IgloONotes

The Glamour. The Glitz. It's all at the Annual North American International Auto Show.

I've been gong rather frequently for the past few years and this year was no Exception, except for one thing. In past years, I had always wanted to take photos of every single car I could come across. Over the years, I noticed that I could always get better pictures of the cars online. My face had to be in every picture to make it worth it.

I woke up nice and early to find a close place for parking. Since I lived in Windsor, it was a quick 15 minute jaunt across the border and we slipped right in to a perfect parking spot.

We bee-lined to VW because in past years, they always gave out the most stuff like t-shirts and blow moulded cars. But arriving at vee-dub garnered no more than brochures. To be honest, it was slightly odd...

No matter though, coming to the auto show wasn't all about getting free stuff, though it does make it better! I was very interested in checking out Toyota as I had just driven the new 2009 Corolla a few days ago. They didn't disappoint by bringing in a photo booth for free pictures. If you've ever been to an Asian Mall, you'll know that we snap poses in these things by the dozen. Naturally, we had to fit all four of us in a little space just about 1 cubic meter in size.

Toyota even brought out a new event called 'Toyota Live' where anyone could show up for a little stage show, play a few trivia games, and get yourself broadcast on one of three huge TV screens. By mentioning the Toyota Camry Hybrid as one of Toyota's Hybrid cars, I earned myself a scrumptious container of Jelly Bellies.

To finish up the Toyota event, they had the 'Fan Dangler' as a picture Prop. For those of you who have no idea what it is, check it out here:

The Fan Dangler was certainly not complete without a few people sitting on it. Special thanks goes to Jojo, the Toyota host that was in charge of the Fan Dangler. By being especially friendly (and giving us her e-mail) I give her top marks for being the coolest person I met at the Autoshow!

I have to say that Toyota outdid themselves this year. Almost every other Autoshow, they were pretty lackluster showcasing their usual cars with a few green-mobiles dashed in. This year, there was something for everyone.

No auto show would be complete with some fooling around in some Minis. They had just released their new Mini Clubman which has Six doors! Two for Midgets, two for normal people, and two for me.

The coolest car on display had to be the Mazda Furai Concept. From every conceivable angle, this car just looks H-O-T!! Give me this car over any Ferrari or Lamborghini any day.

I had great fun walking around with my friends while checking out all the latest cars, but there was something missing. After joining Toyota in the release of the 2009 Corolla, I had felt different. I could no longer get vamped up by sitting in new cars and fiddling with all the little buttons, I wanted to drive them. Call me greedy but cars aren't meant to sit on a plinth looking pretty, they're meant to be driven. See you on the road!

Tags: Auto Show, Fan Dangler, NAIAS, Toyota