Automotive

L.A. Auto Show 2011

 

Every year we head out to the L.A. Auto Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown L.A.  The convention center is huge, there's over 720,000 square feet of space and features a large meeting space and 300 seat auditorium theater.  The center is divided into different sections:  South Hall, West Hall, Kentia Hall, and Petree Hall.  Adjacent to the property is L.A. Live and Staples Center (where our basketball teams the Lakers ( timeout.watchprosite.com ) and Clippers, the Kings hockey team (  timeout.watchprosite.com ) , concerts, and various events occur).  In the past the auto show was always in January but the last few years they started it in December and now it's held in November.  All the major manufacturers are here showcasing the latest in their product lines and debuts of concept cars are always anticipated.

As we enter the main lobby, we were greeted by the Mattel's Hotwheels cars.  Now this ain't your typical 1/64th scale diecast vehicles that we all loved when we were growing up but full scale running cars!  Checkout this cool hotrod with a skull frontend:

Next to it on display was an equally interesting buggy

Across the way was the folks from Nintendo.  Mario greeted the visitors with his MarioKart

Gotta love a car with a propeller as an accessory!  Watch out for those mushrooms!

As there's much to cover at the autoshow, I always head to the Porsche section first.  Porsche displays their line up in a separate hall and usually doesn't disappoint. 

The main feature for this year is the unveiling of the 911 Carrera S.

Porsche has the Tequipment that has all kinds of custom goodies to upgrade to.

A lot of positive comments on this cream white 911 Turbo convertible.

The Cayman S Black Edition



IMO, the Cayman is one of the nicest Porsche ever to be designed.  Love the shape of the body and driving a mid engine is so much fun.

One car that got everyone's attention was this Boxster Spyder.  In the past, they sold 'Speedster' humps that covered the convertible section from the tequipment accessories but this one is built in a unique way.  T

For this variant, the rear window is back to the 1997-2002/3 plastic window

The rear brakelight is a cross bar design reminiscent of the Carrera GT

A close up of the convertible top attachment points:

-MW