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Photography by Matt Chow

You asked for more event coverage, and we are more than happy to deliver. We are kicking off our first HIN event coverage of the year with the Boost Mobile Nightshift, which was held in Austin, TX this past weekend. We’ve got plenty of photos from the car show, and even more photos of the models. We look forward to October when Hot Import Nights roars into Dallas for another energy packed event.

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Photo credit: Zerin Dube

Photo from our upcoming coverage of the Audi Winter Driving Experience, featuring a driving impression of the Audi A5 Clean Diesel.

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Story by Robert S. Schultz

The Chicago Auto Show may not be first on the annual schedule of automotive extravaganzas. But don’t even suggest it is the “second city” of shows. In square footage alone—1.3 million—it is the largest show in North America. And though Detroit presents the majority of premieres each year, Chicago scores its share of noteworthy debuts. As a mighty winter storm pelted McCormick Place with rain, sleet, snow and the city’s trademark breezes, we visited the auto makers’ press events, among them the much-anticipated coming-out party for the Dodge Challenger.

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Story by Jack Baruth; photos by Zerin Dube and Carl Modesette

Are you sick of the Detroit Auto Show yet? Have the endless broken embargoes, family-vacation-disposable-camera-quality photographs, hilariously car-ignorant reporting, and faux-world-weary meta-coverage vomited across the blogosphere finally made you permanently allergic to the condition known as NAIAS? We don’t blame you. It’s been less than ten days since the ZR-1 made its majestic rotating-platform ascension above the crowd at the Friday-night “GM Style” opening event, and it already seems as if 2008 Detroit Show coverage has been with us longer than the previous-generation Land Cruiser.

The farther away we get from the show and its seven thousand sweating journalists, however, the easier it becomes to get a bit of perspective on the whole thing, and we therefore humbly ask you to hang on for just one more article. There won’t be any outrageous Chinese-car-company-chairman stunts in this one. Nor will there be any straight-from-the-show-floor photos that make those old shots of the Loch Ness Monster look like Ansel Adams’ best work. Instead, we’ll simply recap the show and award the Rockers, Suckers, and Snoozers which made the ‘08 show one to both remember and forget. Let’s get started.

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Photos by Zerin Dube and Carl Modesette

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Story by Jack Baruth; photos by Zerin Dube and Carl Modesette

“Please, broadcast media only.” Toyota’s bouncers were all up in our grille, yo, and we weren’t in the mood to hear it. It seemed like only yesterday (because, well, it was only yesterday) that we’d watched Dodge herd cattle down Jefferson Avenue for amusement, but as usual Toyota had done the American manufactuer one better, forcing the Press As A Whole to line up for approximately an hour at the entrance to Cobo’s Riverview Ballroom before being, er, herded through a narrow gate and a humiliating little inspection, as if we were… cattle ourselves! And just when Dubspeed Driven’s little herd of literary longhorns had made it to the entrance, we were shoved aside so the television people could just breeze through! What? The? Foxtrot?

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Story by Jack Baruth; photos by Zerin Dube and Carl Modesette

Day One of the NAIAS, which is called the “Detroit Show” by pretty much everybody in the free world, because NAIAS sounds like something one would discuss with one’s proctologist behind closed doors… there was a distinct odor on the street. Was it the sharp tang of fifty-pound dumps taken by the herd of very expensive-looking cattle herded down Jefferson Avenue to introduce the Dodge Ram? Was it the acrid whiff of a heart-stopping “pyrotechnic” at Ford’s F-150 unveiling? Perhaps it was the reek of terror as Toby Keith bumbled his way through TelePrompter lines clearly written by a Phantom Menace-era George Lucas: “I am a platinum artist. I make platinum records. Is there a play-ti-numm truck out thair for me?”

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Post by Kasey Kagawa

Ford’s taken a lot of flak recently over their somewhat lack-luster debuts (2008 Ford Focus, anyone?), and rightly so. As we’ve endlessly heard from the various media outlets and the teeming millions of commenters on automotive websites, Ford’s been dropping the ball on their “Bold Moves” theme at a time when they need to be stepping up their game and showing not just US consumers but the rest of the automotive industry what they can really do. The new Ford Flex, however, shows that Ford does have the capability to turn it around.

There’s been one thing that people have been consistently forgetting when they say that Ford hasn’t been following their own principles, and that is the fact that it takes a considerable amount of time to design a new car. Ford’s “Way Forward” and “Bold Moves” initiatives are just over a year old, and it takes at least that amount of time to design and debut a new car. The Ford Edge and new Focus were influenced by these programs, but they didn’t go from greenlit concept to completion under them. The Flex is probably the first car that’s gone from start to finish with these programs, and it shows in the design. The improved interior design from the Edge is present, but the exterior design is much more distinctive than recent efforts, and integrates the Modern Styling or Dave design themes from the 427 concept much better than previous cars, especially the Focus, which looks unbalanced and like it had that three-bar grill slapped on it at the last minute. The exterior design for the Flex is definitely unique for a minivan, which tend to be much more plain and uninteresting in their designs, but the creases, tasteful use of chrome trim, and the distinctive paint scheme makes this a minivan that you won’t lose in a parking lot.

While the interior and exterior designs are right on target and make this car a prime example of Ford of North America’s ability to keep up with the leaders in automotive design, the name is a bit of a puzzle to me. I don’t quite understand what was wrong with Fairlane, to be honest. It’s perfectly representative of the way the car looks and of the images the design is intended to create. Hell, look at their own promotional material. When I look at the photograph at the top of this post, taken from their own press pack, I don’t think of Flex. In fact, the only things that spring to mind when I think of the word Flex are Funkmaster Flex and large, overly-muscled men, neither of which seem to be particularly congruent with the image Ford is trying to create with their new car. I understand how they got to this point, I really do. Ford listened to their marketing department, who then waved around focus group studies that demanded a more “urban,” “hip,” and “edgy” aspect to their cars. The thing is, Ford’s been listening to their marketing department a bit too much as of late, and it’s time that they learned to take a chance and go with what they’re hearts and guts are telling them, not what the focus groups tell them to do. After all, isn’t that what “Bold Moves” are all about?

2008 Ford Flex - Dubspeed Driven Photo Gallery [Dubspeed Driven]

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Dubspeed Driven Event Coverage @ Import Face Off Houston
Gulf Greyhound Park @ Houston, Texas

2007 Detroit Auto Show News Releases:

Ahh, January. We’re just now recovering from our New Year’s hangovers, and it’s already time to get on the plane for beautiful Detroit, Michigan to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Detroit Auto Show. I know what you are thinking…Detroit in January, what poor miserable souls we are.

In reality, we are some pretty lucky souls, as starting Sunday we will be witnessing the show that sets the stage for the automotive industry for the entire year. While this year’s show is looking a little dull on paper compared to previous years, there are still plenty of concepts and new production models that will raise the excitement level in Cobo Hall.

As always, we will be bringing you the best photographic coverage of this year’s auto show starting Sunday. In addition to the cars, we are also going to give you guys a better glimpse inside the auto show during press days. The atmosphere of Detroit for this one week in January is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. We’ll try to help you guys experience it as best as we can.

So with that, we’ve put together an archive of 2007 Detroit Auto Show news clippings for you to get a jump start on the weekend’s happenings. We’ll be updating this page starting tomorrow with new photographs from the show and press conferences. We hope you enjoy the coverage!

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