Even within the international geekfest that is CES, we found a few interesting machines. From old school to new school, to no school, the vehicles of CES ran the gamut of taste. About the only place we didn't see an LCD monitor installed in a car was under the gas cap. We've seen car trunks filled with monitors, but on the underside of the trunk lid? Really? Is that necessary? Maybe your kidnap victims can entertain themselves with a music video.
Speakers are a tremendously popular trend -- the more the better and the bigger the badder. Extra points are awarded for the number of seats taken up by your sound system, apparently. One Scion xB even had an extendable rear hatch full of speakers and the requisite LCDs. The only thing bigger than the CES cars' speakers were their shoes. The largest might have been the 30s seen on the Alpine RLS, but others came close. Popular colors were orange, orange, and a dark orange-like orange. And who knew automotive nitrous came in solid-rocket-booster-sized bottles? The Batmobile and Monkee mobile were in attendance, as was one pavement-rubbing, mega-slammed classic Caddy.
Check out the high-res (1280x) gallery of 33 photos of all the wild CES vehicles, with more to come.
UPDATE: After checking out the Part I gallery, Parts II, III, and IV are now available if you haven't had enough.
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First Drive: Maserati Quattroporte S in Europe
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In the Autoblog Garage:2009 Nissan GT-R
North American Exclusive First Drive: Alfa MiTo
First Drive: 2009 Kia Borrego
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doogs @ Jan 9th 2007 9:52AM
Are we at the same CES? Where's the VW that had some dude parked by it all day, jamming on a guitar that played through the car speakers?
Where's the Lotus Exige?
And, for the love of all that is holy, where is the International CXT with the televisions in its wheel wells (not kidding, have a look - http://www.flickr.com/photos/belisarius/351134959/in/set-72157594466748515/)
kab @ Jan 9th 2007 9:53AM
I love these sorts of trends... lets take a car, and make it as poor handling as possible, use obnoxious paint schemes, and then make a loud, pointless acoustic disaster of a system, and call it a show car.
Chris Tutor @ Jan 9th 2007 11:11AM
Doogs, you're spoiling my surprises! All those cars and more are coming your way. Notice the "Part I" in the headline. There will be at leaat a part two, probably a part three. There were just too many for one, single post.
kingvolcano @ Jan 9th 2007 11:53AM
I remember when these types of cars first appeared on the scene, I thought they were cool....So was BJ and The Bear at one time.
jeff @ Jan 11th 2007 4:46PM
I bet that Audi is ridiculously fast. Are those exhaust pipes exiting _before_ the front wheels? I bet that just sounds weird to be standing near the car and listen to it run.
Sid @ Jan 16th 2007 7:35AM
On the photos of the 2007 CES auto, where is the make and model name for the vehicle? We do not know what we are looking at.
Jessica @ Jan 16th 2007 11:11AM
Well, if people are calling THESE cars showcars, they need a reality check. I agree wiht "kab" when take these cars make them almost undrive-able and make all this extra CRAP to put on them and say THEY are show cars? thats a bunch of bull. REAL showcars are the beautiful and real cars from the old times. These cars were driven when you would just go around crusin' adn having a great time. These are cars from the 50-79's. And older cars like 30s-40s. all these cars are great and maybe everyone needs a reality check when they say THESE are show cars. Go to a Tennessee rod run, or any local cruise in adn you'll see!
P,S>> TV in the WHEELS? THATS a WASTE of maoney and completely POINTLESS! WHAT HAS SOCIETY AND CARMAKING COME TO?!?!?!
amber @ Jan 16th 2007 11:37AM
well at least you'll have something to watch..when there is no more gas to drive the darn thing...its sad that noone takes the oil crisis seriously...still waiting for the real concept cars to take the stage....these are made for bratz dolls...not reality
DEBI @ Jan 16th 2007 12:06PM
WELL THEY JUST KEEP TRYING TO ATTRACT YOU TO NEW THIS AND NEW THATS..... WELL WHERE'S THE CHROME???
" IT AIN'T COOL IF YOUR CHROME DON'T SHINE" !!!!!
WHERE IS THE CHROME???????
THAT CAMERO CONVERTIBLE WOULD LOOK GOOD IF.........
IT HAD SOME CHROME ON IT!
Paul @ Jan 16th 2007 1:57PM
It's just the evolution of hot rodding. Started back in the 30's or 40's, guys trying to make cars go faster. Then the customizing craze of the 50's and 60's. Then the handling mods of the 70's came along. The manufacturers followed up on all the trends, incorporating the advances into production cars. So what's left to hot rod or customize today? Just the stupid crap nonsense you see at the CES show. Cars in this crowded world are rapidly becoming irrelevant and car freaks attempting to express their individuality are limited to looking more and more extreme and more and more stupid. The smart guys are working on advanced propulsion systems like hydrogen/fuelcells/ batteries - that move us away from gasoline and pollution. Here's to smart guys!