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3 Cars to Look For at Detroit 2012

December 26, 2011 by Matt

Cadillac ATS Teaser Profile Concept Detroit

Opening in two weeks on January 9, the 2012 Detroit Auto Show promises to be one of the more exciting in recent years. Here are 3 concepts or new car introductions to look out for:

Cadillac ATS. Shown at top in a teaser photo, Cadillac’s long-awaited BMW 3 series fighter is set to be announced with nearly as much fanfare as the Corvette ZR1; that is to say, with “special feature sections” aplenty in every major automotive publication, loads of technical cutaways of the car and soul-searching interviews of every last engineer involved, all thrust forward in a kind of “look what we can do!” quasi-patriotic dog-and-pony show. Color me cynical, but I’d have a lot more respect for many of the products that emanate from GM if each new one wasn’t hailed as the Second Coming in its respective category. I understand they’re hawking their wares, but a little discretion would go a long way, especially for a car intended to compete with one of the all-time great “substance over style” dynasties. In any case, now that the admittedly-nice CTS has grown into a 5 series opponent, a niche previously occupied by the STS, the ATS arrives to fill the void further down in the lineup. As stomach-churning at the marketing machine can be, oftentimes there’s an actual good car underneath the hype, and I’m eager to see what Cadillac has cooked up.

Honda Acura NSX Concept Iron Man Avengers Purple

New Honda/Acura NSX Concept. Bandwagoning on the company profile-raising success of the Lexus LFA and Nissan GT-R, Honda will retract the veil ever so slightly on their plans for a resurrection of the much-missed NSX namplate. Teased in Iron Man 2 and the upcoming Avengers movie, Honda looks set to reveal a concept showing basic design and engineering direction, if not a production-ready vehicle. I think I speak for a lot of enthusiasts when I say after well-nigh 10 years of rumors and smoke signals, we’ll take anything.

Lexus Design Concept Red Detroit

Lexus Design Concept. Perhaps stung by dual criticisms of the astronomically high price of their excellent LFA and the lukewarm reception of their new “pinched mouth” styling theme, Lexus commissioned their studios in California to whip up a new design direction for their entry-level IS range. I’m optimistic about this for a couple of reasons: One of my all-time favorite Japanese designs, the first-generation Lexus SC coupe, was penned by Toyota’s California facility, and it’s a potential sign Toyota has recognized the oh-so-trendy “tortured fascia” look—sported by at least one car from seemingly every east Asian automaker, from Hyundai to Nissan—is a non-starter. Show us something classically gorgeous, Lexus.

Filed under: Auto Shows, Car Industry, News

2 Comments

  1. Pavel says:

    Any news about the debut of the G55/G65 AMG at Detroit’s Show?

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