The CAR magazine team are on the ground in Los Angeles for the 2014 LA auto show. This live blog will bring you all the new news, photos, key launches, gossip, opinion and more – all straight from the Los Angeles motor show. Stay tuned throughout Wednesday 19 November. New updates added to the top, so come back regularly for the latest news!
Cripes. Chevy’s designers have run riot with this, the Chevrolet Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo concept, a futuristic racing car study powered by a yet-to-be-invented laser beam propulsion system. That’s exec director of advanced design Clay Dean introducing the full-size scale model – read all about it here.
Lexus LF-C2 Concept went for the brightest paint imaginable but still failed to outshine the LF-A with which it shares a stand. Click here to read more about the Lexus LF-C2
Tucked away in a corner of a hall, behind Mini, a gorgeous trio from Toyota’s back catalogue.
Disco Sport gets racy. An SUV on near-slicks – crossed purposes surely, but handsome nonetheless.
More than a little Porsche 928 in the Mercedes AMG GT’s tail-lights. Which is a good thing.
Here’s what the intriguing Toyota Mirai looks like without its clothes on. It’s a hydrogen fuel cell saloon car coming to market in 2015. Another Prius-style market game-changer? Click here to learn more about the Toyota Mirai.
Click here for our in-detail story on the new Honda HR-V.
Forgive the tightly cropped picture – but we all know what a Porsche Panamera looks like, right? One of the key details of the limited to 100 examples Exclusive Series is the two-tone paint, which starts behind the front wheel and fades out towards the rear wheel. Impressive, if a little Max Power (anyone remember the first Escort RS Turbo project car? Thought not…).
Porsche has it’s own hall here at LA. It’s not massive, but it is packed for the press conference.
The new Ford F150 pick-up truck, staple of the American dream. Imagine how big you think it is, then double that for actual size. Huge.
Fiat 500X lurking under cover. Fiat’s press conference isn’t until tomorrow, but we’ve already driven this new crossover anyway – click here to read the CAR Fiat 500X review.
Non-Hellcat Dodge Challenger complete with ‘shaker’ hood option. This is a 392 Hemi ‘Scat Pack’ car – 485hp from 6.4 litres.
The world’s most powerful four-door saloon – the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. 707 horsepower for just $63,995. Wow.
Ford Explorer is best-selling SUV in US for last 25 years. One sold approximately every two minutes. This is the brand new one.
Here’s the 1965 original. In fact, this is the eighth GT350 prototype, with a number of features that didn’t make production, including the wheels, oil pan and bonnet.
New Shelby GT350 Mustang features Ford’s most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever: 5.2 litres churning out more than 500bhp.
Cool ceiling art, bro.
Spot the difference on the Lincoln stand…
Toyota i-Road – tops out at 26mph but hey, it leans in corners and doesn’t get stuck in jams.
Looks like there’s a swimming pool on the Honda stand. Not actually the case.
The remarkable Porsche 918 Spyder. Word is all nine hundred and eighteen of them are now sold. Sorry if you were holding back for the run-out edition. Should find out officially later.
GTI Roadster Vision GT – another wild creation for PlayStation’s Gran Turismo. Marginally less practical than a Golf GTI.
Read all about the new-for-2015 Cadillac ATS-V in our story here.
Or is it this one?
Is this the coolest Mini at the LA Show? Ho ho.
Ah, look: it’s Bentley’s Phantom Drophead Coupe. Sorry, no, Bentley’s Mulsanne Grand Convertible.
Here’s what the world’s most luxurious back seats look like from the show floor. They belong to the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class – find out everything you need to know about it in our story here.
Audi’s used the LA show to introduce the fuel cell-powered A7 Sportback h-tron. We drove it yesterday in gridlocked downtown LA. Smooth, near-silent, a 300-mile range and 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds. Shame the tech’s still prohibitively expensive and LA’s about the only place on the planet you can refuel it.
Well, it’s a good job Maserati have committed to building the lush Alfieri concept. We’re getting to see it quite a lot at motor shows these days! Still looks fab though…
Anyone worried about the longevity of the manual transmission should be heartened by the news in LA of the launch of Jaguar’s F-type stick-shift. Four-wheel drive has arrived, too, nudging the F nearer 911 in terms of brand stretch. Read more on the expanded Jaguar F-type range here.
Oh hell, yes! Tanner Foust’s crazy big-bhp all-wheel drive rallycross Beetle looked the biz at LA. A serious bit of kit.
Vented boot lid says this Beetle’s gone back to its roots. Yep, it’s a rear-engined Bug!
Not new, but Infiniti’s Q80 Inspiration concept sure looks good. The chap with the Pulp Fiction haircut is global design chief Alfonso Albaisa. His last role was running Nissan’s Paddington design studio; now he’s in charge of its premium brand (which is HUGE in America).
It wouldn’t be a US show without some big trucks. First we’ve stumbled across are on the GMC stand. CO2? What’s CO2?
You gotta love Los Angeles. It’s where old-school big Yank metal meets the modern world tech. See local automotive awards gongs for evidence of this fact.
Cadillac has shown us the ATS-VR racer. Now that’s modern American muscle we like.
As well as the Prologue concept car (beneath), Audi is showing the hydrogen-powered A7 H-tron. It’s the first big press conference of the day. Lots of white cars, and a customer racing R8 programme too.
‘This is much more than a concept car – it’s a new era for Audi design,’ vowed the newly appointed head of crayons at Audi, Marc Lichte. He’s talking about the new Audi Prologue, named to emphasise the fresh styling direction it harbours. We speak to Lichte in LA and he promises future Audis will be sportier, with lower cabin silhouettes, wider stances and upright vertical noses. It’s a lot to take in. Is Audi really going to turn up the sporting aggression? How much more do execs want? And that grille is enormous. We’ll bring you a full interview with Lichte soon, as he spells out his design vision for Audi. Click here for more on the Prologue.
Bad taste alert! Carbon-infested Porsche SUVs have been spotted in LA. We think this should be left to 918 Spyders, don’t you?
Unveiled simultaneously at the Auto Guangzhou in China and Los Angeles was the new Mercedes-Maybach S600. Yep, Maybach’s back from the dead – and it’s toned down its conspicuous consumption (a little). It only costs £160,000 now, in top-dog S600 spec we expect. We’re gonna make sure we get to recline in those comfy looking executive rear seats before the day is out! Click here for more on the Merc-Maybach S600.
Ford went into retro overdrive at LA 2014: here global sales chief Jim Farley unveils the Shelby GT350 Mustang under a screen projecting the 1960s original Pony car, its namesake from 1965. Despite the CO2 hysteria sweeping the car industry, it’s clear that Motown isn’t about to relinquish its muscle car heritage any time soon…
That’s more like it! Ford showed off the new Shelby GT350 Mustang at an LA preview party held at the eponymous Shelby Automotive Museum. Looks great: its’ the most powerful nat-asp Ford ever, sporting a 5.2-litre V8 good for ‘more than 500bhp’. And with more chassis mods than a kinky underwear salon, this is one Mustang which should handle. Click here for our full story on the Mustang GT350.
Ford showed off the new 2015 Explorer at an event on Tuesday night. Think we’ll be more interested in the Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang and Ken Block’s Ford-engineered Hoonigan than the SUV’s new 2.3-litre Ecoboost and Platinum model range tweakery…
LA is abuzz with eve-of-show debuts and low-key preview nights. It’s a chance to see some of the metal in more detail away from the rush of the show floor. Hence a sneak preview of the new Cadillac ATS-V. It might be the most junior of Caddy’s hot V models, but it’s quick enough to make those at M division sit up and take notice. Powered by a twin-turbo V6, the M3 rival boasts 455bhp, 445lb ft of twist and a 0-60mph time of just 3.9sec. Sounds like our sort of Caddy…
The 2014 Los Angeles motor show kicks off with an opening party on Tuesday night. What else in Tinseltown? CAR’s gang swerve the soiree, recovering from flights and getting ready for assignments elsewhere. At least, we don’t think that’s CJ Hubbard in that skeleton suit…
And this is where all the action will be: the downtown Los Angeles Convention Center, home to the west coast’s biggest and most important car show every autumn.
The CAR team have flown out to LA to rendezvous for the 2014 LA auto show. Here Ben Pulman proves he just can’t switch off all things automotive – even at 400ft!
Click here for a full A-Z of every new car launched at Los Angeles 2014.
