Dateline: January 1998, Detroit, Michigan
It's the biggest automotive event of the year, and I'm not talking about the introduction of the new Beetle. The 1998 North American International Auto Show featured more introductions, more press and more space than ever before. It was a wonderful show and the world press came to see and honor Detroit as the true automotive capital of the world.
An independent jury of 40 journalists picked the North American Car and Truck of the year. The winners came as no surprise to most of us: the Chevrolet Corvette and the Mercedes-Benz ML320. Mercedes-Benz was actually surprised to win the award and said later that it hadn't expected it because of the competition, which included the Dodge Durango.
At the beginning of press week, the tradition of Chrysler unveiling its concept cars continued with the introduction of the Plymouth Pronto, the Jeep Jeepster and the Chrysler Chronos. The Plymouth Pronto is a small roadster built on the Neon platform that could be ready for production within two years. To provide better balance, the engine was mounted behind the seats and to reduce weight, the exterior is recycled composite plastic. The Jeepster features a 4.7 L V8 from the next Grand Cherokee due this fall. The styling may give hints toward either the next Grand Cherokee or the next Wrangler but the concept certainly isn't headed toward production. The Chrysler Chronos is designed to be a possible Chrysler image car like the image cars of Plymouth and Dodge, the Prowler and Viper, respectively. Later in the week, Dodge unveiled the Intrepid ESX2, a second generation concept hybrid that featured electric and diesel power.
Beyond the concepts Chrysler unveiled two new production vehicles: The Chrysler LHS and the 300M. I personally don't care for the new styling of the LHS, especially the large chrome grille, but before the end of the week, I overheard someone talking of buying one. The 300M is an attractive take on the LH sedans. It has shorter overhangs, more aggressive styling and is expected to be priced between $26,000 - $30,000. Furthermore, it is expected that Chrysler will export this car to Europe.
On the other side of the aisle, Ford unveiled several interesting concept and production vehicles. Conceptually, Ford built a small sport utility vehicle called the Alpe. If this small SUV receives good public response, you can expect to see it in production around the turn of the century. The styling is conservative with what Ford calls "new edge design". Ford produces many different vehicles around the world and the Courier F1 is a stylized version of a small pickup Ford produces in Brazil. Certainly this little truck could sell here in the States and with only minor modifications, namely an extended cab model for lockable interior storage space.
The biggest announcement Ford made was the all new F350 Super duty trucks. This truck has completely different styling from the F150; a bolder, more powerful look, much like the Dodge Ram. Other truck news from Ford included the 12 door truck, the extended cab Ranger, the extended cab F150, and including the new F350, all new extended cab trucks will have four doors.
Ford also made news announcing all of their SUVs will be low emission vehicles beginning this fall. They also showed a hybrid concept, the P2000. It's a lightweight version of the Contour that gets 63 mpg. Mercury rolled out the all new 1999 Cougar. Available in May 1998, the Cougar rides atop the Contour platform and features the first production example of the new edge design from Ford. It went from project approval to completion in only 24 months.
The General made four significant announcements, the most important of which had to be the new trucks. Chevy unveiled the all-new 1999 Silverado and GMC the Sierra. While these trucks are all new, they aren't amazingly different looking than the previous generation. Chevy calls the styling change "contemporary", I call it boring. Both of these trucks are larger than before and the extended cab area are large enough and comfortable enough for adults.
Oldsmobile introduced the replacement for the Achieva. The new Alero has the Oldsmobile look; it looks like a baby Intrigue. Over at Pontiac, the new Grand Am was unveiled. Both the Grand Am and the Alero are hyped to be better than the replacements with more NVH control, more efficient engines, more safety features and so on! Those four products were the major intros for GM. Chevy unveiled a concept of the next Monte Carlo with the help of Dale Earnhardt and the Tasmanian Devil. They also announced a new marketing agreement with Warner Brothers. Expect to see the special Daffy Duck Corvette soon. Not to be outdone by the other divisions, Buick introduced the ugliest concept car of the auto show, the Signia.
The foreign auto makers made a big showing in Detroit. Audi has a large display area dedicated to the all-new A6 and a concept SUV wagon built from the A6 platform. The Audi Allroad Quattro looks production ready and is Audi's way of bridging the gap between car and wagon, with an adjustable suspension that provides plenty of off-road ground clearance while lowering the car for fast highway driving.
BMW displayed all of their M-edition cars in the same blue color. This included the new MZ3-Hatchback; while this design may be popular in Europe, I don't think it will sell here in the U.S. BMW also brought the Z07 concept previously displayed in at the Tokyo Motor Show. This is a beautiful precursor to the future large roadster from BMW, likely to cost nearly $100,000.
Honda's biggest announcement came in the way of a minivan concept. The MV99 (minivan 1999) is the largest vehicle Honda has ever produced and is a look to the future direction for the Honda of minivans. It is built on the Accord platform and my guess is that it will sell well once on the market. This time Honda has followed other manufacturers with their minivan design: it features front wheel drive, a V6, dual sliding doors and seating for seven.
Mercedes-Benz is considering an upscale division to compete with the likes of Rolls Royce. The Maybach concept is an ultra-luxury sedan, that, in my opinion, is more likely a hint at the next generation S-Class sedan. Mercedes-Benz also made news with the introduction of an all-new V8 engine that is being installed into almost all of their new products including the CLK, ML, C-Class sedans and E-Class sedans.
Toyota was beaming with pride at the show this year for two very good reasons. One, they announced that the Toyota Camry was the best selling car in the United States for 1997, outselling both the Honda Accord and Ford Taurus. Toyota also unveiled the Solara coupe. It's based on the Camry platform yet shares no sheetmetal with the Camry. The Solara does, however, share the Camry's drivetrain and suspension. The styling is still Toyota conservative but it should compete well against the Honda Accord Coupe.
The most anticipated vehicle introduction was, of course, the VW Beetle. The design is a 90's take on the original, with modern amenities. The new "Bug" is now a front driver with a water-cooled engine! Still the base price isn't exactly cheap at $15,200. If you get a car with options, the price jumps to nearly $20,000. A psychologist at the show explained the existence of the Beetle best by saying people that are interested in buying a Beetle are looking to simplify their life and in general, it is a desire to cut back on what is complex about life.
With a plethora of press conferences to attend and each company trying to out-do one another, someone had to have the best show of the show. Jaguar tried to out-do everyone this year and went so far as to bring in an airplane. Mitsubishi brought in Tap Dogs to stomp around and make some noise about their concept. Chevy brought in a live horse to help introduce the new Silverado truck. BMW brought along a singing and dancing James Bond routine to show off their new Z07 concept. The Beetle press conference had its own special world and theme song but none of these topped Chrysler. Once again, Chrysler with human statues in the Chrysler Collection stopped the show. The human statues made famous paintings and sculptures come to life. When all was said and done, the 1998 North American International Auto Show was the best yet and I'm sure that next year the show will be even better.
