Let’s have a chat about the current car landscape. The public has yet to warm up to electric cars, despite massive discounts. The government is starting to force the situation. Caught in the middle: car brands. They can’t make cars no one wants, but there is that good ol’ government and their mandates. No where is this more evident than at the 2024 New York International Auto Show.
Long gone are brands that normally grace these pages. No BMW, no Mercedes, and no Cadillac. But I did find a few gems, and even a few electric cars that look like fun. Let’s take a tour together.
The hot hatch is hotter than ever
We start with good news if you’re in your 20s – the hot “hatch” is really on fire right now. Not everything is a hatchback of course, but it fits the category.
We have some returning favorites like the GR86 and BR-Z, some updates like the WRX TR (track ready) and Volkswagen GTI, and new arrivals such as the Hyundai Elantra N (available with manual!) and Toyota GR Corolla. Details for each car are in the captions.
The Ford Mustang stands alone
Dodge has killed the V-8, and they weren’t even at the show. Chevrolet might have won my heart with the Z06, but it’s still a $120,000 sports car, and the Camaro is now dead too. So if you want a relatively cheap V-8 in a good-looking sports coupe body, it’s the Mustang or it’s nothing.
If that’s too pedestrian, the Mustang GTD was also there with its $300,000 price tag. It’s a unicorn (but a beautiful one) – the regular GT will do just fine for most. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to experience one, but let me put out there that a P-51 Mustang (you know, the one that flies) is just $4 million. Doesn’t have a Ford V-8 though.
It’ll be tough to walk past not one, but two Z06s for one of these.
Also shown was a revised Ford Mustang Mach E with wheels that look like knockoff 826Ms in bronze. The car gets a $6,000 price cut this year, and is now able to charge with Tesla’s Supercharger network (with an adapter). Yay…
If you want electric, you want a Porsche
Tucked waaaaay in the back was a small four-car section from Porsche. They showed off a new Panamera with a questionable front-end design, though the wagon is dead. Of course it gets shared with the Cayenne SUV (Coupe in this case).
Also there was the revised Taycan with a subtle facelift (not that it needed it). No Turbo GT. But a nice surprise was the new Macan Turbo. It’s electric, but it looks great to my artistic eye at least. I wonder if Porsche is saving their sexier designs for the electric cars now.
Inside, it’s typical Porsche (minimal), but I must say I’m excited to try it. This Macan is perhaps the “newest” Porsche design I’ve seen in a long time.
No 911 though, unless you count Michael Strahan’s on display.
Not so super cars
Directly in front of the Porsche booth was what we’ll call the “rich” section. Rimac, Karma, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini and Lotus.
Karma, Rimac and Lotus are irrelevant. You’ll never see them on the road. The only time I’ve even been with a Rimac was to help prep it for…a car show. Karma – I don’t know what to tell you. The car they are stuffing full of God-knows-what powertrain now feels like a zombie that never dies. And that Lotus SUV…yeesh.
For the price, aren’t you in a Porsche or Ferrari?
Rolls Royce had the Spectre EV out in a stunning shade of purple, and though I did not release the Maybach review yet, I must tell you that an EV is the way to go for ultra-lux. It’s silent and smooth, even more so than a V-12.
That leaves the Lamborghini Revuelto, the Aventador’s replacement. It combines a V-12 with three electric motors for 1,001 horsepower, and I think this is the key to unlocking the future of the supercar. It possesses the speed you expect (like the Rimac), with the emotional parts of a combustion engine still involved. Of course, the holy trinity did this five years ago, but it just shows that treating a battery like a turbocharger or another boost component is going to be important over the next decade.
Price: $600,000. But a Diablo is over $400k, so I’m sure you can swing the Revuelto.
Genesis is such wow
I’d say the biggest presence was from the Lexus/Toyota and Hyundai/Genesis area. I appreciate the effort.
Toyota had everything from their group of sports cars to a SEMA-prepped Tacoma, while Lexus brought out the very rare IS500 and LC-F. I’m honestly not sure how much longer cars like that will be around.
As for Genesis, they showed off a trio of MAGMA Orange performance cars (the X Gran Berlinetta Concept is truly stunning), and the Neolun Concept that looks like something Mercedes made if they weren’t stuck with century-old design language. I’m not sure the Berlinetta would every becoem a reality, but the Neolun has the chance to enter production as a GV90.
Going old school
Head down to the basement, and be embraced by nostalgia. First, there’s a display dedicated to the Toyota Supra (complete with DENSO racecar!). Behind that is a very lovely group of JDM cars that really bring back memories. Nissan Z cars, Mitsubishi Evos (multiple generations, even grey market imports), Imprezas…if you grew up in the 90s, you’ll appreciate this display, so don’t miss it.
About the only thing missing? A 3000GT.
And remember, the GT-R is dying, and the 2024 New York International Auto Show marks its final appearance as a “new” car. How long before it appears in the basement for nostalgia?
Everyone is waiting to see what will happen
Not many concepts, not many new cars, recycled displays – feels like everyone is waiting to see what will happen. Almost everything here seemed “normal”, as in not news-worthy. You’d find it on the street.
That’s to be expected as the government tells us all in ten years that we’ll be fully electric. We’ll see. The 2024 New York International Auto Show is running from Friday, March 29, through Sunday, April 7 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
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