2010 Chicago Auto Show, Inside Photos
 

I had the opportunity of visiting the Chicago Auto Show's Media Day and got a first-hand, unobstructed look at some of the more popular new cars.

Here are a few highlights.

The 40th Anniversary 370Z looks pretty sweet. The paint is a bit darker than Platinum Graphite and has a bit of a cherry hue to it. Brake calipers look great, and the red interior is h.o.t. HOT. The only downside is that Nissan keeps the instrument and ambient lighting orange, which clashes with the red interior. A screwup if you ask me.

The LFA is probably the most photogenic car I've ever seen. The matte black paint is incredible but shows fingerprints and dirty like there's no tomorrow. The car is more impressive in person than in print.

The Audi R8 Spyder was on display and looks nice. It loses the aggressive lines of the coupe, but damn would it be fun to hear the V10 roar with the top down. Audi has a new color this year (Ipanema Brown) which I call 'baby $hit brown'. Nasty...whoever chose that should lose their job.

Overall, a good show this year. Very few concept cars were there given the economy and the overall theme was 'going green'.


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Thanks for the pics. Each time I see new pics of the 40th's interior it looks better and better.

Still don't understand why other markets get nav while the US doesn't.

Anyone else think those "40th Anniversary" badges are weak sauce?

nice photos! i love the pic of the shifter knob. the dallas auto show usually occurs in march, but it pales in comparison to the rest of the shows in the US.

that 40th Z looks good, i love that darker grey color. i agree though, they should have made the dials red to match the seats. i think that would have looked amazing.

Looks like Nissan decided to stop skipping the shows - Nice! I hope they are back here for next years show. That 40th paint color is sick. I really like the red interior and calipers. Nice touch Nissan. What's different about the rotors? Or did you mean calipers.

That is another sick car for sure. I doubt I'll ever see one in person.

The R8 is a dream car for me. I think the spyder messes with the lines too much but seeing it in person could change my mind. I couldn't agree more about the new Audi brown, saw it in a magazine and wondered what they were thinking. Not a pleasant color to look at.

Debadging FTW. I left the Z on the back of mine out of respect for the heritage but the 370 is gone (moved the Z to the left where the 3 was - I like it). That 40th badge would be gone too if it was my car. Definitely weak sauce.

I'd remove the Nissan hamburgers too except for the recesses left behind. Still waiting for a nice Z option to show up in the new logo, then they're gone.

Yep, meant calipers. Fixed in the OP. Thanks.

Nice pics Spear. Nice to have a bit of room to take pictures isn't it? Good to know what the cars will look like behind all the people, when I go to the show myself on one of the public days. :)

Nice pics, can't wait to see the 40th in the flesh. Like the color.

Very nice!

The Audi and Nissan pics show you just how empty the place was. Pretty incredible to have the whole show to yourself. The people working the exhibits for each manufacturer were actually into exploring the cars with us. We found the Chevy racing skull on the intake of the ZR1 which they had no idea was even there!

Sweet pics, did they let you sit on all the cars?

Very nice pics spear. I really like those calipers on 40th anniversary. I'll add them to the "to do" list somewhere down the line.

Audi R8 spyder = :drool:

More pics? :excited:

We were able to do a lot more than they allow the public I felt. Fisker let us get inside their area and sit in both the sedan and convertible. The R8 was unlocked as were all the Mercedes and BMWs except the SLS and E63 AMG which were on carousels. The LFA was also untouchable on that stage. Everyone really bends over backwards to GRANT access to things as they want the media to like what they're offering. Oh, the 240 Datsun was locked up like Alcatraz.

Let me see what I can do. Aperture isn't cooperating with my photo library since I installed the new trial version. :mad: