LA 2009: Galpin Motors makes up for Aston Martin no-show, brings the whole lineup

It's been a meager LA Auto Show this year for exotic cars. Many didn't even show up, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Bentley. Aston Martin wasn't on the list as well, but to our surprise their full line of cars was on display. Apparently Galpin Motors decided to pick up the slack and brought a decent selection of the inventory from the Van Nuys, CA showroom. We generally don't think of Aston Martin when we hear about Galpin, but the world's largest Ford dealer also has an impressive showroom for the British marque. In fact, it's where we were able to get up close and personal with the Aston Martin One-77.

Beau Boeckmann, Vice President of Galpin Motors, told us that they considered the show important enough for their Aston Martin sales to make the investment. This makes us wonder how the absence of Ferrari, Lamborghini and the like will impact local dealers. If so, we can see many following Galpin's lead and bringing cars next year like many of the regional shows. Only time will tell, but we can't imagine the exotic car manufacturers staying away from the auto show in one of their most important markets for too long.

Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.