A friend and I have a tradition of going to the auto show every year to check things out. Hopped on Metro (DC area subway) on Saturday and went down to the city .

They had a nice Mercedes spread, as usual, with lots of people checking out all the vehicles. It seems there's something about Mercedes that always attracts a wide range of people. Anyway, there was a nice Orion/Oyster leather C230 6-spd with all the packages, from what I could tell. Also from the C class were an Everest Green/Java C240 and a Desert Silver/Java C320 wagon.

Looked quickly at some other models, E320, CL500, S500, ML, even a black G500! Funny thing, this woman kept bringing her other family members over to see the S500. She found a red button in the trunk which when pressed, closes the hinges from the open position and then latches the trunk. I think if she had the money, that feature alone would have sold her the car :p

Other nice cars I saw were the Lexus SC430 (on a platform -- couldn't touch) w/ a "drop top" demo by a nice blonde asking for everyone's ooh's and ahh's, Cadillac CTS (nice!), Jag X-Type.

Anyone see or hear about the Infiniti G35 yet? Picked up an initial mini-brochure and it looks interesting. It's a 2003 model which should arrive around March 2002. They're finally dropping a nice engine in that car (3.5L 255hp) and the shape is really nice -- maybe a replacement for my wife's Regal GS next year .

 

i was there this past sat too... the best part was when this older couple seemed to have been reborn when they saw the TV buttons on the CL that was on display (it had buttons for ESPN and NBC etc) they were really tickled to death...

i thought the best presentation was of the new Q45....can you say gadgets....damn!!! i loved the rear camera....

i was also expecting to see the new 7 series and that wasn't there...quite disapointing actually.

 

At least MB was there. They totally skipped the Orlando Auto Show. Funny thing is, their local dealer is one of the show sponsors.

 

Strange, I'd think Orlando would be a big show. Like I said, MB always has a large group of cars at the DC show and always has a large crowd of lookers, whether they're current buyers or not (I'm guessing on the ownership status). I never thought I'd check them out and be "one of the family" .

 

Orlando was a big show. Lexus and BMW had very impressive setups. Just no MB at all.