SEMA Gallery: Greatest Supercar Display ever from Michelin
Michelin is our favorite tire company from now on. Without resorting to the cheap, albeit highly effective and entertaining, trick of hiring booth babes to draw attention to themselves, this French tiremaker still had one of the largest crowds of any vendor at the show. Accomplished with an elegant simplicity that had us drooling from the moment we saw the space. The plan was so breathtakingly simple that we hope others will follow their lead in the future. OK, we wouldn't complain too much if there were still some lovely ladies around as well, but this being an automotive show, putting cars above all else seems to be a pretty good idea.
What they pulled off went a little beyond the ordinary and deserves some kind of award. After working your way past dozens of individual wheel and tire booths with everything from clear rims to those 34-inch monster truck-worthy numbers, you round a corner in the tires and wheels hall and see one of the cleanest, most spectacular sights. Especially if you are a fan of exotics and supercars, but even if you're not, it's quite striking. More story and pics after the jump.
A Fisker and a Ruf sit at the top of an arcing ramp, high above the rear of the display. In front of them are a Saleen S7 tt and a Pagani Zonda, respectively. In front of THEM are a Koenigsegg CCX and McLaren F1, almost touching the ground And sitting in the center of the almost completed circle is a turntable. A turntable with a Bugatti Veyron slowly rotating on it. And if that isn't enough, a glance to the side will reveal a Caparo T1.
Now think about that for another few minutes while you look through the incredible high-res gallery provided to us by Drew Phillips of Fast-Autos.net. If these were heavyweight boxers you'd be looking at the likes of Ali, Holmes, Frazier, Tyson, Marciano, Louis, and Dempsey. All in one place at one time. True champions that still command respect.
The Fisker is a bit more of a looker than an outright supercar like the others, but can still manage some respectable speeds. The RUF and Zonda can crack 210. The F1 has done 241. The CCX and Veyron a little better still. The Saleen hasn't proven its top speed claims but should be able to manage something very close to the others, and the Caparo, being little more than a Formula 1 car with better aerodynamics might not set the top speed bar any higher, should provide thrills in every direction. Some of the worlds fastest cars, all on display together, latent energy almost palpable. Despite our pleas, our offer to run them out to Nellis for some quick testing, was politely refused. Thanks anyhow, Michelin. All the pics are clickable wallpaper.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
meeno01 6:38PM (11/03/2006)
(incoherent mumbling)
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Saracen 6:39PM (11/03/2006)
Wow, the CCX looks amazing in black.
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cjarnola 6:48PM (11/03/2006)
I'll take the combo, please.
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ruggels 6:55PM (11/03/2006)
awesome awesome awesome
that said, is this the first time we've seen a completed Caparo T1 lingering about in public?
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Toy Yoda 7:37PM (11/03/2006)
Great collection, but why a Fisker and a Ruf, and not say the two Italian icons, a Lambo and a Ferrari?
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Chosen1 7:09PM (11/03/2006)
I must say...that is very bad-ass!! Kudos to Michelin!!
-Chosen1
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TT C6 7:18PM (11/03/2006)
Where is the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 ?????
A RUF Porsche but no Lingenfelter Twin Turbo Corvette ????
I LOVE all of those cars and think it is one of the best cauto show displays I have EVER seen.
But,
give the Corvette the respect it's due.
Oh, well.
There were no Ferraris or Ford GT's either. =)
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Jimbo 7:38PM (11/03/2006)
And the Koenigsegg CCX got bested on the track by a Cateram.
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Slo_Mo_Shun 7:41PM (11/03/2006)
I think all of the cars on that display are in the 200 mph club
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JCWhitless 7:48PM (11/03/2006)
What, no Merker XR4Ti?
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gkz 8:07PM (11/03/2006)
let's start the bidding; how many organs am i going to have to sell for one of these?
as for the omission of ferrari/lambo/fordgt/or vette, it would appear that the display only includes cars that use michelin as OE from the builder. that being said, a second display showing examples of all the types of race cars that use michelin would be equally cool(the c6r vette would be included here)
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John 8:08PM (11/03/2006)
For the people asking where all the Lamborghinis and Ferraris are, you do realise this is a Michelin display and not a Bridgestone, Pirelli and whoever else display? They're showing off the fact that many supercars use Michelin tyres.
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don 8:23PM (11/03/2006)
I don't know if Lambo should have been included anyway, the Murcielago LP640 doesn't stand-out as much, i'm sure my jaw would drop if i saw one but the CCX, Veyron or F1 are like instant orgasms :P. The Enzo has kind of gone "cliche", what i would have liked to see (in an ideal world of course since they don't work with Michelin) from Ferrari is the FXX,
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Rocket Punch 8:36PM (11/03/2006)
to #6,
ZO6??.....cricket...cricket...cricket....
Ferrari is sponsored by Bridgestone.....Looks like someone didn't watch F1.
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Kevin Mac 8:46PM (11/03/2006)
Why is there a Saleen S7 there?
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iOrange 10:01PM (11/03/2006)
Unreal... Perfect 10s. That McLaren... just wow... I need to change my underwear.
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gp 10:22PM (11/03/2006)
Every time I see a serious grammatical error in a post, Frank is the author.
QUOTE: "Accomplished with an elegant simplicity that had us drooling from the moment we saw the space."
That is simply not an English sentence. Give me a ******* break, this is a professional blog that people get paid to write for.
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Peloton25 10:37PM (11/03/2006)
gp - you only wish you were as cool as Frank. :p
There is such a thing as artistic license when writing and I think Frank's work here is excellent.
>8^)
ER
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Peloton25 10:39PM (11/03/2006)
BTW: If you want something to complain about, why not bemoan the fact that "michelin6.jpg" is returning a Page can not be displayed" error right now?
>8^)
ER
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HOMER 3:15AM (11/04/2006)
THANKS #12 FOR CORRECTING THESE CHUMPS. OH AND TO THE VETTE LOVER, PLEASE: I LOVE THE VETTE TOO. BUT IN THIS CLASS OF CARS THE VETTE WOULD BE JUST A PACE CAR AND NOTHING MORE.
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