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Year Of The Car Indeed
By:
The Editors of Automotive Trends
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Ford is calling 2004 the year of the car and by the
look of things on opening day in Detroit, that
slogan applies to the entire industry. Ford used its
press conference to roll out several significant
production products including the Ford Five Hundred
sedan, Freestyle crossover and Mustang coupe. A tidy
but rugged off-road concept showed up wearing the
Bronco nameplate and the King Ranch edition of the
F-150 also made its public debut.
GM used its show time to debut the production version
of the Pontiac Solstice roadster which wowed crowds
in concept form just two years ago. The production
version uses a 170hp Ecotech 4-cylinder and 5-speed
manual all hidden within a new rear-wheel drive
platform called Kappa. GM's other two concepts also
utilize this new architecture but display some
different styling directions in which the new
platform could take. The Chevy Nomad concept is yet
another modern interpretation of the classic
Chevrolet concept car. The biggest surprise might
not have been how similar the Solstice production
and concept cars are but how stunningly gorgeous the
Saturn Curve is.
Chrysler always like to surprise at NAIAS and this year
was no different. Along with the Jeep Rescue and
Dodge Slingshot concepts, which we had already seen
through previously released sketches, Chrysler
rolled out the ME Four Twelve supercar. This most
advanced Chrysler ever features a quad-turbo
6.0-liter V-12 engine and will reach 60mph in 2.9
seconds. It wasn't just the domestic manufacturers
who debuted new cars today either.
Audi got in on the action with the world debut of its
flagship A8 L 6.0 quattro powered by a 450hp W-12
engine. Honda broke the mold by debuting the SUT
truck concept as did Infiniti with the public
introduction of the giant QX56 luxury SUV.
Chevrolet got things back on track when it bussed
journalists over to the Detroit Opera House for the
introduction of the sixth generation Corvette. The
C6 features an enlarged 6.0 liter LS2 V8 which makes
an even 400hp and 400lb-ft of torque while being
lighter and stiffer at the same time. Chevrolet
claims the performance of this new C6 will nearly
match that of the current Z06 and that much, much
more power is on the way.
Ford finished off the night by introducing a modern
version of Carroll Shelby's legendary Cobra although
we were still partying with GM at the Opera House so
we'll have to bring you details of that in our Show
Wrap Up coming Wednesday. Check back here tomorrow
night for all of Monday's Show Stoppers, and trust
us, there will be plenty of them.
Be sure to check out our
full auto show
gallery right here and see what made news on the
second day of
the 2004 NAIAS! |
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