Sydney International Auto Show 2008

If there's one thing I look forward to each year, it's the SF International Auto Show. I suppose I get some sort of masochistic glee about being surrounded by dozens of cars that I could not afford at the moment, short of selling a kidney or twelve. Sadly, being on the other side of the planet makes viewing said automobiles a little difficult. The good news is - get this - they have cars over here too.

I wandered over to the convention center around late morning on a Sunday to get my annual car fix. Things started out quite optimisitically with the white (eh) R8 being displayed out front. With a certain giddy glee, I ran frantically up to the case and smooshed my face up against the glass.

That is one fine-looking automobile, yessiree.

Wandering inside, I found a bunch of classic cars just inside the door up for auction. Bypassing these, I made my way into the actual showroom. I had really hoped they were saving the best for last, as my eyes fell upon the fleet of VW cars littering the entryway. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike VW. I just find them a bit...boring. And I was not here to see boring. At least the upcoming Passat coupe was somewhat nice-looking.

Skipping past the majority of the Vee-Dubs, the real magic began to happen. Here are some highlights.

A trio of Lamborghinis awaited me - the Gallardo

Spyder in the foreground, the yellow Gallardo in the

middle, and the pea-green Murciélago lurking in the

background.

Here was one of several concept vehicles to be

found: the Nissan Mixim. Shiny.

Continuing with the Nissan offerings, we have here

the ridiculously fast GT-R. Designed by and for

12-year-old boys.

Mazda had a rather unique piece for the concept crowd.

The Taiki is a front-engine, RWD...something.

The front looks kinda unique. The car of the future,

apparently.

The Ferrari California. Beautiful.

Hmm...Lexus SUV meets Flight of the Navigator?

Honda attempts to fill the '8-fender / spoiler-econo-

hatch' niche market with the Civic Type R.

The Kizashi 3 concept from Suzuki. It's ok - a little

ointment will help bring down that swelling.

Potential Prius hybrid follow-up from Toyota. 2 AAA

batteries not included.

They also had a section dedicated primarily to really

obscure supercars. This is the Bolwell Nagari.

The always-appreciated Lotus Elise - provided

you are 3' 7" tall.

I've always loved the styles of cars from the 20s

and 30s. This is a modern take on that with the

Bufori MkIII La Joya.

Morgan also made a brief showing with their Aero 8.

Someone modded the heck out of this Porsche and

turned it into an Avalanche GT 800 EVO-R. They

took a few styling cues from the Carrera GT (exhaust

and headlights), and surpassed it in terms of HP (800

from a 3.6L engine). Holy crap.

Here's another one you don't see too often: the Pagani

Zonda C12S Roadster. Yours for only $1.5m.

Koenigsegg dropped a bright orange bomb at the

show with their CCX.

As I reached the far end of the showroom, I felt something was missing. There were no Germans. Sure, there was VW and their red-headed Spanish stepchild Seat, but the holy trinity of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes was nowhere to be found. Sad.

As I left, I gave one last solemn glance at the R8, and the sad walking-away song from the end of the Incredible Hulk began to play in my head.