(January 25, 2005) — Returning home from the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, I received a phone call from a friend of mine. The cliché, “What did you do today?” came up and I proceeded to rant about all the cars I saw and wished I had. She then asked, “What do you do there? Just walk around? Right.” The “right” was elongated and ended with a tinge of sarcasm, showing her disapproval of my $10 investment. For someone just recovering from a new car smell high this was pretty close to blasphemy. I just had to make her understand the profoundness and the meaning of this automotive utopia. The simplest comparison I could provide her was that Paris has The Louvre and Los Angeles, from Jan. 7-9, had The Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. The Auto Show is split into five main halls. The first hall I visited was the West Hall. A few notables from that hall were the Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo exhibitions. Ford proudly displayed their 2005 Mustang Convertible, the GT, and the Shelby GR-1. The design of the GR-1 is an acquired taste. Mercedes-Benz unleashed their 617 horsepower SLR McLaren on their rotating platform. Volvo’s display was the most enjoyable to experience. They displayed their tuner rendition of their 2005 S40 and they had a life sized Lego version of their XC SUV. It was disappointed to find out that Lego still hasn’t evolved to produce Lego block tires. The next stop was the Concourse Hall, full of exotic cars, and it was definitely a crowd pleaser. The Ferrari exhibition, with their new F430, greeted guests as they entered. This hall should have been renamed the “If You Need to Ask the Price, You Can’t Afford It” Hall. With cars from Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati and Bentley lining the floor, anyone purchasing these vehicles would sure be breaking the bank. In the South Hall, Volkswagen showed off the next generation Jetta. To my disappointment there weren’t any R32s on display. Audi showed off their new four-door A3. Close by, BMW brought their usual line-up, but there was no M5 in sight. By far, the Acura exhibition was the worst on the floor. They didn’t bring any new automobiles and their set up lacked the pizzazz other car companies brought. Below the convention center, the Kentia Hall once again displayed all the aftermarket merchandise. DUB Magazine brought in exotic cars from some of today’s hip-hop artists such as Fabolous’ black, 605 horsepower, $440,000, 2005 Carrera GT. With rims spinning all around, I felt like this hall cheapened the experience by defacing the masterpieces above ground with tacky techniques to customize the vehicles. Overall, the 2005 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show brought in masterpieces of futuristic design without neglecting to pay respects to the automotive designs that paved the way.