I went down to the Detroit auto show today. It's not something I would have enjoyed at most points in my life, but now that I can actually picture myself in nice cars in the not-too-distant duture, it's a lot more fun. Also, I didn't realize you can actually sit in the cars, which certainly helps the imagination.

My single favorite by far was a concept car, the Lincoln MKR. I loved the features, there's a real conservation ethic behind the interior components, and it's just a sweet-looking car to boot. Unfortuantely, the spokesdude suggested that it will probably never be built and sold as-is, but was simply designed to show off a bunch of different features that will be used across the Lincoln product line. I hope he's wrong.

Also enjoyable: the concept of spokesmodels in general. At the Jaguar display, in particular, most people were not focused on the car per se.

The wackiest display came from Changfeng Motors, which became the first Chinese company to have a full-fledged display at a major American car show. Most of their cars looked fairly normal, but the Rhombus stood out for its angular front end and it's unique wheel position--one in front, one in back, and two in the middle. Coming in a close second was the Smart Fortwo, which looks like it could actually be eaten by even a midsized SUV.

As for me, I still have 9-12 months before I replace the Civic, but the auto show certainly gave me some useful information. I still like the Saabs, and I'll consider a wide variety of cars at the "entry-level luxury" level. There's a new contender, though, because I was pleasantly surprised to fit very nicely in the Mini Cooper. It's not like I fell head over heels in love with it, but it definitely showed me something.