 | Nissan rolled out its 2008 Altima Coupe, due out this summer with a 270hp, 3.5-L V6 and optional CVT or 6-speed manual. Pretty nice job, borrowing some cues from the Z. |  |
| The Audi R8 hunkers at the unveiling, awaiting its closeup while the far less-interesting TT Coupe is being touted. The ubercar's 4.2L non-turbo V-8 and Quattro drivetrain push its aluminum frame up to 100 km/hr in 4.2 seconds - topping out at 300 km/hr. Scary fast. |  |
| Pity the mere mortals who cannot afford the Bentley Continental Flying Spur. At a mere $169,990, its twin-turbo 6.0L, 550hp V-12 puts you up to 60 in 4.9 seconds and tops out at 195. As Conan would say, it lets you crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women. Mind the gas-guzzler tax, though ... |  |
| Tight as a drum and crisp as chips, the BMW Z4 M Coupe comes with a 3.2L, 24-valve dual-overhead-cam 6 for about $50,795. |  |
| Acura fielded its LeMans racer alongside its more sedate '07 lineup. I arrived too early for the Acura Advanced Sedan Concept, which looks like futuristic in an uncomfortable, Soylent Greenish way. |  |
| I just don't get Buick any more. While the rest of the world is trending inexorably away from SUVs, they introduce the 2008 Enclave, a "luxury crossover SUV" that looks just like every other jellybean bloatwagon on the market - bigass 275hp V6, 19-inch rims and all. Can anyone explain the durability of this marque? |  |
 | The 6.0L V8 Vette-powered Callaway C16 is a serious slice of badassness. Only $119,865 and you, too can blast from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. |  |
 | Chevy had better build its new Camaro without swerving too far from this laser-sharp concept. The car's been touring the shows for a year or two now, and after seeing it, I can assure you, the photos don't do it justice. Staggeringly good design. |  |
| Chevy's calling it an '09 concept, with the promise of a pricetag south of $20,000 base for the V6, but may be able to pay to jack it up to a 400hp, 6.0-liter V8. This car's worth seeing at the show. Once you do, you, too can write a letter begging Bob Lutz to greenlight it. UPDATE: Jalopnik says it's due out here in '08, but in Australia first. |  |
 | Another letter-perfect retro muscle car, the Dodge Challenger concept isn't approved yet for production. But again, the fantasy of reliving long-forgotten sweaty fumblings in the black-leatherette back seat probably has more than a few old gearheads heavily petitioning Daimler Chrysler to do the right thing. |  |
| They dress well in the Ferrari booth. This is the 599GTB ... and a friend. |  |
| A flying 'Vette. Why? Just because someone was able to con the fire marshal into letting them string a 2.5-ton advertisement from the ceiling in earthquake country with four little cables no thicker than your finger. |  |
 | Giugiaro's reworking of the Ford Mustang - easily one of the most-mobbed debuts at Media Days. Dig the trippy cowhide floormats - one of the "Italian" touches added by the legendary design studio. |  |
| Here, Fabrizio Giugiaro (right) shows off the carbon- fiber- and billet- aluminum- trimmed engine bay, which contains a 500-hp, twin-screw supercharger upgrade for the stock 4.3L, 24-valve V8. |  |
| Not your traditional exhaust ports - four of 'em, set into the GMC Equinox's carbon-fiber rear clip, spit out nothing but water vapor from its hydrogen fuel-cell engine. Now, if only they can figure out where the hell they're going to fuel these things ... |  |
 | The Dodge Hemi Nitro, rethunk by Daimler Chrysler's Skunkwerks, features a 5.7L retool of Mopar's renowned hemi engine, spinning blinged-out 22-inch Alcoa rims beneath flared purple-metalflake fenders until you need to use the 14-inch Brembos to bring it all to a halt. Unbelievably difficult-to-photograph paint job, that must be staggering in full sunlight ... |  |
 | Honda rolled out three concepts, the first two of which were the fuel-cell-powered CFX (left) and the next-gen city-hauler Step Bus (right). Again - fuel cells will be great when there's a nationwide hydrogen manufacture- and- distribution network. Until then, I'll be more excited to see the Short Bus, er, StepBus, even in its institutional green. Ugly/cute, to be sure. |  |
 | The Honda Remix coupe concept begs two questions: How much does it cost to make a car body entirely out of brushed aluminum? Can they install enough rearview videocams to make up for the panel-van-sized blind spots? Seriously, though - I liked this one, and I'll be surprised if some of the design cues don't make it into the next CRX. |  |
 | This is just lovely. Daimler Chrysler worked up this Imperial concept ("just for fun," I overheard a DC rep say - yeah, right) with the same bullishly aggressive styling seen in the latest 300. |  |
| The suicide doors are fun, but more than that I liked the crisp wheelwell tucks, the burly shoulders and the general "home, James" air. This car showed in Detroit in '06. |  |
| Jaguar's next-gen roadster, the XKR debuts at $92,500 with a 32-valve, 4.2-liter AJ-V8 under the hood and a booth soundtrack featuring Willem Defoe murmuring things like "Gorgeous makes its presence known within 5 seconds ..." |  |
 | Jeep's Compass (L) and Patriot (R). Back to the drawing board, please. |  |
| Kermit the Frog shills for the Ford Escape hybrid. |  |
| The Lamborghini Murcielago in black, with some representatives, in white. |  |
 | Maserati fielded a LeMans racer in lustrous metalflake pearl. Not quite as nutty as last year's Birdcage concept, but twice as gorgeous. |  |
 | Daimler Chrysler's nosebleed-pricey Maybach division built just one Exelero Vision concept car. They raced the 700hp V-12 monster up to 215 mph just to test high-performance Fulda tires, and then retired it to the show circuit. It's what Bruce Wayne would be driving if his parents had fought off that mugger. |  |
| Mazda's new '07 MX5 comes with 2.0L four-banger and a snappy little retractable hardtop for $24,350 MSRP. Of course, the cruel math of loan payments puts the end number at more like $39,775. |  |
| Mercedes reskinned its CL550 luxo-coupe around a 5.5-liter, V8 putting 352 horses to the pavement and you to 60 in less than 5 1/2 seconds. |  |
| The Mercedes-Benz R Class now comes with a cleaner-burning Bluetec diesel that puts you to 60 in an amazing-for-a-diesel 6.6 seconds. I'm still torn between minivan/SUV loathing for the scope of this crossover, and appreciation for its modelmakers' mad skills with speed lines. You? |  |
| Tight as a Swedish model's hairstyle, the Saab 9-3 SportCombi starts at 27,170 and picks up - in spirit at least - where the now-dead humpback '94 model line left off. Best to forget the thoroughly dull 9-3 sedan of the past few years. This, I like. |  |
| However, I can't say I like Saturn's newly restyled '07 Vue Green Line's looks. They tossed out the nicely squared creases of the first design, dumbing it down to the same soccer-mom blandness seen on Kia and Hyundai SUVs. But hey, it's a hybrid, with gas mileage of 27/32. Front-wheel drive only, though, so forget the Rubicon Trail. |  |
| Pontiac's booth featured the heavily reflectorized Red Bull Pontiac Solstice racer, built by OC drift king Rhys Millen to shred rubber in circles at 500hp. |  |
| Maybe their marketing budget isn't tailored to the masses, but the Spyker motor company of Holland should lobby hard to put Daniel Craig into its C8 Spyder next time around. Two words: Sex. Bomb. |  |
| Dodge's SRT8 Charger SuperBee! A return to Mopar's muscular street-rod roots, the limited-edition SuperBee boasts a 6.1-liter HemiA V8 putting out a blistering 425 horsepower. |  |
 | ASC whipped up this stoopid/stupid Suzuki SX4, with front-and-rear-mounted XBox360 game decks. The driver's seat has a wheel-mounted gamepad and a projector that shows the game through the windshield onto the inside of the flipped-up hood. |  |
| The Toyota FJ, showing how heavily you can crank its suspension offroad |  |
| The new Aston-Martin Vantage Roadster made its world debut in L.A. (what better place?) with a 32-valve, 4.3-liter V8 churning you and your rich hollywood friends off to the next velvet-rope nightclub for more celebutard hysterics at a top speed of 175 mph. Comes with a 6-speed manual, but you might opt for the paddle-shift auto. Still, it is a handsome bastard |  |
 | The Goteborgers turned out a slick and trim sport coupe in the Volvo C30 - with rear glass vaguely reminiscent of the bloody-marvelous old P1800 ES. It starts at somewhere under $25,000 for the 2.4-liter 168hp 5-banger. |  |
| Volkswagen showed off the '07 Eos, a hardshelled convertible that'll run you from $28,000 to $40,000, according to some quotes. The silver paint doesn't do its lines justice |  |
 | VW also rolled out the Tiguan, a mini-Touareg expected to debut some time in the '08 production year. The concept has a 2.0-liter "clean" TDI diesel packing 140hp and 200 ft/lb of torque. Sticker is rumored to start at around $24,000. |  |
| Too many cars! A show-goer chills out in one of VW's entertainment pods. |  |
