2013 Los Angeles Auto Show Day One #LAAutoShow

The Campagna T-Rex. These three-wheeled wonders are from Canada and are very expensive – $60 – 70,000. I have it direct from an owner that they are fun beyond belief. Nice toy if you can afford one!

All new, if you can afford it, is the Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S. Available in both coupe and cabriolet form. When you choose options, it’s usually in $10,000 increments.

The interior of the Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. Red leather is my favorite interior for just about any sports car.

This is the “lesser” 911 Turbo Cabriolet. It’s missing the S, but I’d still love it and give it shelter.

This is the production Porsche 918 Spyder. There is NO BAD ANGLE on this fantastic super hybrid.

The interior of Porsche’s 918 Spyder Hybrid is just as futuristic as the exterior. I’m sure Jay Leno already has one.

This is the all-new Lincoln MKC (C for crossover, compact). It’s based on the Ford Edge, but with lots of upgrades and changes. It’s not just a badge-engineering job. I think it’s handsome and will find some traction in the very big compact SUV/CUV market.

The rear doesn’t work as well for me. The MKC kind of has a fat ass and the “signature” taillights that sweep across the whole rear just make it look larger.

The interior of the Lincoln MKC is more successful. With a combination of MyLincoln Touch and physical buttons and knobs, this is the direction Ford and Lincoln are taking to try and appease pissed-off consumers who hate the touch controls.

I think the new 2014 Ford Transit Connect family of wagons and utility vans will find many new customers as it comes in different sizes with much more car-like interiors.

This Ford Edge Concept is very close to the upcoming production 2015 Edge Crossover. I like the bold look.

That’s quite the in-your-face grille, isn’t it? The 2015 Ford Edge Concept

The lighting just doesn’t do justice to this neon yellow 2014 Ford Focus ST. It’s really quite arresting – and you might get arrested driving far too fast in it.

I think the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid will be a huge hit in LA. It is EPA rated at 50 mpg in the city – better than anything else in its class. It may look like a standard Accord, but it’s far more than that. This is the Limited model (of course).

This is the interior of the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. It looks pretty much like a standard up-level Accord. Nicely made, good materials, not too opulent.

Who wouldn’t want a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Dragon Edition with dragon tattoos all over it?

This Jeep Wrangler pays homage to Willys Jeeps of years gone by.

The all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee Carver Mopar Edition is quite arresting. You won’t mistake this for anything boring when you see it coming up behind you in your rear view mirror.

Nice 2-tone leather interior on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee Carver.

Nothing like old-school muscle, right? Here is the 2014 Dodge Charger SRT Super Bee. It screams fast!

I love this new color on this 2014 Chrysler 300S. It’s called Deep Chrome Gray and it’s an available factory option. Model who looks like a mannequin not included.

Yet another special edition Fiat 500. You have to love how the model coordinates her outfit, including those fabulous shoes, with the car.

I doubt you’ll ever see this on the road, but you could outfit and paint your Fiat 500L to look like this. It’s the ultimate LA beach wagon, right?

This is the 2014 Fiat 500 E – for electric. I’ve seen several of these already running around LA.

Finally. The Holy Grail of light-duty pickup trucks – This 2014 Ram 1500 has a 3.0L V6 diesel optional engine making 240 hp and 420 lb-ft of low-end torque, good for towing and lugging stuff. You used to only find a diesel engine option in the more expensive, heavy-duty pickup trucks. Ram is the first manufacturer to change that.

Part of the LA Auto Show was a celebration of 100 Years of Dodge. And Dodge celebrated with a display of orange muscle cars spanning decades.

I fell in love with the Virgil Exner show-stopper concept car. It’s a 1954 Plymouth Belmont and I think it’s the only one in existence. It will be auctioned off by Barrett Jackson.

The rear of the 1954 Plymouth Belmont Concept

The interior of the 1954 Plymouth Belmont

What a stunning pre-war car. This is a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sports Touring Berlinetta. Wow, just wow. Some lucky bastard will pay a lot of money to own this car at the next Barrett Jackson auction.

Talk about 60s excess and mod styling. This 1964 Corvette Stingray Asteroid was made for Jan & Dean. It will be auctioned by Barrett Jackson. Get your checkbooks out!

The interior of the Corvette Asteroid is just as fabulous as that retina-searing exterior paint. Fantastic!

If you have enough money, you can rent this Lamborghini Gallardo Spider in matte hot pink. The Exotic Collection.

Lucky bastard, that Mr. James Bond guy. Mr. 007. This is one of your latest rides, a 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Beautiful paint and interior coachwork.

This is the $78,000 Cadillac ELR plug-in, based on the Chevy Volt. Pretty, but I’m not sure anyone is going to buy it when you could buy a Tesla Model S for the same change.

Another Cadillac show-stopping concept car, the Elmiraj. Perfect rear-drive proportions in this big coupe. Rumors is that Cadillac will actually build something like it. If only, it’s fantastic. GM is great at show cars, not so great at follow up.

The one thing GM is good at is trucks and this 2014 Cadillac Escalade is one gigantic, in your face truck. I expect it will satisfy existing and future NFL and NBA stars as well as rap artists.

The interior of the new Escalade is definitely a step up from the last generation. Of course, you’ll pay for it too. Still, very nice.

The interior of the Bentley Mulsanne is sumptuous and welcoming. I’d love to spend time in one.

The new Bentley Flying Spur is much better than before. It’s no longer the Continental Flying Spur, it’s its own line now. Beautiful proportions, from all angles. Inside is fantastic too.

I know you’ve already seen thousands of pictures of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, so I though I’d publish a few more.

There is enough space in the hatch of the 2014 Corvette Stingray for a nice, long weekend, but not much more. Still, practical as far as sports cars go.

The interior of the new Corvette Stingray is far better than any other Corvette of the past 40 years. But I wasn’t bowled over with quality and still think it’s a bit cheap-looking. Sorry to be the naysayer here.

The 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible looks great in this dark green. It’s presence is commanding. You can’t take your eyes off it. Good for Chevy & Corvette.

Finally, the upcoming 2015 Chevrolet Colorado is not a joke. It’s a viable contender to the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. Where is the Ford Ranger??

The interior of the new Chevy Colorado is light years ahead of the horrible original Colorado.

This is the Infiniti Q30 Concept. It’s based on the Mercedes-Benz GLA and is front drive with AWD optional. I think I’d probably rather have the GLA, but I’ll wait to see the production Q30.

What’s not to love about the 2014 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG? I mean, it has a twin turbo V12 engine, drinks gas like a drunken sailor and it totally awesome, if you can afford it.

The interior of the SL65 AMG is of the highest quality. Quilted leather seats are amazing. Switchgear it top-notch (it should be for more than $200k).

I took this picture just to remind myself I got to sit in the SL65 AMG.

The interior of the SL65 AMG is covered in French-stitched leather detail. Check out the Burmeister tweeter in the corner.

The front of the 2014 SL65 AMG.

This is an interior detail of the all-new Mercedes S550 sedan. The new flagship Mercedes is really the best out there. It even puts the Audi A8L to shame. Amazing quality.

Volvo is finally giving us something new. The 2015 Volvo V60 is a very stylish sports wagon. Great lines.

Here’s something interesting, a 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive. It has a 28 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that Mercedes says is good for 112 miles per charge.

I wrote about it, and it makes an appearance at the LA Auto Show – a 2014 BMW 328d xDrive Sports Wagon. Love it. This might be my next car, considering its 43 mpg…

This is the expensive version of the interior of the 2014 BMW 328d wagon. Nice stuff.

You won’t see many of these on the road. This is the 2014 BMW 335i xDrive Gran Turismo. The proportions just don’t work. I’m not a fan. Why not just buy the wagon? Of course, these are meant for the Chinese market so that the owner can ride in the back seat and be driven.

The production version of the 2015 BMW i8 is every bit the show car. Not many will be made, but all will find buyers. I expect to see some of these floating around LA when they go on sale sometime later next year.

The interior is very nice of the i8. I didn’t get a chance to get close for a good picture as there were so many people trying to get in.

Oh god, another answer to a question no one asked. It’s the X4 Concept – basically a baby X6. And there will even be a 2nd Gen X6 – who knew anyone would buy them?

Now this is what BMW should be making more of. This is the 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. The most gorgeous 4-door luxury coupe on the market.

The 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe is just beautiful, moving or standing still.

The 2014 BMW X5 is all new. It’s a best-seller for BMW. The new interior is excellent.

We’ve seen the Lexus LF-LC Concept Coupe before, but I’m not tired of it yet. Lovely, if only it looked this good when we see the production IS Coupe.

This Lexus deviantART IS F-Sport should satisfy some boy-racers, but not very practical.

If only my new digital camera hadn’t blurred all my shots of the Sexiest Jaguar Ever. The all-new F-Type Coupe is the best looking Jag made and the sexiest since the original E-Type of the 1960s.

The Jaguar F-Type Coupe, from the rear. R is the one with the 5.0L supercharged engine. The howl of this car is pure bliss.

Time for a pick-nick in the back of this 2014 Ranger Rover Autobiography.

The front of the 2014 Range Rover Autobiography (which it the top trim level).

Here’s the 2014 Range Rover Sport Autobiography

Interior of the 2014 Range Rover Sport Autobiography. Not quite as nice as the much more expensive Range Rover.

This is what they call Car Porn – The 2014 Audi R8 V10 shows off its naked Lamborghini engine.

The all-new 2014 Maserati Quattroporte (four door). I think it’s lost something in translation from the last-gen model. The model, however, has lost nothing at all. Perfect with the car — and I told her so.

You do know it’s a Maserati when you see the front, not so much from the rear. Still, the Quattroporte is nice, if not blood-boiling.

I’m so bored with Acura. This is the 2014 Acura MDX. But who cares? It will sell, just because it’s a Honda, but it does nothing for me.

The interior of the 2014 Acura MDX. Nice quality. Good materials.

Some day we will get the 2014 Golf. It’s been out in Europe for nearly 2 years now. This is the TDI (diesel) 5-door version.

You won’t see many of these in the U.S. A Golf TDI with a manual transmission.

This is kind of cool. It’s a 2014 VW Beetle GSR. I’m not sure why it looks like a bumble bee, but it does. I think I might get tired of the color combos after a while.

Note the yellow stitching on the interior of the VW Beetle GSR.

The 2015 VW GTI

VW GTI (Golf) side detail

This is a 2014 VW Beetle Cabriolet TDI. Why not have fun and great fuel economy at the same time?

This is the 2014 VW e-Golf – an Electric Golf. They only did this because of California’s zero-emissions mandate.

The 2014 Mazda3, in a racy paint job.

2014 Mazda3

This is the best-looking Subaru concept ever. It’s a Legacy Concept. No way will Subaru make a production car look this good, but it’s nice to know they can make a cool show car!

Definitely not a production Subaru. The Legacy Concept interior is beyond great for Subaru. If only they would produce it.

The chunky styling, heavy character lines and deep indentations are only found on a show car. Still, a toned down version would be swell, if it looked this great.

The all-new Subaru WRX (world rally car). It’s a niche market for Subaru, but it has very little competition in the US.

The interior of the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid. Pretty much standard Impreza issue.

Subaru licensed hybrid tech from Toyota to make the Crosstrek Hybrid. I hate this green.

The highlight of the show for me was driving the 2014 BMW i3 electric car. I probably shouldn’t be taking pictures while driving, but we were crawling in Downtown LA traffic.

The interior of the BMW i3 is very futuristic. Lots of recycled and sustainable materials are used.

You sit in a very upright position in the BMW i3. The floor is mostly flat as the battery is under the back seat and the motor sits between the rear wheels. Lots of fun to drive, very fast acceleration.

There was a huge fleet of BMW i3s at the LA Auto Show. This was my tester. Of course, they all looked the same. The regenerative braking was so strong you hardly ever needed to touch the brake pedal. Amazing what happens when electrons are reversed and the motor becomes a generator. The force is so strong, brakes are hardly necessary.

The fleet of i3s went on forever.

The big reveal for Porsche was the 2015 Macan. It was called the Cajun for most of its gestation period as it was the Baby Cayenne (Cayenne Junior).

The Porsche Macan is based on the Audi Q5, but it’s definitely all-Porsche in styling, inside and out.

Interior detail of the 2015 Macan S (a basic V6). Prices start at $49,000.

The rear of the 2015 Porsche Macan S.

This is the tricked out, leather and carbon fiber interior of the 2015 Macan Turbo. I didn’t see a price, but the twin-turbo V6 Turbo isn’t going to be cheap.

This is the interior of the 2014 Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible – a whopping $65,000 – who is paying that much for this car??

Here’s the front of that $65,000 Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible. Nice, but really?

Countdown to the 2015 Mustang, the 50th Anniversary of Ford’s pony car that started it all. This is a 1965 Ford Shelby Mustang. Beautiful. The 2015 Mustang will be revealed to the world on December 5, 2013.