2028hrs SRT has laid an early claim to the unofficial ‘most attention-grabbing paint scheme’ award at the Detroit motor show. The Street and Race Technologies brand will unveil this lurid green Viper Grand Touring model tomorrow.
2020hrs Every manufacturer will be hoping and praying that their teleprompters work correctly during tomorrow’s presentations. Non-working equipment in front of a live audience can lead to unpredictable on-stage behaviour, as our friends at Stuff magazine reported on from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.
2018hrs As you can see in the picture gallery above this gallery, right now in the Cobo Centre the ground crews of each manufacturer are putting the final pieces of the presentations in place, laying the cabling for the audio-visual equipment, polishing the show cars to a fine sheen and – crucially – making sure everything works.
1950hrs Impressive news from Jaguar Land Rover on the eve of the Detroit motor show. The British company recorded its best-ever global sales in 2013. A total of 425,006 vehicles were sold, which represented an increase of 19 per cent over 2012. Land Rover sold 348,338 vehicles, with Jaguar pitching in with 76,668, a massive 42 per cent rise over the previous year.
1944hrs In the second of our series of blogs from the Detroit motor show, special correspondent Marc Noordeloos assesses Hyundai’s position in the US car market and contrasts it with Europe.
1939hrs Hilton Holloway has used the medium of Twitter to report that he’s safely arrived in Detroit. The weather? “Very bright, about zero. Quite nice, really”, tweets Autocar’s associate editor.
1932hrs Anyway, back to the point (what there is of it). We’re sure most of you, like us, spent the festive period wondering what former General Motors boss Bob Lutz has been up to lately. The Detroit motor show has provided the answer, because the company he co-owns, VL Automotive, is unveiling a Fisker Karma-based convertible called the Destino. Which is, quite frankly, an awful name. Kudos to VL, though, for reportedly replacing the Fisker’s electric powertrain with a 6.2-litre supercharged V8.
1929hrs Are they called Twitter handles, or are handles reserved for Citizen’s Band (CB) radio? I’m thinking of Kris Kristofferson’s character in 1970s trucking movie Convoy, whose CB handle was Rubber Duck.
1927hrs If you’re an avid ‘Tweeter’, you can follow the team at the following handles: @mtisshaw, @jim_holder, @StvCr, @hiltonholloway, @andrew_frankel, @Stuart_Price, @MarcNoord and the magazine @autocar.
1921hrs Our team on the Detroit motor show floor includes Jim Holder (Autocar’s editor), Mark Tisshaw (senior editor news and features), Steve Cropley (editor in chief), Hilton Holloway (associate editor), Andrew Frankel (senior contributing writer), Stuart Price (photographer), Greg Kable (European editor), Richard Bremner (senior contributing editor) and special correspondent Marc Noordeloos.
1911hrs In addition to this regularly updated live blog, our show team will be independently blogging about what they’ve seen in Detroit and what’s impressed or dismayed them. Autocar editor Jim Holder is leading by example: he’s already written a blog pondering the difficult challenge that lays ahead for General Motors’ chief executive Mary Barra, who will face the world’s media having been installed as the motor company’s big boss late last year.
1904hrs As well as show unveilings and pictures, we’ll also be reporting on some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on and rumours that will undoubtedly spread around the Detroit motor show rapidly.
1900hrs (UK)/1400hrs (Detroit) This is Autocar’s Detroit motor show live blog. During the rest of Sunday and all of Monday, our reporters will be keeping you updated on all the breaking news from the first major motor show of the year.
1853hrs In fact, snapper Stuart has been out in the US since last week, when he shot our exclusive studio pictures of the bold new Lexus RC-F sports coupé, which you can view here.
1843hrs During the next day and a half we’ll be bringing you latest show images courtesy of our intrepid photographer, Stuart Price, who will be flitting between the vast floors of the Cobo Centre, where the show is held, and the Detroit motor show press room, where he’ll fire his images back to the UK. He’s already been pointing his lens at some of the show build-up, as you can see above this article.
1833hrs The conceptual Audi wasn’t alone: we’ve also seen images of the new Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 slip out before they were really supposed to.
1823hrs Of course, sometimes the motor show star cars unintentionally reach public consumption before their makers intended. The Audi Allroad Shooting Brake concept is one such vehicle that snuck onto the internet yesterday evening.
1814hrs Shuman could be right – the build-up to the show has been fairly busy as manufacturers have teased and tickled us with sneaky images of their Detroit motor show stars. Read our Detroit motor show preview here to learn about some of the key reveals.
1811hrs Indeed, as the Detroit motor show celebrates its 25th birthday, show chief Bob Shuman says this year’s event could be the best yet. Some 50 global vehicle unveilings are expected to be made on Detroit’s world stage. “It will be an absolute news feast for the journalists who cover the show from around the world,” he said.
1806hrs The Detroit motor show (or the North American International Auto Show to give the expo its full name) kicks off the year with some pretty significant new model unveilings. We’re anticipating major interest in some of the show debuts that we’ll be reporting on during the next 36 hours, not least from (deep breath) Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Infiniti, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo.
1800hrs (UK)/1300hrs (Detroit) Welcome to Autocar’s Detroit motor show live blog. During the rest of Sunday and all of Monday, our reporters will be keeping you updated on all the breaking news from the first major motor show of the year.