "the finest Ferrari ever built, and maybe the world's best sports car ever. " Argue with him. Go on. While tire-kickers can only stand and drool, you have to admit it looks deliciously agile. $170K buys you a 4.3-liter V8 pushing 490 horses wrapped in some of Italy's most glorious sheet steel and leather. |  |
| Ford delivers some sharp-looking cars this year, including the Freestyle wagon. The 3-liter V6 Duratec mill hauls 91.7 cubic feet of whatever wherever with the terrific old-school looks of a station wagon. It's a refreshing break from the yet-another-SUV lockstep paradigm followed by most automakers. |  |
 | Nothing says "concept" like suicide doors. Like so many other Detroit leftovers, the Fairlane debuted last year (we won't get fooled again, as I said yesterday) at the North American International Auto Show. Nothing special under the hood, but it's kinda sweet in a futuretro estate-wagon sort of way. |  |
 | The Ford GT. I glopped together a 1:24 Revell model of its 60s-era predecessor when I was about 10, and have had a sick thing for it ever since. The updated, 5.4-liter V8 pours 550 hp through a six-speed and double-wishbone suspension. Dead sexy. |  |
 | Me: "Could you turn on the headlights for a sec? I'd like to get a shot of it."
Ford booth jerk, wincing as if I'd asked him for sex on a bad night: "No, uh, it's just a concept so you'll have to take it as-is."
Let's see - they painted it dull gray, didn't bother wiring it, posted the barest of specs beside it - and Detroit wants me to get excited about the supposedly drive-by-wire, fuel-cell-powered Sequel why? For a company promising fuel-cell cars at market by 2010, they're not working too hard boothside on the old excitement thing. |  |
 | Only $87,330 puts you behind the wheel of Jaguar's new XK. It borrows liberally from vintage Jag bodywork, but also swipes the Aston-Martin DB7's wedgy shoulders and vents. |  |
 | The Jeep Hurricane concept debuted last year at Detroit's North American International Auto Show: Twin 5.7-liter V8 engines and independent steering on both the front and rear wheels let this carbon-fiber-bodied beast scuttle sideways like a crab or spin in place like a top. Why? Because it's bitchin' cool. For better maneuverability on the trail, says Jeep. |  |
| Reeking of H.R. Giger, the exhaust manifold on the Lamborghini Murcielago motor pumps out the leftovers from a diet of turbocharged fuel burnt by its 6.2-liter, 12-cylinder, 575-hp, full-time all-wheel-drive powertrain. Remember: the faster you go, the faster you can do this (scroll down for the damage). |  |
 | The Lexus LF-A concept is rumored to hit 200 mph on the wings of a new V10. Dozens of photos out on the Web, but few real specs are available yet. |  |
| The Paul McCartney Lexus L400h is being raffled to benefit Adopt-a-Minefield. Give a donation - the worthy cause pours money into the nasty but crucial business of clearing minefields. Just be warned that the winner will have to drive around in a hybrid SUV splashed all over with pictures of a Hofner bass, shifting gears with a vintage Shure 55 Unidyne microphone. I kid you not. |  |
| What's wrong with Detroit? The Lincoln Zephyr, for one. The Big 3 have always borne the industrial imperative of wastefully feeding every little niche market from every single marque rather than focusing on total excellence in core brand demographics. Why does anyone need a "small" luxury car that won't stack up to Benz and Lexus? In metalflake amethyst, yet? You got me. |  |
 | Lotus Elise. Sportscar-geek friends of mine who've driven it swear this feral little gumdrop delivered the greatest 4-wheel fun of their lives. The Exige 240R model hits 60 in 3.9 and tops out at 155, Yummy, even with its clothes off (right). Pity it's 62,000 Euros. |  |
 | Pininfarina Maserati Birdcage 75th concept. Jellybean aerodynamics, a carbon-fiber crash tub and 700-hp 6-liter V12 were not what attracted this suave d00d (right) to the Maserati booth. No, it was someone more obvious, who was heard to answer his pickup line, "My car of the future? Why yes, I suppose this is the car of my future." Everyone now, sing after me: "AAAAMORRREEEEE ..." |  |
 | The 2006 Maybach 57S (left) and 1938 Maybach 38S (right) backed up to Mercedes-Benz's huge booth. The older model stars in Memoirs of a Geisha, while the newer one retails for $369,000 or so. With in-seat LCDs, laptop table, champagne chiller and noise-canceling headphones, who knows what the passenger's supposed to be up to. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. |  |
| Mazda MX5 customized by Troy Lee Designs. I'm a sucker for overblown airbrushing and fat wheel wells wrapped around oil-barrel rims. |  |
| Mitsubishi's Ralliart speed devision tore the 2-liter, 6-speed, AWD drivetrain out of an EVO VIII and shoehorned it into the much-sexier bodywork of an Eclipse. Tight, tight, tight. |  |
 | 'This cherried-out '63 Carrera 2 greets visitors to Porsche's stand-alone booth near West Hall. Peter Dunkel acquired it in 1990 and restored it to a condition it probably saw only once just as its racing career began. |  |
| Porsche unveiled this brand-stinking-new Cayman S coupe for the first time in North America. Their VP of marketing points out that California is Porsche AG's fourth-largest market in the world and accounts for 25% of all North American sales. Nice Boxster-Carrera crossover, with a water-cooled 6-cyl., 3.4-liter-engine that hits 171 mph. |  |
| The Saleen S7 reaches 60 in under 3 seconds and 200 mph before it quits, with a 750-hp motor driving the featherweight 2,950-pound supercar. |  |
 | Saturn's 2007 Sky roadster harkens visually to the Pontiac Solstice. With a price somewhere under $25,000, a 2.4-liter, 170-hp mill and a hot, low stance, it might snag a few enthusiasts who don't want to haggle with dealers over a ragtop. |  |
 | Dutch carmaker Spyker builds some sinfully beautiful machinery. The C8 Double 12 Supercharger (right) tops out at 215 mph. At right is the steampunk-looking cockpit, chromed and billeted to within an inch of its brick-suede life. $288,000, I'm sorry to report. |  |
 | Suzuki's P.X. concept debuted last October in Tokyo with three rows of Recaro seats as a sort of rolling chill-lounge. |  |
 | After years of pooling drool from the 4WD set, Toyota finally rolled out the clunky-sharp retro-shapedFJ Cruiser, which it promises to start selling this spring. Early specs have a 4-liter V6 dragging up to 5,000 pounds with a respectable 282 foot-pounds of torque.for around $20,000 to $26,000. |  |
 | Toyota also rolled out the Yaris. For somewhere around $11,000 to $13,000 you'll get a Euro-econo-pod that claims to get 40 mpg. More than 1 million European Yaris owners can't be wrong, can they? The custom paint improves its ho-hum looks, to be sure, but the car should do well among thrifty Angelenos. |  |
| Volkswagen unwrapped its nifty Eos roadster, which tucks its retractable hardtop away when it's sunny or you need to get wet fast. It'll carry a variety of engines ranging from a TDI diesel to a 250-hp V6, and an optional 600-watt sound system. Pricing details are tough to come by. Anyone? |  |
 | Volkswagen's gnarly GX3 concept sprang full-blown from its Simi Valley design shop, with broad hints that the company will actually build and sell the carbon-fiber tub-on-wheels for less than $17,000. Here's the official press release. Just imagine whipping up PCH or the 33 in this thing - and try not to think about flipping it. |  |
 | VW's legendary GTI has been reborn as - an ugly car. Volkswagen says the first boatload arrives in two weeks, loaded with 200-hp, 2-liter hatchbacks. Not my cup of tea designwise - more Honda Civic than Beetle, though |  |
 | Volvo showed off its SUVs in trail mufti and city duds in the person of the steroidally-geared-up XC70 All-Terrain(left) and director Brett Ratner's Evolve-tuned and tricked-out V8-powered XC90 (right). Pssst, hey, Brett: I touched your steering wheel. |  |
| The 2-year-old Volvo 3CC concept has already made the rounds in Europe and Japan, and so lands like overcooked leftovers on the plates of Angeleno gearheads who stay on top of the newest designs. It's a 3-seater juice-sucker - two in front and one in back of a one-piece, steel-framed carbon-fiber body, riding an electric powertrain to a top speed of 135 mph. No knobs - just wave your fingertips within 5mm of the flush-panel controls to run the lights, sound and air. |  |
| One more Auto Show insult to those of us with delicate sensibilities: An artist chopped up a perfectly gorgeous Volvo P1800ES and left it in neon flames. What a waste. |  |
