Watches/Cars - Day 2

So, we did end up making it to the auto show. I have been going to this show on and off for the last 20 years or so, and there are a few things that have changed over the years, but also things that have stayed the same. Some observations of things that stay the same:

*Disclaimer - the comments included in this post are those of the author, and only he will be able to shirk repsonsibility for them if anyone gets upset. It is not my intent to cause any harms or bad feelings, except with JJ, so if you are offended by anything I say, you clearly offend too easily, so get a life! Thank you for your attention.

1/ It is still very difficult to take decent pictures. There are either too many people in the way, or the cars are positioned so a clean, complete shot is impossible.

2/ Here is a change - fortunately as a result of the issue in #1 and my feelings towards cars in general, I don't feel the need to take as many pictures as I once did.

3/ The best cars are always locked - this p!sses me off to no end.

4/ #3 is not applied evenly aroud the various displays. Where Mercedes had virtually eveything available to sit in, BMW did not have their top cars open. I found this particularly frustrating as someone who is very interested in the BMW's. However, what I don't understand is why they had the Saturn Sky all locked up, yet the Pontiac Solstice (basically the same car in a different skin) was available to jump in at will. I guess this kind of sums up the logic at GM in general - there isn't any........

5/ All GM interiors are crap.

6/ The Lambos and Ferrari displays attract huge numbers of people. They are also not available for anyone to sit in, unless you happen to get an "invite" behind the rope. This usually involves a crass display of wealth, or a really hot chick hanging off your arm.

7/ Scantily clad women are used to attract people to a display less than in previous years, but are still there in abundance.

8/ People still insist on using aftermarket parts to ruin nice looking cars, or to make their crap looking car appear as something that it isn't. The emphasis has changed, but it's still very "bling bling"

Okay, enough of my ramblings......on with the cars!

Here is a shot of the car I would like John (Atomic) to consider before dropping the dosh on an Audi.....please John, come away from the dark side........



I am not a wagon guy, but this one was nice. All wheel drive in a 5 series wagon.

Since we started with a BMW, we should saty with BMW's for a bit!

Here is the new Alpina 7 series......500 bhp in a 7 body.




The M-Roadster.....I like it.




Just an attempt at an artsy shot........I stress the word "attempt"




Okay - it's now time for the holy grail portion of our display........it's a tough choice, but would it be the M6.........







Or the current M5.........????????????????????????????????






Now before certain indivduals who are known "new 5 series haters" jump all over me, I do love the previous M5 even more than this in terms of looks, but that 500 bhp V10 is calling to me...........

I must say that the M6 has it all in one package. I think it's a car you either love or hate, and I love it. If you have heard the growl that comes from the plain old 645 (I guess 650 now) then you will get a chill down your spine. I can only imagine the M6 is even better.

By now you are asking yourself "WTF! Did he only take BMW pics?"

No, I took some others......

For people from another place and time, I present you a Lambo for old time's sake......




I know we have at least one Jag fan here, so I present the new XKR. I have to say I like the styling of this one even better than the previous version. I will have to make a trip to the local dealer to take one for a spin.




Notice that the line is much nicer on the back end.......would be better if they would close the freaking trunk, but they had to prove that two sets of golf clubs would fit.....this seems to be a priority for those buying luxury cars.....



So Mazda had some god-awful creation on display...........



I worked my way around to get a shot of the front.......



And saw what I thought was a clear plastic grill? WTF? Well yes, yes it is....



Okay, I know that many/most grills are plastic these days, but did they have to make it so obvious? The paint that looks like bare aluminum is sweet (I saw this many years ago when the M3 was released and it was nice, but not available on a car) but the look is totally interrupted by this clear plastic thingy on the front.


For Ed, a selection of Aston Martin fine autos.......










And a nice Bentley for good measure.......




Okay John......just 'cause I know you'll whine if I don't include this......




If I had a lot of money, and I was either 17 or 70 I might appreciate this one more. Sorry, after seeing The Donald drive one in the opening sequence of The Apprentice last night that pretty much kills it for me.......






For those who are asking: "Where are all the North American models?" I could point out that many of the cars shown have connections to North American brands, but it would be too much work to list them - yes, I'm lazy, get over it!


However, I did take a shot of this:



I was always a Firebird guy rather than a Camero guy, but since this is all they had, this is what I took pictures of.

Okay, another arsty shot (attempt):



From a 1964 XKE that I would love to own..........

Now JJ, I didn't want you to feel left out, but despite my exhaustive search I could not find any vehicle at this show sepcifically for transporting sheep. I apologize, but us Canadians want "nuttin to do with your muttin."

Those are all the cars I felt like posting. I did take some other shots around the general area where the show was for your pleasure......

Here is the ACC (Air Canada Center) home of the Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Raptors. Neither of these teams has any shot at winning anything, just in case you were wondering....



This is the Skydome (okay, it's now called the Roger's Center but that guy is a jerk so I'll call it by it's "real" name) the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. They won the World Series some time ago (if there are any Braves or Phillies fans out there, I apologize for opening an old wound......well, not really! ) but generally suck now. The show is held in the Convention Center and also in the Skydome itself, so many cars are on the playing field, with a lot of bling vendors around the 100 level concourse.



Does every major city have a "Union Station"? well, here is a quick shot of ours from the inside - tried to capture the stone work - it's very nice.



Just a quick shot of one of the various covered walkways around (this one is the Skyway or Skywalk or something like that....). Although we stayed in a hotel down the block and across the street, we did not have to set foot outside once to get to the auto show, as we were able to follow the underground tunnels and covered walkways right from the hotel to the show and back. This meant that we could leave our heavy winter coats in the room and just wear a shirt to the show - it gets hot in there with all the people, so this is a big deal.



So, the only other thing we wanted to do while in Toronto was go to something called Body Worlds. It was at the Science Center and features actual human bodies and parts that have had the skin/flesh removed to various degrees, and then have been preserved with some type of process that uses a polymer. It is supposed to be quite the display of art and science together (if you appreciate that kind of thing) but it was the last weekend in Toronto and we did not have tickets booked. We tried to use the Concierge at the hotel, but when we asked they told us flat out that the only times available would be between midnight and 7 am.... I guess we were not the only people wanting to do this. Oh well - here is a link:

www.bodyworlds.com

So, that concluded our trip. Thanks again for reading - I hope you enjoy the pictures.

[JJ Irani]

Hey Al,

Thanks for a pictoral feast. That was truly magnificent. Enjoyed looking at all those gorgeous cars. What camera were you using, BTW? Results are pretty impressive!!

JJ

[C.J.]

Thanks for another awesome post, Al I loved the M6

Great post Al, but why'd you shoot the A6 offroad version for me? I thing it's fugly... I much prefer the standard 'road' wagon.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Atomic

Great post Al, but why'd you shoot the A6 offroad version for me? I thing it's fugly... I much prefer the standard 'road' wagon.

Picky picky, aren't we?

[Launch Mini]

Nice pics.
Thanks for taking me along. drool drool
I like the BMW 6 Convertible. There is one around our office here. Very nice car. ( I know you don't have a pic, but they are nice)

[AJC]

Originally Posted by Atomic

Great post Al, but why'd you shoot the A6 offroad version for me? I thing it's fugly... I much prefer the standard 'road' wagon.

......and the road version is not.......

Aaron

Originally Posted by AJC

......and the road version is not.......

Aaron

and this from an SUV driver.

[AJC]

SUV= Sports Utility Vehicle ???

Originally Posted by AJC

SUV= Sports Utility Vehicle ???

SUV = Stupid Utility Vehicle.

[dman]

What a great post Al, thanks!!

I think that M5 is a knockout!!

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Hey Al,

Thanks for a pictoral feast. That was truly magnificent. Enjoyed looking at all those gorgeous cars. What camera were you using, BTW? Results are pretty impressive!!

JJ

The same camera I used to take pictures of you with last year - amazingly, it still works!

Originally Posted by Atomic

Great post Al, but why'd you shoot the A6 offroad version for me? I thing it's fugly... I much prefer the standard 'road' wagon.

I "thing" it's fugly too, but thought you would like it.....sorry I didn't really pay attention to what model it was......sorry, but they are all VW's to me.....

Originally Posted by Atomic

SUV = Stupid Utility Vehicle.

Now John, you know the correct term is "Stupid Useless Vehicles"........

No offesne intended for those who drive these things.......I would not really want either, but would take an SUV over a mini-van any day......

[dman]

Originally Posted by Avalon

Now John, you know the correct term is "Stupid Useless Vehicles"........

No offesne intended for those who drive these things.......I would not really want either, but would take an SUV over a mini-van any day......

Very important statement there at the end pal.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by dman

Very important statement there at the end pal.

C'mon, D. You would look way cool in a min-van

[dman]

Originally Posted by C.J.

C'mon, D. You would look way cool in a min-van

I drive a Texas mini-van, it is called a Chevy Tahoe.

[Rockrolex]

Thanks for the auto show, Al. And thanks for thinking of me and my dream.

And I always thought SUV stood for Stupid, Ugly, and Vomitatious. Once in a while the rental car people try to foist one off on me. I march right back to the counter and tell them to give me a car. I don't drive big fugly trucks.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by dman

I drive a Texas mini-van, it is called a Chevy Tahoe.

When we first had Angie my wife wanted a mini-van. You know, trying to do the family thing. I put my foot down and said no, so of course, we got one It was an olive green Nissan Quest. It looked like a friggen brussell sprout It lasted about four months then we took it back and got a Pathfinder. We lost about four grand, but honestly, it was worth it. That was 1998 and to this day I cringe when I see them.

[dman]

Andie and I both drive them. She drives a Lexus RX300 and me the Tahoe. I actually choose both of the cars after my Mazada sports car was totalled by a Dodge truck. There are so many 'efin cowboys driving around here that I wanted both of us to have a bit more steel surrounding us.

For the record, both of us are very cautious drivers, but the people here drive like crap!!

[Launch Mini]

We've got a Honda CR-V. Not a mini van, not an SUV.
But it can pull our quads, get our gear to the cabin & is reasonable on gas.
So a bit of a compromise.
Plus I let Cindy drive it.

[dman]

Originally Posted by Launch Mini

We've got a Honda CR-V. Not a mini van, not an SUV.
But it can pull our quads, get our gear to the cabin & is reasonable on gas.
So a bit of a compromise.
Plus I let Cindy drive it.

Andie actually gave me the green light if I really want a Mini, but it would not be the responsible family thing to do, so I balked.

I will get her grail car for her eventually, a convertable BMW, that is all she wants. It will look better without two car seats in the back though so we will wait.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Avalon

The same camera I used to take pictures of you with last year - amazingly, it still works!

Whoa!! Okay, tosser #3, can we redirect that question to dear Jacqui? I'm sure she will give me an appropriate reply!

Originally Posted by C.J.

I put my foot down and said no, so of course, we got one

LOL!!! I think we have all been in similar situations to this, Craig......

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Whoa!! Okay, tosser #3, can we redirect that question to dear Jacqui? I'm sure she will give me an appropriate reply!

Now JJ, I have to keep the pressure on to hold my #3 spot, because there are a lot of "wanna be" tossers here gunning for top spot.........

[padi56]

Great pics Al ,SUV = Stupid Utility Vehicle agree with that John.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by Avalon

LOL!!! I think we have all been in similar situations to this, Craig......

You should have heard the earfull I gave her, Al . For that matter, she should have heard it too, I waited until she left the room before I said anything

Originally Posted by C.J.

You should have heard the earfull I gave her, Al . For that matter, she should have heard it too, I waited until she left the room before I said anything

Oh you poor whipped little thing....I feel for ya!

[mailman]

Great pics Al. Looks like you two had a good time.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by Avalon

Oh you poor whipped little thing....I feel for ya!

Al, theres a difference between whipped and scared.............................I'm scared