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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sneak Peek at the 2013 LA Auto Show Press Day


Wednesday was the first of the LA Auto Show Press Days at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is a great opportunity for media and local auto industry partners to see all of the great vehicles before the crowds roll in on Friday.


I arrived at the Convention Center bright and early this morning for the MPG Motoring Invitational and Breakfast. The event was sponsored by Forza Motorsport 5 and Xbox One. The breakfast brought together media personnel, automotive celebrities and live music for a few hours before the auto show kicked off. After grabbing a breakfast burrito from one of the on site food trucks, it was time to take some photos and talk cars. 




The LA Auto Show is all about new car debuts and concept cars, so it was nice to see some classics and customs on display in the morning. The meet had a variety of exotics, classic cars, muscle cars and racing vehicles. 

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Live music entertaining the crowd.

Don Prudhomme was on hand to sign posters and promote the upcoming sale of his funny car and hauler at the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction.


Pretty cool car hauler and race car from the Old Crow Speed Shop.



Old and New Mercedes Gull Wings.

A handful of local food trucks provided breakfast for attendees.

A few of the very cool Magnus Walker 911s were on display.


The Xbox One team was on hand to let customers try out the latest Xbox console and take a few laps around Laguna Seca on Forza Motorsports 5. The game looks incredible, unfortunately this is what happens to cars that I race...

My "bump to pass" approach to Forza Motorsport 5 didn't work too well.

Even George Barris was on hand to take photos next to the famed Batmobile.

Press Day goes by pretty fast. About every half hour one of the major auto makers talk about their plans for the next year and beyond. An executive will discuss how the company is performing and in which direction it is headed. The LA Auto Show is a large showcase for manufacturers to unveil their latest and greatest. BMW kicked off the day with the debut of the I8 concept vehicle, which was immediately followed by the unveiling of the new Chevy Colorado.












The new Chevy Colorado is going to have a number of accessories, features and engine options that the previous version of the Colorado did not have. Chevy has definitely set it sights on the class leading Toyota Tacoma. 

Once the crowd dispersed at the Jaguar Land Rover booth I cruised back over there to check out the latest vehicles from the company. The company showed off the latest F-Type Coupe and new C-X17 SUV. 









Later on in the morning, Subaru unveiled its next version of its popular WRX Sedan. The WRX is a popular vehicle for driving enthusiasts, so it garnered a lot of attention. The company also unveiled a Subaru Legacy Concept vehicle which signals upcoming design ideas for Subaru.









One of the most impressive debuts of the morning was at Mercedes. The company unveiled the S65, an even higher performance version of its large S-Class sedan, and the GLA a compact cross over vehicle. The company also announced the final production year details for the SLS super car and showed off a Gran Turismo edition Mercedes super car concept vehicle. 




Porsche always has an incredible display inside Petree Hall at the LA Auto Show. The company debuted the 911 Turbo Cabriolet, but the main focus was the world premiere of the Porsche Macan. The compact cross over had a lot of buzz all morning. Of course, the 918 Spyder is always worth a look at too.






The new Porsche Macan.
Ford Motor Company unveiled a new concept version of its popular Ford Edge cross over vehicle. The exterior style changes are slight, but I figure Ford knows better than to mess with a good thing. 





After the Ford debut, I took some time to check out all the other great cars on display at the LA Auto Show. Here are some of my favorites from the Press Day.





The New Audi RS7 is killer.

I really liked the vehicles in the Cadillac booth. The 2014 models, plus the concept vehicles all looked great.

Special Edition Dodge Viper







Scion always has a unique display and this year was no different. In addition, to a clever Instagram promo, the company had a popular designer create paper miniature kits of Scion's vehicle lineup. 



Toyota & Sponge Bob Fish Tank.

Mini DJ Booth


1950s Edition of the Fiat 500

Dodge SRT Edition Vehicles





The debuts took place all the way up to 5pm. Big thanks to all of the automotive manufacturers for all of the hospitality and to the LA Auto Show staff for putting on a great event. The Auto Show opens on Friday and runs through December 1st.

Check back next week for more coverage from local car events courtesy of California Car Cover.

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