2009 Detroit Auto Show loses Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Land Rover

Ouch!!!!!!!!!

That's not good....

well, there is LA motor show right before Detroit show so one of them has to go down...

it's a bad news for all of ferrari fans

Ummm...I love NAIAS. It would be a shame to see it go. Although I understand that auto companies pay a small fortune to attend these events and Detroit has very little to offer regarding sales, unless you are one of the big three. The main attraction and the reason I love Detroit, is urban decay. I love walking the area around COBO, empty buildings, homeless people, the train is nice, and if you are in town when there is a game, the Red Wing fans are drunk and crazy-like most hockey fans. The coffee shop and bar around the street from COBO are seedy and fun. The convention center is actually a really good venue for an auto show. Take caution: the auto show used to be the place where gangs would go to fight. Police presence is everywhere now and it is safe, but don't stay too late.

Any manufacturer who attends NAIAS thinking it's about selling cars locally misses the point. It's still the hub of the US auto industry and an international show that attracts media from around the world. It's an industry event on media days, not a local show as it might be on public days. The LA show is next week, btw, so it's no longer bumping up against Detroit. It doesn't seem like RR, LR and Ferrari have anything to show, so why show up with no news in this economy? The sadder part is having no news. As for localized's fascination of Detroit's urban decay, I agree. I can't resist driving around and photographing America's largest urban archaeological ruin, from the giant abandoned train terminal building, to the long-vacant 1909 Packard factory, to the many neighborhoods where half the brick houses have been gutted by vandals' fires. There's a grand old theatre that's been haphazardly converted into a parking garage, with shreds of the original curtain still hanging from the archway where once stood the stage. And for some reason, a lot of wig shops. It's a study in rusted, decaying abandonment and symbolic of the longstanding sadness of the ever-struggling US auto industry. But it's eerily fascinating nonetheless.