It has taken a little while to get through all of the photos but what you’re about to look through are the last ones – this is the final part of the auto show coverage!
Today we start off with Lincoln as promised, and specifically with their new Continental.
This was one vehicle I was especially looking forward to seeing while at the show. I wouldn’t say I was as excited about seeing this as I was about seeing the Focus RS, but it was close. Really close.
I have long been a fan of the Lincoln brand but I realize that there is work to do to make it more competitive against other luxury vehicle manufacturers.
As the Continental spun around I tried to take in as much as I could. Seeing this model return was a real surprise and I’m glad it has.
It certainly won’t be inexpensive but that wasn’t the point, obviously.
Exploring the booth further I found that the MKZ had been treated to a facelift for 2017 – I remember watching one of these spin on the turntable at the auto show back in ’13 and being amazed at how good it looked. I had the opportunity to test-drive one of these a while ago and rather enjoyed it.
Mercedes’ CLA 45 AMG 4MATIC manages 375HP out of a 2-litre 4 cylinder which is crazy. Perhaps crazier is that this car had nearly $17,000 in options.
Some were pretty nice options though. Also, at the very bottom of the spec sheet “Thermotronic” automatic climate control is listed as one of them. Best name ever for climate control? Thermotronic 9000 would be even cooler, mind you.
This would certainly be a nice place to sit every day.
Infiniti was displaying the 2017 Q60 and what stood out to me was the noted use of an engine from the VR family.
Funky C-pillar is funky.
Over in BMW’s stand, two cars in particular were receiving plenty of attention from showgoers. One was their new mini monster, the M2…
…and the other was the M4 GTS. Somewhat unimportant note but I noticed that BMW applied the standard piece of paint protection film on the quarter panel which would have been a fine idea, except for the fact it was gloss. On satin paint. Oops.
I will point out that the wheels – which had always been the one part I wasn’t sold on – looked quite good in person. This thing had a ton of presence and that orange/copper accent colour was a really nice contrast.
I really hope we see the GTS’ tail light style and technology trickle down to other models (and brands) soon.
I don’t know which I prefer; the four-door M3 or the two-door M4. I do know one thing though – this is the colour I’d want for either one of them.
Now I’m wondering how an M3 GTS would look. Hmm…
Next door to BMW was Jaaaaaaag so naturally that was next on the tour. No F-Type SVRs were present…
…but the physics-ignoring Range Rover Sport SVR was.
However, the other red SUV in the stand was the one getting most of the attention – the new F-Pace. I didn’t get a chance to sit in it unfortunately.
The colour-matched diffuser is possibly my favourite design element on the F-Types.
It’s awesome (and a bit surreal) that you can satisfy your desire for three pedals, carbon fiber, and Recaros with a Cadillac, isn’t it?
Even with the mental ATS-V and more mental (mental-er?) CTS-V at the show, while checking out Cadillac my attention was mainly focused on the new flagship – the CT6.
The black CT6 wasn’t accessible but fortunately a white example was also at the show and was open for everyone to check out. I made sure to hop in for a quick look.
In my opinion this was the coolest part of the whole car; the new ‘Rear Camera Mirror’. This made a lot of sense.
The star of Acura’s display was visible in the background when I showed the modified TLX in Part 3, but today I have the proper photos of it.
It’s a little hard to believe that the production NSX is basically here now, at last. I probably saw more photos of this being shared during the time the auto show was here, than of any other car. People were definitely excited.
I watched it go around a few times and tried to find new details which I hadn’t been aware of from only looking at it in photos.
While many cars at the show proved to divide the opinions of friends and I, the new NSX was a unanimous hit. The colour especially was gorgeous and everyone I spoke to loved it.
A couple photos of the Volvo V60 Polestar for good measure…and because I continue to adore these things.
Now, this was the biggest surprise of the show. It also had the worst possible placement. I only found this because it was parked next to a bunch of tables that had been set up as a rest area in the back corner. It’s not every day you go to take a quick break and change camera lenses and wind up stumbling across a Rocket Bunny RC350.
To finally wrap up this coverage though, why not move back to the RS for a few final photos? I’d use anything as an excuse to post more of it though.
Since I keep getting asked; yes, I have considered doing an RS front-end conversion but no, I won’t be any time soon.
Overall, I think it was a rather good show this year. It was fun to see the new models, compare notes with friends, daydream about buying some of these some day, and of course, to get the free brochures (like I mentioned at the start of Part 1, some things never change). I enjoyed my time at the show and hopefully you all enjoyed what I shared here.
With this coverage now concluded, next up I’ll be getting to that batch of photos that Josh so kindly provided me with, from his trip to Japan. Until then, have a good one!
-Bill