I actually did not attend most of the show. Instead, I got a little reprieve with the delightful daughter of our friends pictured below. The boy in the picture is a really good friend of our oldest son. His family is just fabulous, and we were really glad we could spend the day with them. We rode the train (1st Class high-speed railway) starting at 5:30am while they drove starting at about 7am.
As an added bonus, comments are provided by Dear Ol' Hubby!
Here's a picture of us standing in front of the Mercedes/Benz hall. The Mercedes exhibit took up all of this two-story hall showcasing just about every car in their portfolio. They even gave a little space to Smart and Maybach, their ultra-compact and ultra-luxury brands.
Here are our friends enjoying the day with us.
Upon entering the Mercedes hall, you are greeted by the brand new SLS AMG coupe, complete with gull-wing doors. If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
Enjoying the back seat comforts of a Mercedes S-Class...
The BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics show car. The car revolved, but not around the model as she would have hoped. :)
Our oldest called this "the coolest car I have even seen". I have to agree.
You can see another BMW in the background. There was an oval track on the second level where a fleet of advertisement-laden Beemers drove around. I imagine VIPs got to ride along or even take a lap themselves.
The Artega GT Coupe, starting at about 67,000 Euros. This was a new brand in 2008 and is built in the far west of Germany.
The Artega coupe, in white, from the front. It's powered by a 300hp, 3.6liter V6 engine.
A new super-car from Russia, called the Marussia B2. Nice!
The common man's Marussia B1. No price or specs are available on either the B1 or the B2, but the B1 is rumored to run with a 3.5liter hybrid V6.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present the just unveiled Ferrari 458 Italia. It looks fantastic in yellow, and I bet even better in good ol' Ferrari Red.
Ferrari 599 GTB. Not bad, but I'd rather have an F430.
Another view of the 458 Italia. The man sitting in the drivers seat was a VIP visitor who was trying it on for size with his two sons snapping photos like...well, tourists. We later ran into the same family at the Porsche display.
Side view of the 599 GTB. A much better angle, if you ask me.
The new Lotus Evora, in racing trim. This was one of our younger one's favorites.
The "standard" Lotus Evora.
A graphite and red Porsche GT3RS...one of the most expensive Porsches I've ever seen, until I turned around and saw the Porsche 911 Sport Classic behind it. That one was over 200,000 Euros.
The top of our younger one's list was this two-inline-seater from Volkswagen. Its called the L1.
Someday, Mom, I want to have a Audi R8 sports car with chrome body panels just like this one.
Also debuting at the show was this new Audi. I believe it is called the E-tron.
The star of the Audi exhibit, if you could drag yourself away from the chrome-domed R8, was this R8 Spyder.
The last stop of the day was at the Lamborghini booth, where we fought hundreds of other gawkers looking at this Murcielago Superveloce. What is it with me and yellow sports cars?? Maybe its because I never got to drive a school bus...
The only view of a Lamborghini Reventon Roadster that you may ever see ... this is the second one I have seen in person. I saw a "test mule" of this $1,000,000 super car at the Lambo factory in Italy back in 2008.
Well, that's about it for the pictures that are fit to publish. Maybe one day Amie will have me back as a guest writer. Until then, "Tschuss!"
