Carroll Shelby's Ford GR-1

• Bentley Show Car - still no clear details on which Bentley this is. My guess is it's something a bit more practical than the LeMans-lookin' Hunaudieres that graced Pebble Beach five years ago, but it'll have to plaster your retinas to the back of your skull to surpass the voluptuous charms of the Continental GT.
  UPDATE - It's the Arnage Drophead Coupe - an obvious next-gen production model and a serious abuse of the "concept vehicle" label. Photos of the ragtop Bentley, three dozen other cars and the dozen-odd "Ultimate L.A. Machine" concepts can be found here.
• Ford Shelby GR-1 - a gutsy two-seater V-10 - the visual demon spawn of J. Mays' Ford GT and the '05 Mustang.
• Ford Shelby Cobra - A sort of Viper-ized body treatment for the firebreathing old bastard, retooled under the skin with the same 6.4-liter 10-banger as the GR-1
• Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Hybrid - A sedate-looking light SUV that travels 186 miles per tankful of hydrogen and emits only - water.

  The Nomad - rear-drive, turbo 2.2

• Chevrolet Nomad - The general idea (2-door sport wagon) been kicking around since '99, but this will be the latest iteration's first visit to L.A. The nostalgic revision (think '55 'Vette nose welded to an '04 Audi wagon) falls into that goopy retro-stylee swamp between the bang-on good taste of the new Cooper Mini and the tarnished charms of the common-as-cockroaches-now PT Cruiser that my friend Dennis calls "retro-boogers." I like it. Your mileage may vary.
• Jeep Rescue - a 4-door, diesel tank with on-board AC power and satellite phone, 37-inch run-flat tires, hazard-spotting cameras under the chassis. GRUNT.
• Daimler-Chrysler ME412 - D-C unveiled this in Detroit on Monday - a quad turbo V12 supercar clocked (at least in computer sims) at 248mph with a 0-60 time of, um, 2.9 seconds.

  Chrysler ME-412. Such a thing as too fast?

  I'm sorry, if concepts are really precursors to plant runs, I'm just having a little trouble envisioning a civilian use for the production model of this monster.
• Mitsubishi Sport Truck - A rakish little pickup with paddle-shifters, 22-inch dub rims and an onboard MP3 player. It debuted in Detroit last winter, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.
• Dodge Slingshot - In the tradition of the Copperhead and other 2-seat wet dreams, Mopar pulls out a weird little targa-topped 3-banger that claims 45 mpg and looks as though it can't make up its mind whether it's a BMW M3 Coupe or just a ripped-off Honda Del Sol.
• Toyota FTX - A handsome, year-old dream truck geared toward blue-collar ride-lust, with a lift-gate and integrated, hidden, collapsible toolbox. And finally, the weirdest of all:

  BMW H2R - Forget the Hindenburg

• BMW H2R - A hydrogen-powered land-speed record holder - with a carbon-fiber body and a 12-cylinder 6-liter motor swiped from the BMW 760i. Best bet, for sheer geek value, but it has a practical purpose. BMW RnD has been banking heavily on hydrogen as the Next Big Fuel, and is already running a demo fleet of H-powered concepts.

• California Advanced Product Creation (Ford)
• Calty Design Research (Toyota)
• 5350 Industrial Concepts (General Motors)
• Honda Research & Development
• Hyundai & Kia Design and Technical Center
• Mazda Research & Development
• Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design of N.A.
• Mitsubishi Research & Design of N.A.
• Pacifica Design Center (DaimlerChrysler)
• Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California

When:
January 7-16, 2005

Fridays 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Saturdays 9 a.m. - 10:00 p.m..

Sundays 9 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Mon. – Thu. 11 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Where:
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, California 90015

Admission:
Adults $10, Seniors (65+) $7 on weekdays, Children Free (12 and under when accompanied by an adult)

Parking:
$10 at Convention Center, $25 Valet, $8 Grand Ave. structure, with free shuttle, (Open weekends only)