Interests ---> Antiques, Classics, Muscle Cars, Sports Cars, Barn Finds, Racing, Restoring, Motorcycles, Dirt Bikes, ATVs, Nostalgia Photos,& Garages. Las Vegas Convention Center 2008 New Car Dealers Auto Show After viewing this page, please return to GC Main Page Contact Us [ Home | Survey | Jokes | GC chat board | Movies | Guestbook | Guestbook Archive | GC Videos | Calendar | Links | Disclaimer | Track Locator ] 11-26-2007: We were in Vegas over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. What does a car couple to do in "Sin City"? Well, that particular weekend is host to the Motortrend International Car show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Every thing from low buck gas sippers to high dollar horse power is on display. They even have prototype vehicles on display. Sponsored by the southwest auto dealers association, all are for sale, at least the production cars. The big prototype buzz this year? I thought for sure that the Challenger and Camaro would be there, but to our disappointment, they weren't. All were Hybrids. In the suggestion box, I wrote to show more prototype performance cars. Outside the Convention Center, Ford had the "Ford Challenge" set up like you see on TV. You could take one of the models for a ride. Inside the building, at the entrance to the main area the Convention Center, there were several Mustangs from a local Mustang club on display. Watch for more pictures of local car clubs throughout the exhibits Click each image for a larger view. Above: As we entered the convention center's main hall. To our right as we entered, we spotted the largest exhibit of the event. This was the Toyota section. They had all of their models on display, including different colors of each model. Also on display were one of each of the new Toyota Nascar race car and Super Truck. Below: Toyota also had a large Hybrid learning center set up where you could learn more about hybrids, their development, and how they work. The Hybrid display overlooked the most expensive luxury and sports car dealership. Of course, as you can see to the left, they had more ways than just the cars to attract people to the booths. Below: There was also a car and sport truck customizing company in attendance. They had just a couple vehicles on display. I took two pictures of the Scion to show how the paint changed colors. One was with flash, the other was without. Nothing special really, I just thought it was neat. The Jeep display was pretty popular and the had some pretty rugged looking units on display. To the left and right is the new Mazda MX5 turbo hard top convertible Miata. It was a very nice little sports car, but the hard top does add a lot of weight, which is generally an issue with these small cars. Above: Mitsubishi was one of the few manufacturers that had a performance prototype /concept on display. Here is their "Ralliart" Concept. It was an eye catcher. A local group of import racers had their rides on display. These guys were real track racers and the cars looked to me like they really were fast, not your "Fast and Furious" street ricer variety. The guys were pretty freindly, telling their stories and explaining how to get into racing on the SCCA circuit. This was the star of the group. It was a purpose built race car with a full cage, full carbon fiber body, mid engine design, full computer adjustability, and state of the art suspension. This car was not street legal. Below: GM had the second largest display in my opinion. They had stuff there from each division. Chevrolet did seem to lead in the performance division with several Corvettes to shck out and sit in. There were a few Saturn Skys on display including the turbo version. They had a concept vehicle on display, but it was an SUV type of Hybrid. They were also pushing new full size truck hybrids. Don't get your hopes up though, the gas mileage ratings weren't spectacular. Right: Ford had only one, yes ONE, Mustang on diplay. I recall that it was only a V6 version as well. Disappointing. Left: Dodge had several cool Chargers on display including this highly customized version. No Vipers or Challenger though. Other displays included many import and European displays. To the right was our favorite Honda, the S2000. This now comes in a 4 cylinder, but why drop to that? Melissa's favorite? She liked the Saab pictured below as a possible Subaru replacement. They are adding an awd version this year. the VW below was an eye catcher and their display was pretty popular. Lexus had a couple VERY nice rides. This one pictured also caught our fancy, but was out of our price range. All in all, see one of these Motortrend shows for yourself. Whether you are in the market for a new car or are in the business and like to keep up on the neweer stuff, there may be something there for you. Heck, they even subscribe you to Motortrend for free if you complete the survey at the end.