True, Hummer is an odd name for any vehicle, but it's at least ten times better than, say, CR-V, RX350h or G8 ST (you sunk my battleship, James).

Oh, Aura's not NASA's baby; we Yanks got it from the European Space Agency when it was originally known as the Vectra.

And yes, most concept cars--especially the ones from Japan--will never, ever, ever--evar!--become something we could actually drive, but the Camaro that graces the front page...

Spring 2009 as a 2010 for the coupe, Fall 2009 for the real 2010 MY convertible.

The Denali: Australian for awesome, just like the G8, G8 ST and, of course, the aforementioned Camaro.

I do agree with the sameness of the sedans these days, but none of them could top that white Audi A5.

That one driver in the GT simulator needs to learn to let go of the steering wheel, lest it break his arms during an unintended trip into a tree. Ouch.

Is that a leather jacket I see as you enter Principal Skinner's full name?

What Acura did you step into, btw?

Not a bad vid overall, Herr Lileks. Just needed a little more Camryder to give it some 'zaz and lulz.

I kid, of course; it was cool.

I was born in '63.
Really expected more of them to be flying cars.
Disappointed.

Well, gotta go get ready for work.
Mr. Spacely gets mad if I'm late.

I don't have a "comfort" control button in my car, but there is a mysterious one labeled "ESP." I've tried pushing it to see if it will enable me to read the minds of the Hummer drivers who never use their turn signals, but no go. I wonder what it's for? Any thoughts?

I was in the Army when the Hummer came out as a replacement for the venerable Jeep. We called it "Hummer" as "HMMWV" is too hard to pronounce. Unless you're from Bosnia, but we didn't know what Bosnia was, then.

Oh, what did "HMMWV" mean? "High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle".

The fact that 'hummer' was also a slang term for a sexual act sometimes performed upon Presidents by interns was just a bonus.

Isn't that VW's acronym for electronic slip protections (or somesuch...)? Read: traction control.

Sad to see the big three from Detroit bringing back old models (Challenger, Camaro, Mustang, etc), since they cannot come up with something new and competitive. I guess its time to get more money from retiring baby boomers before they pass away..

What a great video! Thanks for taking the time--and sparing me having go to down to the auto show myself. Another year for the industry of "thinking inside the box".

Congratulations on the return of your column! What great news!

Nice video James; very well done. There is another video production out there that looks at the auto show that I recommend:

Auto Show with Andy and Ken

Car shows are nice. So are chateaux in Bordeau, unicorn rides, gold-plated jet skis, and snorgling with Heidi Klum.

However, I'm middle class!

In my life, I've bought two cheap compact cars new, the most recent of them 23 years ago. Now, no cars are cheap, and I intend to buy three- to six-year-old gently used cars for the rest of my life. They still have plenty of life left in them, and they cost a fraction of the what they did when new.

So ... How about you? Used or New?

(P.S. - "ESP" = "Electronic Stability Program." Please consult your Audi Owner's Manual for details.)

Against buying new is sticker shock-- and that horrible first year of depreciation.
And lots of folks lease, so there is a fairly steady supply of two and three year old, low-mileage vehicles coming into the system, right?

Wiredog, I was also in the Army when we transitioned from the jeep to the HUMMV (1986). At the time, my battalion was mechanized infantry and we had the M113 tracked vehicles which were a mother to maintain. Changing a tire on a Hum-vee is much easier than changing a track on an M113. We called them Hum-Vees. I didn't hear them called Hummers until GM started producing them for the mass market. We were told that the skin on the Hum-Vee was made of kevlar and would stop a bullet. They said if we went to war, we'd get some armor plating before going in. Unless, of course, you go to war with the army you've got (Thanks, Cheney). Luckily, I was long discharged before we got to see how they stood up to IED's.

On another note, am I the only one who's noticed the increased use of '70s rock music in high-end car advertisements lately? Deep Purple's "Hush" is one that comes to mind recently. Not so subtle push at the Baby Boomer retirees.

I've never bought a new car, and don't plan on starting anytime soon. For one thing, I can't stand the way most new cars look. I haven't seen very many appealing car styles since the mid 90s. Then again, my favorite body style is the old boxy look of the 80's Maxima...

But aesthetics aside, I find that the 90s achieved the peak of function without too many of those unnecessary bloatware features that most new cars have these days. I don't understand those newer cars with the automatic transission that tries to pretend to be a stick by allowing you to shift manually... The appeal of the stick-shift is that you don't have to worry as much about transmission failure. These new auto/manual shifter thingies just give you more things that could possibly break. In the 80s, things like power windows and power locks were still relatively new and not very standard, and many features were still being perfected... In the 00s, you can't find many cars that don't automatically turn on the headlights whether you want them to or not (I hate that!)... The 90s had a brief window of balance in automotive technology, not too much, not too little.

Most of all, a slightly-used older car is far less expensive and just as nice (if you find one in mint condition) than anything new. I don't understand why anybody would buy a new car, but I don't want them to stop buying new cars because somebody has to be the first to own them... I can't buy a used car if somebody else doesn't buy it new first.

70's rock in car ads. The Clash pushing Jags a few years back. Led Zep pushing Caddies.

Y'know, I think we called them HumVees too. And Hummers. Maybe one while sober and on duty, and the other drunk and in the ville.

Or possibly it was a few years later that we started calling them Hummers.

Although the auto show in Seattle is usually nothing to write home about (since it's always in November, and anything new and exciting is going to either be at the LA Auto Show at around the same time or held for a couple of months for the Detroit Auto Show in January) I do make it a point to get out to the show every year. I used to go with my younger brother, but these days he lives elsewhere, and since he sells cars at a Lexus dealer down in Utah he actually ended up working at their booth at the one in Salt Lake this year. Of course, since I'm not in the market for a new car for the first time I can ever recall (having driven a highly disreputable beater for 10 years before buying a new VW Rabbit last June) I was there this year mostly to check out the stuff that's way out f my price range. The highlight of the 2007 Seattle show was probably getting the chance to sit in a $150,000+ Porsche 911 Turbo Cabrio and get a picture.

That picture, along with some of the other, um, highlights from the Seattle Auto Show last year, are over at my Blog:

Highlights from the 2007 Seattle Auto Show

I see nothing wrong with wanting to offer modern versions of the Camaro and Challenger (too bad GM won't make a Firebird version of the Camaro this time around). There will be buyers for these, just as there have been for the current Mustang, especially once more-economical versions are offered.

I was into big-engined, poor-handling 1960s Pontiacs* from an early age and would simply love to have one again with a modern drivetrain and active and passive safety systems. That not being possible, I make do with current offerings and wait for resurrections of larger, family-sized 1960s cars, maybe with a central fuel cell and an electric motor at each wheel, who knows?

*Our family's cars: 1965 Bonneville wagon, 1965 Bonneville convertible, 1967 GTO (auto on column), 1967 Executive wagon with all options including 8-track player. My main Pontiac: 1966 Bonneville convertible, 1974-91, power bench seat, power windows, a/c.