Silicon Valley Auto Show 2011 Part 3 and Slideshow

Part 3 of the coverage of the Silicon Valley Auto Show with slideshow featuring manufacturers "M" through "V"

The Silicon Valley Auto Show offered a great value for those wanting to really take a close look at new cars. Although highly desirable marquees like Porsche and Audi were absent, considering the $9 admission price which includes a 1-year subscription to Motor Trend, or $7 with an online coupon, it’s more affordable than virtually any other auto show.

While debating the merits of a comparatively small show vs. the International level events, keep in mind versus something like a Goodguys custom car show in Pleasanton, not only is it less expensive, including parking, but here you can sit, touch and feel all these cars and trucks and many of them have much nicer interiors, if not as colorful. But as I wrote before, either one is a nice alternative to the zoo.

Check out the slideshow for the remaining cars from the manufacturers.

Silicon Valley Auto Show 2011 Part 2 and Slideshow

Part 2 of the highlights of the 2011 Silicon Valley Auto Show.

In San Jose, the 2011 Silicon Valley Auto Show presented by Motor Trend held Thursday 1/6 – Sunday 1/9 is much improved over last year. Additional highlights of the show are listed below. Be sure to check out all the observations in the slideshow as well.

A free subscription to Motor Trend magazine with each ticket purchase.

Ford Mustang Dream Giveaway benfitting the Healing Heroes Network. It's actually for two Mustangs, a '69 Calypso Coral High Performance Boss 30 and a matching 2012 Boss 302. The 2012 model is the only one offered in Calypso Coral as well and the Boss package means 440hp. Be sure to see the Laguna Seca edition in the slideshow too.

Ride and Drives from GM (Chevrolet, Buick & GMC), Ford and Toyota.

Specialty Vehicles from Chevrolet include the Corvette Stingray concept, the "American Pride" Camaro and the SLP ZL585 Camaro. See the slideshow from Part 1. Also a magic show as well.

Exotic Vehicles courtesy of Los Gatos Luxury Cars. Makes like Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus and Rolls Royce.

Ferrari Club Display courtesy of the Pacific Region of the Ferrari Club of America. See the slideshow below.

SHIFTR Automotive and Lifestyle Expo. Lowriders, race cars, tuner cars, girls, DJs, dance crews, etc. Pretty Navigator asked me to show her something interesting, after looking at the Hershey bar truck (a brown extended cab and bed Dodge with a 160" wheelbase), this was the destination. Highlights include supercharged G35s, a GT-R, a 1000+ horsepower Corvette, an 8-second quarter-mile 1,000+ horsepower Ford Lightning and much more.

Check out the slideshow for additional details and coverage.

Silicon Valley Auto Show 2011

In San Jose, the 2011 Silicon Valley Auto Show presented by Motor Trend held Thursday 1/6 – Sunday 1/9 is much improved over last year. Although not as large as the “other” major city shows like Chicago, Detroit, LA and New York that feature new model and concept introductions, there are distinct advantages and some very interesting observations.

Access is particularly easy and parking is affordable. Since it’s not too big, and on Thursday night not too crowded, you can really crawl around the cars and take in all the details. And of course, some under-supervised little kids walk all over the cars leaving details too. Hint to parents – pretend these cars belong to your boss, okay? Perhaps the lack of the crowd meant everyone seemed to be friendly, courteous, in good humor and polite. This folks was not like a trip Costco.

Sadly, Porsche, Nissan and Audi among others were missed and these smaller-show cars tend to be in drab black and grey colors. And Mercedes, in a dimly lit hallway location, didn’t have any of their high performance models with those boring colors. Jaguar, planned or not, was also in the hallway but their color choices were actually striking in that lighting, as well as their performance models.

In the upcoming slideshows, you may notice the drab colors so the eye was drawn to more meaningful designs and observations. Some details were very clever, some archaic, you decide for yourself. There was no sorry attempt to fill space this year either, apologies to classic Camaro owners from last year. Another benefit with a smaller crowd is the representatives from the factory and dealers have time to talk in detail.

The vendor displays again were very good and Club Sportiva had the first red Ferrari 458 I can recall seeing in person. By this time the thirst generated meant paying $4.00 for bottled water. That is not a typo but it sure was cold.

Stay tuned for further coverage and pictures from the show.