The Auto Show

NewMexiKen attended the New Mexico International Auto Show Saturday (it runs until 10 tonight at the Albuquerque Convention Center). It’s not L.A. or Detroit (both of which I’ve attended at one time), or Geneva or Shanghai, and is, frankly sadly lacking in concept cars, but it was still fun. I was born in the Motor City. I love cars.

The nature of the layout (in three different rooms) dictated the sequence of cars so, without too much planning, the expensive car room was saved for last, always a good move.

I love that car colors are now five words long; for example, Red Rock Crystal Clear Coat or Inferno Red Crystal Pearl Coat (Chrysler), the later too orange, the former pretty nice. (Lexus has a Royal Ruby Metallic that was “the” red of the day.)

The first car I fell in love with was the Acura TL S, a 286hp sports sedan that gets 20 city, 28 highway. Give me that car in Nighthawk Black Pearl with the 5-speed automatic (I’m a wuss and wouldn’t want the 6-speed manual) and I thought I could drive it happily right up until I move into the assisted living facility. In the room that had Ford, GM, Chrysler and Honda, and all their brands, it was the car I wanted. (The one they had was Alabaster Silver Metallic, but I could picture the Nighthawk Black.)

(As an aside, I must say, I think I could happily sit in the seat of a Honda 2000 to read or watch TV. Never, ever, been in a car seat that was so molded to my shape.)

Then, it was the Isuzu, Suzuki, Toyota room. No love here, but some sense of utility. How about those big Tundra trucks? I could pull a nice fifth-wheel RV with one of those. Or that Prius with it’s 51 miles per gallon, that would be nice. We didn’t stay too long in this room.

Last was the fancy cars room — Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti, Jaguar, Audi, Porsche, BMW, Volvo. And Mini. Every 12-year-old boy in the place was sitting in the driver’s seat of a Mini, or waiting to. Cute, but I was 12 in the fifties.

First, the Mercedes. You knew you were in a $100,000 car (one was, I think, a $130,000 car). I can’t tell you exactly what makes a car worth $100,000, but I know it when I sit in it. Same for the BMW 550i, a $65,000 car. I could be happy with these sedans. Or even the Lexus GS400h, a hybrid, another $65,000 automobile.

But the Porsche Cayman won my heart. This is the new coupe based on the Boxster. Reportedly it’s solid body makes it handle more like a 911 than a Boxster. Top track speed 171. At the end of the day, I wanted a Cayman S in Basalt Black Metallic. Christmas is coming.

And what better way to follow-up the auto show than a burger and shake at the 66 Diner?