Event>>more From The La Auto Show

Now to wrap up my coverage from the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. While there were a few big cars debuted at this year’s show, it also marked the American debut of cars shown earlier at other international auto shows. One of these was the Mini Coupe Concept, which looks amazing in the flesh.

Displayed alongside the Mini Coupe, was the equally sexy Mini Roadster Concept. For a brand with such a small scope, Mini’s presence in LA was huge.

In the “Concourse” hall you can find all of the high end specialty brands like Morgan, Saleen, and Rolls Royce.

GM’s display was very big, and included all sorts of 2010 Camaros, most of which were built for the SEMA Show.

Keep an eye out for this car in your rear view mirrors…

It’s Chevy’s new Caprice patrol car, built exclusively for police departments. A 6.0 liter V8 gives the car better performance than the Crown Vics that dominate the nation, but we’ll have to see how many departments will add the Chevy to their fleets.

Cadillac debuted the new CTS Coupe at the show…

But I was more impressed with the CTS Sport Wagon. Hopefully they’ll make a supercharged CTS-V Sport Wagon.

Also in the Caddy booth, the Converj electric concept, which was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show back in January.

BMW’s “Vision EfficientDynamics Concept” plug-in hybrid turbodiesel made its US debut after being shown at the Frankfurt show earlier this fall.

The VED wins the prize for coolest name, but it also looks pretty radical. Look at those taillights! Err… I think those are taillights.

Of course there were also BMW production cars on display like the new Z4…

…and the classy twin turbo 7-series.

Volkswagen debuted the Up! Lite concept which weighs just over 1500 lbs and delivers 96 miles per gallon. It’s kind of hard to tell in pictures, but this thing is small. Nonetheless it still has room for four people.

Volkswagen also showed the final version of the current New Beetle. Can you believe it’s been over 12 years since this car came out?

Moving on…

I saw the Tjin Edition Camaro at SEMA, but there were too many people around it to get any decent photos. Here’s a nice unobstructed shot.

I’m not exactly sure what to think about Suzuki’s new Kizashi sedan, but some of the modified versions look pretty cool. Now if Suzuki would just bring the Swift over to compete with cars like the Mazda2, Honda Fit, and Ford Fiesta.

Scion’s display looks sort of like the Hotwheels case I had as a kid…

It doesn’t get any more “LA” than a flashy Fisker plug-in hybrid – the ultimate fashion statement.

And finally Mercedes incredible SLS AMG Gullwing. It’s so cool to see a Benz with that classic swagger again.

Well, that does it for my LA Auto Show coverage. If you’re in SoCal and want to see all this for yourself, the show runs now through December 13th.

-Mike Garrett

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1

SLS AMG Gullwing = Classy as hell. Just wondering why all these electric concepts have to be so crazy though... Wasn't the point of a concept car fine-tuning an idea to actually turn it into a car? Can't electric cars be kinda normal in appearance? (I mean, the Tesla Roadster isn't super hyper crazy....)

2

Ditto on the CTS-V Wagon. I don't know what it is about fast wagons, but I want one!

3

that mini coupe nauseates me

4

fisker hybrid : yawn don't want , BMW ved and all the othereco cars just bore me or don't want.The cars in that post are the camro the sls amg and that suzuki. less eco cars next post.

5

That Chevy Caprice cop car, is jsut s rebadged Holden Commodore

6

cars are just getting uglier and uglier...........

7

I like the SUZUKI Kizashi and the Gullwing is lame

8

Agree with AWD ATTK, I keep my EG6.

9

love that Tjin Edition Camaro

10

I have to agree with alex and AWD ATTK... I'm not yet a fan of the direction auto design is heading as of late...

11

Wow that CTS coupe made me puke in my mouth a little.



The wagon is tits though.

12

Thanks for snapping a pic of the Tjin Edition Camaro. Appreciate the love on Speedhunters.com!

13

What Justin said is true. They are Australian made and are everywhere there. Check out Topgear's review.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXlhkdztcrU&feature=player_embedded

14

Joshua Cloud's original interpretation of the Tjin Edition Camaro is a million times better than what they made of it. For me that car = fail. They need to aim for something like the HPE Camaro, or the black Camaro in picture #4, now they look seriously good!

15

that gullwing is amazing!

16

...that navy blue Camaro in pic 4 actually looks really good. Those cars always look so much better in real life. With a matte black wheel, it would look so menacing.

17

Im not a gm fan anymore, but what happened to the cts coupe between concept and production? The spy shots of the coupe were hot, but I also threw up a little when I saw this.

18

The Chevy Caprice police car is just a left hand drive re-badged Holden Commodore. They are manufactured in South Australia and shipped out to the USA! The same thing goes for the Pontiac G8 sedan! It's a rebadged Holden Commodore SS manufactered in South Australia for the American Manrket.

19

I thought it was called Holden Caprice in Australia? It's the long wheelbase version of the Commodore. Notice the longer doors and completely different C-pillar/roofline. And Mike, according to "Maximum Bob" Lutz, they are indeed going to build a CTS-V wagon. The coupe looks too chunky and tall, like if Tonka built Cadillacs. However, I'm sure I wouldn't mind driving the CTS-V version of the coupe, after all, you don't see it when you're driving it, lol! I love the Morgan, but find it funny it's shown with an Allard J2X, a competitor to the original Morgans of the fifties. Considering the concept went virtually unchanged to production, you could say the New Beetle has been around for almost 15 years!

20

nice allard next to that morgan! nice to see some proper english racers!

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