Top Five At The 2006 Twin Cities Auto Show

We made our annual visit to the 2006 Twin Cities Auto Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Saturday, and this year’s show was probably the best in the few that I’ve been to. All of the major domestic car makers had some major new car design concepts to unveil and they all looked great. Here’s my top five from the show:

Challenger1. 2008 Dodge Challenger
This design blows the other retro/new muscle cars off the road. I had seen images of this online prior to the show, but didn’t believe it could possibly be real. When I was making my way through the Chrysler cars and saw this beauty off in the distance, I almost ran to it. What a cool car.

Camaro2. 2008 Chevy Camaro
Doesn’t quite grab me the way the new Challenger does, but I think GM came up with a very nice design for the new Camaro. You can see the elements from the late 60’s Camaros in this design to go head to head with the late 60’s style new Mustangs. The new Camaro seems a little more inventive and original than the new Mustang or the new GTO, I worry a little about how consumers will respond once this car hits the show room. Is it a little too much?

Shelby GT 5003. 2008 Shelby GT 500 Mustang
I didn’t think it would happen. Carroll Shelby and Ford’s relationship was rumored to have been ended forever back in the 90’s, but with the new Mustang coming out I think everyone craved a new Shelby Mustang just enough to bring it back. Although I’m a huge fan of the 67 and 68 Shelby GT350 and GT500 Mustangs, this design just doesn’t seem to get me as excited about the car as the original 60’s cars. The Saleen Mustang that was at last year’s Twin Cities Auto Show was actually a lot more impressive. Let me see the new GT500 in another color and I might change my mind. Dark blue with white stripes? Black with silver stripes?

Reflex4. Ford Relfex Concept
Sure, it kind of looks like my electric shaver, or a toaster, but there’s something really special about this car design. It appears futuristic, yet seems very retro at the same time. Gee, retro sure is the trend these days in car design, isn’t it? Often times a concept car won’t appear to fit in with a car brand’s line when it’s not a redesign of an existing car. Ford’s concept car last year didn’t look like a Ford at all, it was more like a Jaguar or a Porsche. With this concept, I think they pulled it off. This really looks like a Ford. I wouldn’t expect to see this on the showroom floor anytime soon, but I’d like to see elements from this design start to show up in new Ford cars.

Solstice5. 2007 Pontiac Solstice
Pontiac has always been a favorite car brand of mine, and the new Solstice is a really cool car. When I saw one outside my local Arby’s a few weeks ago, I thought it was a BMW. The cool thing about the Solstice is that although it looks a lot like a high-end BMW roadster, it’s about 1/3 of the price. It certainly borrows elements from a BMW roadster, but it still has the unique Pontiac look that makes it a great new car.

Out of these cars, which would I buy? I’ll take one Challenger and one Solstice, please. Out of the show, the car I’d be most likely to buy would be the new Pontiac G6 2-door GTP. I’ve really been loving my Grand Am and think the next generation of my car is a nice step forward. The G6 looks great. As for Lizzie, she still refused to let go of her loyalty to Kia. She was very impressed with the Kia Sportage and Kia Sedona SUVs. Seems like a realistic choice in the next year or so as her car will be paid off within the next year. Then we’ll be looking for a new one for her, and the Sportage seems to be her first choice after being at this show.

I’ll have a full gallery up in the Photo Album soon like I do every year. For the time being, I put photos of the best cars, including multiple angles of the Top 5 I’ve been talking about on the PhotoBlog.