After the Auto Show: Day One of D-Days

As I log in for the day’s recap, the last of the media are unwinding from the annual product assault that is part of the Detroit Auto Show. If they’re still lingering at the Volkswagen party at the Guardian Building vibing to the sounds of ex-pat Clark Warner, I hope they’re not driving far, because it all starts again bright and early tomorrow morning.

Covering an auto show hurts. Perhaps it has something to do with the misleading carpet at Cobo Hall that rests upon hard concrete, but after a day of vehicle debuts, everything hurts starting with sore feet, down to the crick in the back of throat from too much talking. The glaring difference from years past is the lack of glitz. No more heady haze, trying to keep all those opulent product debuts sorted. Though this isn’t a banner year for the adorned concept car there’s still a lot to reflect on in much more cerebral terms. Here are a few of the day’s highlights:

• GM employees exiting the building, still carrying their signs under their arms, “Game Changer.”

• Our upcoming wacky conversation with BMW Design Director Chris Bangle.

•Designer Ralph Gilles’s sleek Chrysler 200C EV sedan.

• The camaraderie among journalists and car company people happy to come together in honor of an industry and still collecting a pay check.

• The delicious decadence of Bentley GTC Speed, and the hint of big beautiful saloon on the horizon. The sinewy Z4 Roadster was cause for ooh and ahh.

• Carroll Shelby marking birthday 89 with another bad-ass Ford Shelby GT 500.

• A leaner Lexus hybrid.

• The exciting and growing digital press corps.

• The number of power strips needed to charge up those electric vehicles (Tee Hee!)

• Less of an effort to respin sales figures.

• Detroit’s refusal to turn off the lights. They may be dim, but we’ve always known how to regenerate, reinvent, and refuel for a new day.