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2008 Chicago Auto Show: Concepts Aplenty!
As we travel from auto show to auto show around the world, one theme is common: We’re going to see and report on the hottest cars, trucks, SUVs and concepts. So what made our visit to the snowy, windy city different? The participation of our show host, Bridgestone, in putting teen driving safety at the forefront of their philanthropic efforts.
SafetyScholars.com is the Bridgestone hosted website that features student made videos on seatbelt safety. At an evening press conference to showcase this year’s student winners, we were amazed at the video production skills and the pertinent safety messages in the winning videos. Our favorite was the video submitted by Tyler Gullingsrud, who used Lego blocks to show the tragic consequences of being in crash without a seatbelt. Tyler took over 1,000 photos, with each painstakingly set to show the next scene, to bring his Lego video to life. It was an amazing, effective video. Congratulations to the winners and to Bridgestone (who also showed their latest line of performance and winter driving tires at a display on the floor of the Chicago Auto Show) for a job well done. Go to www.safetyscholars.com for details on the 2008 video contest. Winners receive $5,000 towards their college educations. Check out www.bridgestone-firestone.com for their hot offerings for 2008.
The Chicago show itself featured several key product launches. One that had the crowd elated, and one that left us scratching our heads.
The hit of the show came from Chrysler, who showed the Dodge Challenger SRT8 retro rocket, pushing 425-horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque from a huge 6.1-liter V8. With 0-60 times of less than five seconds and a 170 mph top speed, the “Pony Car” war has heated up. When the Chevy Camaro joins the fray, look for V8 American iron to dominate our reader requests for test drive reviews. We’ll be ready! Challenger will be priced at $37,995.
VW took a strange turn with the Routan. Built by Chrysler at their Canadian minivan plant, VW hopes the Routan is a sales success. We wonder why someone would by a VW “Chrysler” when they can just get the real thing. What happened to the exciting “Microbus” concept? This seems like a huge step backwards for VW who claims the oddly named Routan is the minivan van of choice for soccer moms looking for an import minivan. Interesting!
Suzuki launched its “Equator” pickup, which looks like a solid offering from the company with those sweet 100,000 mile powertrain warranties. The truck will be built by Nissan, and is a version of the Nissan Frontier. It’s difficult to distinguish the two apart though. The sporty version, the RMZ-4, is made for the adventurer inside. If Suzuki prices the Equator right then they shouldn’t have a problem selling them.
Keeping with the adventure theme, HUMMER unleashed its 2009 pickup, dubbed the H3T. With a 50s retro silhouette, the H3T steps away from HUMMER’s traditional four corner style. Its 32” tires and full-time four-wheel drive system makes sure the newbie is off-road capable while the 5.3-liter, 300-horspower V8 enables 5,900 pounds of towing capacity. A 3.7-liter, five-cylinder is also available. A crew cab opens doors for five passengers and the five foot bed allows the rugged pickup to haul two dirt bikes.
There were concepts aplenty:
BMW showed the tii concept, a hot-rodded 1-Series that harkens back to the early 70s when the BMW 2002 tii was an autocrosser’s dream car.
Dodge showed there gorgeous Zeo all-electric concept. Looks like the Chevy Volt has “charged” up the minds at Dodge! And like the Volt, the four passenger, 2+2 sport wagon is said to travel 250 miles on its lithium ion battery.
The HUMMER Hx is a coupe version of the off road beast. We like the look of this rugged brute.
We expect that Cadillac’s Provoq fuel cell SUV concept could “provoke” a new buyer or two to charge into Cadillac showrooms. The CTS Coupe concept was also very well received.
And we like Nissan’s “Forum” people mover. With innovative seating, and a full panoramic glass roof, this small CUV could lift the doom off of long commutes and family road trips.
Check out our gallery of photos of all the hot vehicles from Chicago, where the snow and wind were howling, and the auto show floor was sizzling!
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