DREAM RIDES STUN DRIVERS FANTASY, NOT AFFORDABILITY, RULES AT L.A. AUTO SHOW.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer In the eye of an enthusiast, a new Cadillac's not just a car, but a four-wheeled vision of a better world. Fernando Meza, an X-ray technician from Moorpark, drove his Ford pickup to the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show The Los Angeles Auto Show is an annual auto show that takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. The show has been held annually since 1907. on Friday, the first day of public viewing, to check out new models with a pair of young friends. Though he considers himself more of a truck guy, he soon was behind the wheel of a Cadillac XLR The XLR is a luxury roadster sold by the Cadillac division of General Motors and is assembled in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is based on the same Y-body platform as the Chevrolet Corvette. convertible, his ponytailed head nearly poking above the top of the windshield. ``Everyone's trying to outdo everyone else,'' he said, stepping out of the sleek black droptop to marvel. ``It's totally different in here - no beat-up cars like we have. Everything's so nice and shiny.'' That's why people come to goggle gog·gle v. gog·gled, gog·gling, gog·gles v.intr. 1. To stare with wide and bulging eyes. 2. To roll or bulge. Used of the eyes. v.tr. To roll or bulge (the eyes). over the pristine new rides, to run their fingers over wooden gear shift nobs and kick impeccably shiny tires. Whether eyeing a $40,000 Saleen S331 sport truck or a $380,000 Maybach 57 S, car lovers looked at the exotic rides and envisioned themselves behind the wheel. The show's organizers expect 1 million visitors to stroll through the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. during the 10-day event, with as many as 75,000 arriving Friday. While they wandered around, car fanciers could observe everything from the new Toyota Yaris Toyota Yaris may refer to export versions of:
n. An automobile smaller than a compact. Noun 1. subcompact - a car smaller than a compact car subcompact car to Lamborghinis and Ferraris that have waiting lists years long and price tags comparable to small houses. ``It's a great day for dreamers today,'' said Thomas Lucero, a Whittier truck driver who brought his two young children to examine Land Rovers. ``They've been getting in every car they can. They've already informed me what they want to drive, so I'll get myself something I can enjoy for the next few years until they start driving.'' Lucero had a somewhat practical side to his dreaming, pricing cars and comparing features without the pressure of a sales-room environment. After seeing the latest Land Rover Discoveries, he decided he'd try to find a used one to take on camping trips. In the next hall over, where silver-skinned Porsches took up a showroom of their own, Kurt Hammell had far less realistic ideas in mind. The construction estimator drove in from Yorba Linda Yorba Linda (yôr`bə lĭn`də), city (1990 pop. 52,422), Orange co., S Calif., in a region of citrus fruit; inc. 1967. The city has grown tremendously along with the southern California area; its population increased fivefold between with no misconceptions that he'd ever be able to take any of the exotic beauties home - and he didn't seem to mind at all. ``I have high-end tastes without the pocketbook to go with it,'' he said. ``No family-friendly vehicles, not in my garage. The Ferrari F 430 Spyder's pretty nice, but I'd have to sell the house and live in the car.'' Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color) Two men check out the underside of a huge Chevy truck, left, on display at the Greater L.A. Auto Show on Friday. Kurt Hammell of Yorba Linda marvels at a Porsche Carrera GT Please help [ improve this article] by expanding this section. See talk page for details. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded. (tagged since May 2007) The Porsche Carrera GT was a supercar manufactured by Porsche in Germany. , bottom left, while Martin Vaiz, 11, front, and Anthony Torres, 8, both of Moorpark, sit in a Cadillac SLR (1) (Scalable Linear Recording) A line of magnetic tape drives from Tandberg Data that evolved from the QIC Data Cartridge format. See QIC. (2) (Single Lens Reflex) A camera that uses the same lens for viewing and shooting. convertible, below. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer (4 -- color) no caption (auto) Box: The Greater LA Auto Show |
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