#Detroit 2017 - Daily Round-Up
###Pre-Show
Welcome everyone to this years coverage of the Automation Detroit Auto Show. For Splendid Auto Monthly, I’m your host, Gavin Anderson.
With the show opening tomorrow morning, the display halls are packed with thousands of people helping to finish off the many displays that we’ll be viewing over the next week and a bit. The keynote theatre has been setup, the press studio is up and running and every hotel within a 50 mile radius has been fully booked by the combined marketing department of every company in the world.
Already, a number of companies have shown off teasers of what to expect from their display, and to say the least, it looks like a very exciting start to 2017. Here’s the round-up:
Veteran muscle car maker OAM announced that the concept of the upcoming Chevalier will be on show at Detroit this year, and it looks set to take on the current muscle car line-up in the company’s usual swaggering form. Alongside this, they’re bringing a concept of the Traveller II and some of their prestigious classics to the show.
Zavir will be displaying the 7th gen Squalo this year, along with a magnesium-block V12 that’s had journalists at S.A.M. childish with excitement. We can also expect a new low-end convertible from the company in the form of the Luna Spider, along with new versions of many of their other vehicles and even a Z4500. This looks set to be one of the bigger displays this year.
River Automotive stated that they “should showcase something”, but no details have arisen since. More to follow.
Exciting news came on Sunday when Meliora announced that some new prototypes and concepts would be at the show, more to follow.
IMP have announced that plethora of vehicles from their sub-brands will be at the show, including new sedans and a hatchback. It seems that they could dominate in the passenger vehicle category of this year’s show. More exciting is the promise of “a carbon fibre Minivan” - we wait in anticipation for what this will turn out to be.
JHW are showing off their 2017 model line-up, though no further details have been given since.
Some rumours were circulating earlier this week that Gryphon Gear would be on display at the show, but they’re keeping it very well hidden if they are coming along.
Vanguard Automtive make their Detroit debut with a brand hatchback called the Valaencia R3, powered by a small range of i3s, while sister company Picasso will be displaying their new Equinox GT which looks set to take on the mid-range luxury coupe market. They have a keynote on January 10th, which we’ll be attending.
DSD made an exciting annoucnement earlier this week; they’re showing off an all new Hybrid. Called the Sambar, it’s using a bespoke, brand new hybrid system, powered by a Maesima-designed engine. DSD Racing will also be at the show, bringing along a specially tuned version of the Maesima MRZ-3. A new military vehicle, called the SFRAV (isn’t that just fecking awesome) will also be on show.
Arzami’s companies will be on display this year; more to follow.
Balatzar teased us earlier this year when the front page of their website was changed to the company’s “RS” logo - more to follow.
A group of RMW enthusisasts will be bringing along an-all classic lineup including the 1975 Cerberus. Despite the companies collapse in 2008, their heritage is still very strong thanks to their dedicated fans who have helped to organise this.
Puttzalong will be displaying for the first time this year, bringing along the all new Venice executive sedan. Powered by a range of i6s and V8s, it looks set to try and undercut the current executive sedan market with low prices.
Storm Automotive’s latest Shadow will be on display, and it’s an all electric super saloon!
Mott Works played a lazarus on us and are believed to be “revising 3 cars from early on in their history”
ADV gave us a sneak peak of their HUD Concept a few days ago, more details on the way.
A big announcement came on Wednesday when Dimension showed us what they were bringing to the display: a whole army of vehicles, including the updated Entropy, brand new Hypero, Supernova and much more. A press conference has also been organised. To say the least, this is one of the most anticipated displays of the show.
Erin annoucned on Thursday that a new AWD version of the Merna would be on the display, as well as the upcoming Visto, which finally replaces the long outdated Mk 4 version of the supermini.
Petoskey put some sneak peaks of their display on Twitter this afternoon, including a brand new utility vehicle and what appears to be a chrome-clad performance V8. More to follow.
It certainly looks set to be an action packed show. Join us tomorrow when things really will have got under way.
- Gavin Anderson
Show is open as of midnight GMT (3 hours from this post essentially). Here’s to an awesome show!