Seattle Auto Show - Early Peek

"Brodieman" (Brodieman) 10/15/2014 at 17:31 • Filed to: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Car Show, Renegade, Indy Car, Seattle, TRDPro, Hot Rod

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I got a pass to the Seattle Auto Show that starts today but it was a press sneak-peek thanks to a buddy of mine who works for a local radio station.

Cars were still unlocked and they were being moved around so I had a bit more access than normal, some areas were already locked down and I couldn't touch things I had wanted to.

I really wanted to get in and see the new F-150 and compare it to the Silverado's currently in my fleet, but after about 10 seconds after sitting in it I was kicked out by a Ford rep who said they were getting ready for a video shoot and "it was just polished and I don't want it getting messed up", fine. Ford: "where being a bit of a dick keeps you out of the Fleet business." After I gave him my Fleet Manager business card he apologized profusely.

A few impressions:

So, Ferrari's are pretty.

I really, really like Blue Aston Martin's, if they have a V12, all the better.

I hadn't seen the new Mustang in person until now, I really, really like it.

The Lamborghini Huracan looks so mean and so cool in person

The Aventador is already seeming a bit long in the tooth somehow, but still looks the business

I sat in a Jaguar F-Type R, I don't think I was supposed to be allowed to.

The dash on Tesla's are neat, but we all knew that. My concern is night vision, when you've got this much LED/LCD in your face how are your eyes supposed to adjust to dark?

GIANT iPAD!

For some reason the Jeep Renegade was roped off, I actually wanted to see this thing, it must have been a pre-production model they didn't want anyone to get a bad impression from. I mean sure, I just sat in an Aston Martin and Audi RS7 and pushed every single button in them, but go ahead and rope off your tarted up Fiat. It looked OK from 10 feet away.

Toyota (whom I like) brought their whole lineup of TRDPro trucks (which are meh), exterior wise they look good, but aren't really anything "Pro" nor "Racing" nor "very good for off roading", still the 4Runner in white looked nice. I'd rock one, at $43k however it's a rather steep truck.

The new S-Class coupe is very, very pretty in person. The AMG ones will be brutal looking, this car has a serious presence.

For some reason there was a Honda Indy car in the Honda "booth", my buddy Greg wanted it and demanded the dealership guy there lease it to him for a week.

The LeMay museum (30mins south of Seattle in Tacoma) brought up a few cars. One of them is this the "GT39" a 1939 Ford powered by a Ford GT drivetrain. Coincidentally it was built by my boss' cousin at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . He's the same guy that made !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a 1960 Rambler powered by a Ferrari 360 drivetrain that won the Ridler Award a few years back.

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The top on this comes off and it's gorgeous.

Also, the Dodge Power Wagon is huge.

lone_liberal > Brodieman 10/15/2014 at 18:45

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The things that are roped off at new car shows always confuses me. At the one here the Corvettes are almost always locked up but the Porsches are open for everybody to sit in.

Brodieman > lone_liberal 10/15/2014 at 18:48

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The Corvette's were locked up too, the hood opened and battery unplugged so you couldn't hit the touch sensitive door release. I've driven a half dozen C7's now at various GM events I get invited to and it's hard to understand their reasoning.

And yeah, the 911 Turbo S upstairs on the exotic shelf was open too.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > Brodieman 10/15/2014 at 19:06

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I might go there JUST for the Test Drives.

Brodieman > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura 10/15/2014 at 19:08

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There seemed to be a pretty solid Ride and Drive area. They were still setting it up but at least the Subaru (BRZ!) and Chevy areas I saw looked like they had a good selection.

My buddy who got the passes got a new Camaro as his "press car" for the week. 2 years ago he had an STi, that was rad.

Jimmy Tango > Brodieman 10/15/2014 at 22:02

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Can I get you something you forgot at home while you in there, tomorrow? Free labor, if I get the pass to hand you that important thing that you left at home (wink)

Brodieman > Jimmy Tango 10/15/2014 at 23:30

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unfortunately that pass was only good for things I forgot at home today before 3pm

Coty > Brodieman 10/21/2014 at 16:06

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I would assume there's a way to dim it.