The 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show is the place where the hottest new cars, SUVs, vans, trucks and concept vehicles are center stage. Having started in 1907, the Los Angeles Auto Show is known as the most forward-thinking of all the major auto shows. The latest in technology and design exhibited there will be finding their way into the nation’s driveways in the near future.
The 2010 LA Auto Show show took place November 19th to 28th, and featured more than 50 World and North American debuts. According to a press release by the LA Auto Show, "Lincoln is making automotive history with the launch of the new 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, offering luxury customers a premium hybrid sedan at the same base price as its conventional gas sibling. Subaru showed an Impreza Concept Car that shows the direction that Subaru thinks all-wheel drive sedans will be taking in the next few years. This new design theme seems to be working along with the well-known Subaru traits of all-wheel drive safety and reliability, since Subaru just set an all-time sales record for the US - beating last year's all-time record by 25%."
The 2010 show also marked the historic arrival of the modern electric car era. Finally ending years of anticipation, mass-produced electric vehicles, complete with factory warranties, will be available for consumers to purchase. The show mapped out the way electric drive vehicles arriving soon will progress in coming years by featuring over a dozen electric vehicles.
The show also featured over 15 concept vehicles that ranged from futuristic design studies to realistic brand design directions.
Here's a video from the LA Auto Show about this year's highlights:
Check out our adventures at the LA Auto Show below:
Arielle posing with Ford's wall of color options
There are people in that SUV "driving" though various terrains that are bring projected onto that massive all in front of them!
Cool energy-saving production gadget at the Ford display.
Arielle would never do anything to get arrested for real, we promise!
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Tracy Gilchrist posing with the crash test dummy child at Ford's inflatable safety belt display.
New ambulance!
An original Fiat.
Arielle took a test drive to her Southern roots in this massive new Dodge Ram 1500.
It wouldn't have been a true LA Auto Show without food trucks! The sausage truck may not have been that appealing to us vegetarians, but it definitely made for some great laughs!
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Aston Martins.... Yum!
SMS Supercars!
A modified Mercedes SLS AMG.
The new Jaguar C-X75. The C-X75 has a total of 780 horsepower, top speed of 205 mph and gets from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds.
The LR2 from Land Rover.
New Range Rover Evoque.
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The Smart Car was definitely one of the most popular sections of the show.
This is the Smart Car electric vehicle.
Smart ForTwo showed off their concept Smart Ebike.
The Morgan showroom. Any NCIS fans? Ducky drives a vintage Morgan.
How fun and mod is this Kia Pop concept?
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This is not the new Bug that Oprah gave away on her Ultimate Favorite Things show last month, but it is the 2011 convertible.
The 2011 Audi R8 GT.
The Lexus theme was "Darker Side of Green"
A slightly customized Lexus LS 600hL.
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The Lexus LF-A. Limited production (only 500 will be made), available in 30 different colors. And it's very, very fast (0-60 mph in just 3.6 seconds).
Matte style paint jobs were a fairly popular choice this year. Mercedes had this SL 63 AMG in black.
The Mercedes Benz SLS AMG
Getting ready for the Mercedes 3D experience!
BMW 6 Series concept.
Of course the Mini Cooper section came complete with a red telephone booth (with a phone that rang!) for a little extra feel of authenticity.
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Mini Cooper convertible.
Awesomely entertaining phone booth aside, Mini Cooper definitely had the best, and most ambitious, display. I know the economy is bad, and the design of displays at auto shows are not a top priority for auto makers right now, but the other companies did a disappointingly abysmal job this year. Kudos to Mini for keeping up the innovation. This is
And what would an auto show be without Hot Wheels! This was their Chevy display (notice fake Hot Wheels-esque ramp in back).
Best part of Hot Wheels? The free red Chevy convertibles! There was even a whole set up of tracks to use them on, but it was a mob scene of kids that didn't want to let us have our turn.
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There was an entire hall for the after-market and specialty vehicle industries. This is were we saw an awesome array of products from limited production cars to customized exotics and the hottest in electronics and accessories.
Al&Ed's Autosound had an outstanding (and somewhat deafening) display of creative modifications.
Dub Shop's displays of more classic cars were definitely worth seeing.
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Wheel Warehouse brought their luxury vehicles with some fancy additions.
AAA had wheel that Arielle got to spin for a prize. She won some candy and a pen, as well as a raffle ticket for a flat screen TV and blu-ray player.
Tracy saw an orange car and had to check it out.
Arielle did a little holiday shopping at the book seller. They had tons of car books, but also books on just about anything you could imagine.
We loved this pink Lotus! Its hard to tell from the photo, but there was a really cool pearly luster that made it sparkle.
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Smart Madness is a company that redoes Smart Cars, and not just by replacing their side panels to change the color. This one they made into a go-cart...
...complete with matching helmets!
This orange one had some kind of luminescent paint around the front head lights so that once the lights turn off, they continue to give off light for six to eight hours.
The inside of it was really nice too...
The Smart Bat Mobile!
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This electric two-seater (passenger sits behind the driver) is kind of like a covered motor cycle. The best part is that two fit side-by-side in one parking spot - with room to spare!
There were also some super detailed custom paint jobs.
This time there was a whole group of California Highway Patrol officers there. Luckily Arielle still made it out without cuffs.
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