For the 111 th year, automakers, some 39 of them, will display their wares at the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles over the next 10 days. The event is expected to draw more than 100 million visitors, and for good reason. If you like cars(who really doesn’t) the goods will
be on display like nowhere else. This is the car capitol of the world and the manufacturers know that by pulling out all the stops.

Some interesting facts, as I dabbled in and out of the numerous press events held the week
prior to the show:

- People aren’t buying cars like they used to. Trucks and SUV’s drive the majority of sales in the industry;
- The Toyota Rav4 is the best-selling non-truck in the United States;
- The Kia Soul accounts for 100,00 of the 600,000 units Kia sells here each year;
- Volkswagen will have an all-electric vehicle in 2020 and plans to make it the new “people’s” car, bringing green cars to every household in America;
- Cars today not only brake, and swerve, and park themselves, if given the chance, but most manufacturers have autonomous vehicles in their lineup, where the driver does no driving whatsoever, but are waiting for laws to be passed before they are available to
the public;
- Honda has a hybrid, the Insight, that gets 52 mpg, IN THE CITY! No wonder that it took home Green Car of the Year honors;
- Subaru has a sexy little sports car in the $20,000 range;
- Hyundai will have 7 different SUV’s in their portfolio, with an option of 3 different drive train options, making them one of the hottest competitors in the field;
- Nissan first exhibited their automobiles at the LA Car Show in 1958;
- A Saudi backed company, the Rivian will sell all electric trucks and SUV’s that look more like UFO’s than cars, in 2020;
- Mitsubishi took home Green SUV car of the year with the Outlander PREV. Really? Mitsubishi? And it looks great;
- The Jaguar I-Pace beat out Tesla and others, to bag Green Luxury car off the year;
- Tesla only showed 3 cars at this show, but man are they cool;
- Mercedes Benz boasts the highest customer loyalty in the luxury market, and so their formula for success is “get the customers when they are young, and keep them for life.”

They plan to do this with their new A Class which replaces the popular CLA, which drew many younger and first time Mercedes buyers. From there, the upwardly mobile Mercedes owner presumably moves up to the GLE which is an on and off road utility vehicle that seats 7, boasts
a state of the art touch screen for entertainment and overall operation of the vehicle, as well as a suspension system that allows the car to dance and strut among the best of any lowriders. They showed this off at their press event.
But if you go by Mercedes, check out the awesome AMG GT R PRO. It is the top of the line amongst MB’s high performance vehicles, and the looks of it are absolutely gorgeous.
As are the new BMW’s, X7 and X8, introduced for the first time, here in Los Angeles, with the X8 sporting as convertible option. Stunning. My choice, if I were strolling the aisles with an unlimited budget, would probably be the I8 Roadster, with its gull wing doors, and unbelievable
sex appeal.
Or, maybe the Acura NSX, in blinding, bright orange. The car is impossibly attractive, and no doubt does 0-60 in a couple seconds, as if I would ever need that. Ha!
The cherry red Lexus LC 500 would be hard to turn away from, if I were buying. It is sleek, yet muscular, and has that “all eyes on me” thing going on. That is why we buy cars, right?
No, no, my heritage demands I “marry” the Maserati Gran Tourisimo, displayed here, also in the cherry red. Have you heard those puppies on the road. It out “jaguars” the jaguars, if you know what I mean. You here one of those, and all heads turn. That works.
There is just one little problem-each of these gems are in the $150,000 range.
Which brings me to another great reason to go to the car show-the concept cars. After all, automobiles are all about fantasy, and image, and dreams, and even a little magic, and two such beauties caught my interest at this show.
The first wasn’t a car, as much as it was a traveling lounge-the Icona Nucleus. It is huge, and looks more like a Martian spacecraft, than an automobile for driving on asphalt. It took my breath away. Did this vision actually move? Could it really be? I was stunned. The interior was
like the newest model of the Starship Enterprise.
And then there was the Infiniti Prototype 10. It is a slice of silver ether, both throwback, as if in a ‘40’s sci-fi movie, and at the same time ultra-modern timeless, which I know makes no sense at all. But that is what it did to me, took me to another dimension. If this car was placed vertical, it would launch, and take it and all of us out of this banal universe into the other world where all else pays no never mind. It was it.
And that my friends, is worth the price of admission. That magical, awe-filled moment, which might never again be recreated-remember, these are concept cars; there is no likelihood they will ever return, or materialize in any form other than this moment-is what auto shows are all about.
Finally, on my way back to earth, there was the Karlmann King. It is not a concept car, and it borrows it’s inspirational looks from the stealth SR71 Blackbird. No doubt it is not detectable by radar. Known by men as “the wow car”, or by women as “the origami car”, it is a monstrosity of an all-terrain assault vehicle without a curved line. It might cut you if you brush up against it. Nearly 20 feet long, 10 feet high, and 10 feet wide, it can go as fast as 87 mph, but the world would surely come to an end. It is a sight to be seen.
And, like I said, it is not a concept car. This car is available, for a mere $2 million. It comes with a 40 inch high def television set, which doubles as a screen shield from your driver. And, rest assured, if you are in the market, only 8 other such transformers would co-exist on planet Earth.

The LA AUTO SHOW runs through December 9 th . Check it out!