The new Cobra finally makes it over here to the RIGHT coast at the NY Auto Show this weekend. I'm going!
The New York Times asked a bunch of auto-industry insiders like Lutz and Mays and a bunch of others for their picks of the new batch of cars. Bad news for the new Cobra: only one guy from Nissan picked it, and the only nice thing he could say about it was he liked the dashboard: "The dashboard on that car was just exquisite. Just the cleanliness. Just the billet aluminum that was milled out. And the gauges started and stopped where they should; you didn't have to have the whole gauge. And the toggle switches, which are so important to a sports car. Just a beautiful layout."
On the up side for Ford, looks like almost everybody likes the Mustang. I'm pasting in the arcticle with the picks (minus the comments). If you want to read the whole thing it's
here - might require a free NYT registration to read it, but I THINK the link should work without it.
-JT
Anne Asensio, General Motors
Executive director for advanced design at the General Motors Design Center in Warren, Mich.
Ford Mustang
Lincoln Aviator Concept
Mercedes-Benz Vision GST
Toyota Ftx Concept
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Donald V. Esmond, Toyota
Group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
Ford Five Hundred
Chevrolet Cobalt
Honda S.U.T. Concept
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Ralph Gilles, DaimlerChrysler
Design director for the Chrysler Group in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Pontiac Solstice
Ford Mustang
Ford Bronco Concept
Nissan Pathfinder
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Peter Horbury, Ford
As executive director for design, North America, he is responsible for overseeing the design strategy and execution of all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products in North America.
Pontiac Solstice
Audi A8 L 6.0
Mitsubishi Sport Truck Concept
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Len Hunt, Volkswagen
Vice president for sales and marketing, Volkswagen of America.
Pontiac Solstice
Chrysler ME Four-Twelve
Infiniti QX56
Nissan Frontier
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Kevin Hunter, Toyota
Vice president for design and studio activities at Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, Calif.
Saturn Curve Concept
Dodge Slingshot Concept
Pontiac Solstice
Ford Mustang
Chrysler 300
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Susan Jacobs, analyst
President of Jacobs & Associates, an automotive consulting firm in Rutherford, N.J.
Bmw 645ci Convertible
Mercedes-Benz Vision Gst
Infiniti Qx56
Aston Martin Db9 Volante
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Land Rover Range Stormer Concept
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Robert A. Lutz, G.M.
Chairman, G.M. North America, and vice chairman for product development.
Ford Five Hundred
Ford Mustang
Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum
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J Mays, Ford
As group vice president for design, he has led the development of more than 65 new products that will be introduced in the next five years.
Pontiac Solstice
Toyota FTX
Audi A8 L 6.0 Quattro
Mercedes-Benz Vision Gst
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Joel Piaskowski, Hyundai
Chief designer, Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center. in Irvine, Calif.
Pontiac G6
Pontiac Solstice
Ford Mustang
Lexus GS
Volvo S40
Lincoln Aviator Concept
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Jeff Schuster, J. D. Power & Associates
Director of North American Forecasting in Troy, Mich., for the big market research firm.
Ford Mustang
Pontiac Solstice
Chrysler 300 And Dodge Magnum
Lexus Rx400 H
Ford Five Hundred And Mercury Montego
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Tom Semple, Nissan
As president of Nissan Design America in La Jolla, Calif., he directs all design-related activities for Nissan in the United States.
Ford Shelby Cobra
Saturn Curve
Pontiac Solstice
Jeep Rescue Concept
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Ed Welburn, General Motors
The company's new vice president for design, North America.
Lincoln Aviator Concept
Mercedes-Benz Vision Gst
Ford Five Hundred