It’s that time of year again, the annual New York International Auto Show took over the Jacob Javits Center this past week. Automakers from across the globe showcase their latest, most innovative vehicles for the upcoming year. This year we saw the excitement of the all the new redesigned Dodge Challenger and Charger and the 50th year celebration of the classic Ford Mustang. Of course, the high-end companies displayed their masterpieces for the public to see.
In my opinion, this years show stopper was Koenigsegg Agera R. This heart-pounding, carbon fiber, head turning super-car gathered quite the crowd at the auto show. With 1,140 horsepower, the rare beast will reach 60mph in 2.8 seconds, 200mph in 17.8 seconds and will max out an astronomical speed of 278mph. Follow CarZach as we will do a more in depth report on this unique vehicle.
American muscle came up big at this years auto show with the all new redesigned Dodge Challenger and Charger. The famous ‘racetrack’ tail lights of the Challenger are no more and the front end received a nice facelift. The Charger keeps the ‘racetrack’ tail lights but receives a new front end and some different styling cues on the side profile. Both vehicles will be offered in the Super Bee, SRT and R/T editions. The interior has been redone but due to the set-up of the displays I was unable to snap pictures of it. Chevrolet also rolled out the new ZO6 edition for the beautiful Corvette Stingray.
On the hybrid end of things, the $845,000 Porsche 918 Spyder simply embarrassed the New York Yankee special edition Toyota Prius. With both a gasoline and electric engine the new Porsche super-car won’t lack any of the thrills that are supposed to come with this type of vehicle. The stunning BMW i8 was also on display and drew a huge crowd. At $136,000 the new BMW hybrid is the best looking vehicle to ever come from the company in my opinion. Back in reality, the decently priced Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is a stylish car and competitors such as Lexus should be nervous about the MKZ taking some business.
Small sized SUV’s are an increased demand and numerous car companies have answered. Porsche rolled out their smaller, “more affordable” SUV called the Macan that starts at $49,000. Jaguar also showed a new SUV that looks a bit like its British cousin, the Ranger Rover Evoque. Chevy rolled out new Trax which looks to be an affordable everyday vehicle that will challenge Jeep’s new small SUV the Renegade. Both of these cars will go head-to-head with the Mazda CX-5.
A surprisingly lack of innovation was seen from Honda, Mitsubishi, Acura, Hyundai and Infiniti. All of their new vehicles looked basically the same as the ones traveling the streets now. There didn’t seem to be any major redesigns or introductions of crazy concept cars.
Going to the Italian vehicles, Maserati proudly displayed the new Quattraporte, Ghibli and MC-Stradele. All were beautiful and had an excited crowd as the doors to some of the vehicles were unlocked for the spectators to go inside. Alfa Romeo, had two absolutely beautiful 12C’s on display as the company is trying to regain territory here in the United States. With a reported starting price of just $55,000 the 12C is sure become popular once it hits the streets. Sadly, I was unable to snap pictures of the vehicle due to the massive crowds gathered around. Lamborghini showed off a vibrant Aventador Roadster; but to my disappointment did not have the all new Huracan at the show.
Out of Japan, Toyota displayed the newly redesigned Camry, and Carolla. The concept FT-1 was a sign of sophisticated innovation from Toyota and I know many people, including me are hoping the flashy sports car sees production in the near future. Nissan of course displayed an out of this world concept car that took major styling cues from the Altima and Maxima. They also released a new track monster GTR Nismo edition; which I was unable to find at the show. The pint sized Juke SUV also will see a Nismo edition available for just $26,000. Lexus, did lack a bit of innovation but their new ‘F’ marked vehicles are set to take aim at AMG, S series and R-Design vehicles from Mercedes, Audi and Volvo.
For limited time only, the DUB Magazine tour filled up a room at the auto show. Of course upon entry, there was loud music being blasted from a DJ booth. The excitement was centered around local Long Island company, Martino Auto Concepts as they displayed a very unique Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640. Already massive Rolls Royce’s saw some crazy body kits and huge rims. A pair of Lamborghini Gallardo’s were set with their GoldRush Rally stickers. The blacked out Elite Motorsports Lamborghini was looking sexy next to a white Ferrari 458 Italia. A chrome Audi R8 was also on display.
It is safe to say that the 2014 New York International Auto Show was a success. With hundreds of vehicles on display and thousands of people wanting to get a look, it was very difficult to snap perfect pictures and pictures of all the cars mentioned here. There will be many articles to come in the near future that will strictly focus on cars such as the Koenigsegg.
In addition to the auto show, I attended a local event here on Long Island. There was over 300 locally owned vehicles that met up early on a Sunday morning. Cars included an SLR McLaren, chrome blue Nissan GTR, and numerous Lamborghinis. Stay tuned for more articles on these vehicles as well.
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