2007 Detroit Auto Show: Last Round of Day 1

I just returned to the media room from my last trip downstairs, where I found some more interesting tidbits between the scheduled press conferences.

There was finally time to shoot the Volt concept, complete with its plug hanging out the side, and I of course noticed a lot more slices of Detroit auto show life from paint colors to which concepts drew big crowds.

Can you guess the hot car color this year?

Color of the year has to go to purple. Lincoln used it on the Navigator, above, and the MKZ sedan. Hyundai also used it on the Azera.

The Ford concepts looked better in person, especially the Airstream.

The Ford Interceptor concept drew a huge crowd as it readied itself for the trip to the podium. Hearing the E85-fueled V-8 live made me appreciate the car a lot more.

Here’s another purple car, the Ford Edge.

The big surprise of the day was the Chevy Volt and the masses of attention it got. Hours after it debuted, interviewers and crowds of onlookers still lingered.

Few people seemed that interested in the Camaro Convertible concept. It looked lonely all dressed in orange.

Even GM got in on the purple act, with the Australian brand Holden’s concept.

Ford’s redesigned Focus sports an emblem that protrudes quite a bit from the grille.

The Lincoln MKR concept could’ve used a purple paint job. In person, its red exterior looked pale. Not by comparison, just plain pale.

Check it out: They finished the checker roof of that Mini from earlier.

OK, I’m a bit loopy from breathing recycled air and running on little sleep. There will be plenty of news coming later tonight, and even at the midnight hour. Make sure to check back.

KickingTires' Coverage of the Detroit Auto Show

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Detroit Auto Show Update: Hitting The Road

It’s Saturday morning, and Joe Wiesenfelder and I are headed to Detroit in a Volvo XC90. Following later in the day will be Kelsey Mays and photographer Chase Agnello-Dean in a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Two more of our staff are flying in, but we frown on that around here. We are Cars.com after all.

We’re all loaded down with laptops, cameras and even the old pen and notepad to bring you as much coverage as humanly possible of the Detroit auto show. There will be more releases later today via the magic of the internet, plus a bevy of new cars will break cover at midnight tonight before the floor opens Sunday morning. Check in between football games until then. We’ll see you there.

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The Kicking Tires Guide to the Detroit Auto Show

Get ready: The granddaddy of all car shows opens its doors to the press — including us — this Sunday, and media days end Tuesday. We decided a post was in order so we could prepare the masses for just what’s coming from the automakers, Cars.com and KickingTires.

• It’s a good idea to subscribe to KickingTires’ RSS feed, even if just for the next week of auto show madness. That way you’ll always be on top of the latest info as soon as we post it.
• Starting Sunday, we’ll have full reports on each new model with live photos from the show floor on the Cars.com auto show page. You can bookmark it as well.

• Here on KickingTires we’ll have breaking news and first looks at the new models when the automakers release them. Many of these are at midnight. Yep, that means if you come back here at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning, there will be a bevy of new car information and photos here. Of course, they’ll be easy to find later in the day as well, but some people just can’t wait.
• Tonight at midnight one of the automakers gets a big jump on things; one of the most anticipated concept cars of the entire show will break cover here on KickingTires, and we promise it is one not to miss.

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