NAIAS did not happen in 2020 due to …. Well, we all know about that. NAIAS 2021 MOTOR BELLA at the M1 CONCOURSE… Happened! For us scribe press folks on the 21st and 22nd of September, with September 23-26 for the public show. Different it is, being held outdoors with no ‘white stuff’ on the ground and the car-loving crowd dressed in summer garb with temps… Well, it is summertime.
GM, FORD, and Jeep were the glue that held the show together, although I wish that Cadillac had brought out their jewels to show off. They did not and I missed ’em on press day… I like Cadillac’s. But GM did have the new EV Hummer on sight, with GM’s all-new Ultium platform that will be the heartbeat of their all-electric future. Corvette models aplenty, a 2012 1st year COPO Camaro and a 2022 COPO Camaro. Drag race cars they are. Jim Campbell, VP of the Chevrolet Performance Division, was on hand with his team of wizardly professionals and presented an interesting conference on present and future performance with EV as the future.
The Ford folks had the new E-Mustang, a new Maverick truck-powered by a 2.5-liter hybrid claiming 40mpg/500 miles per fill-up, and the Bronco-Yeepeahyo! The new Lincoln vehicles-no more cars? My pick is the Lincoln Nautilus is about 1/4 the price of a Bentley Bentayga and it is beautiful. The Nautilus runs around $67K, the Navigator at $97-$100K, and the Bentayga at $250K… That’s a quarter of a million $$$.
The Jeep and 702HP Ram TRX Pickup are way cool subjects if you will, and going for a fast thrill ride in the dirt pile at M1with a pro driver in the TRX, well… I did it four times and it made my day. Going airborne was cool!
Yes, there were the new 2022 regular cars and trucks also positioned all around the track, and imports from around the world and imports from the USA. And different it was, sort of like a walk in a park atmosphere with full boogie, real, race cars mumbling and rumbling on the track in the background. Full bore pedal to the metal always sounds good. It’s good for the car soul in us. It’s a wrap.
“Who knows what the future holds”, stated a young man as a robot was serving him his morning latte.
