Detroit 2009: Hot Wheels

Sure, there were a few brands missing from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, but we never got the feeling that things were bleak... until we went looking for ten cool wheels. After walking the floor twice, we were able to come up with nine. America's premiere auto show had left us walking in circles, one wheel short, debating whether an ugly wheel with internally-mounted calipers was cool enough to make the list. And it was then that the real tragedy of this show hit us: not the subtracted brand count, but the lack of concept cars. With money reduced to growing on tumbleweeds and not on trees, those big-dollar flights of fancy had been (mostly) grounded. Instead, there were some magnificent production vehicles (the humongous 2010 Ford Taurus FTW!), and hereby we present the best wheels we found among them.