A lightweight, compact Ford truck? That's a big maybe. When our own Jason Torchinsky chatted with Ford's J Mays at the Detroit Auto Show last month, Mays pretty much told him not noway, not nohow. But word around the campfire is that Ford may be considering something more practical than the monstrous pickups which are currently the only option American truck buyers have.

America's new car market has been Rangerless since 2011, but Blue Oval designers have no intention of replacing the much-loved little brother to the bestseller F-150. Apparently, there was too much overlap in capability and having such a model made little sense from an economic standpoint. But something like an Aussie-style ute could be a possibility.

The new compact truck, if it came to fruition, would likely be something that could carry about 1,000 pounds of payload and tow 3,000 pounds or so behind it. The 2013 F-150 can carry anywhere from 1,700 to 3,100 pounds, and tow from 5,500 to 11,300 pounds, based upon model and options. Ford's global Ranger platform probably crosses the line into F-150 territory a bit too much to be considered for the North American market.

Although Australian-style utes haven't been an option in the U.S. over the years, things could be changing, so perhaps it's time for something different. We would love to see a compact truck offering, preferably with an appropriately-sized grille, although we know why that may not happen. 

The Detroit Auto Show took place last month. While we did our best to bring you every little bit of coverage, you might prefer your coverage to be brought to you PBS video style.

Well, fear no more. John Davis was on the scene to bring you the vids you so sorely desire. Here's one word to describe the new 'Vette: Sharp.

In all seriousness, I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Davis at the show, and he's such a nice guy. Heck, he's probably reading this right now. Hi John!

If you wanted a ridiculously steamy Audi wallpaper, here you go.

This is the Audi A5 we at Jalopnik used to get around Detroit for the auto show. On the first day there, Travis and I noticed that Detroit has a shit ton of sewer steam sssssssteam heat. It adds to the slightly-apocalyptic atmosphere and makes shooting car porn really, really easy.

I took this picture and uploaded it in giganto-size, so feel free to use it as your wallpaper.

Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove

Drivers are constantly taking their eyes off the road to read text messages, check GPS, or use increasingly common touch-screen controls. Hyundai's newest concept car shows a way forward, and it uses the same kind of technology as your Xbox Kinect.

At the Detroit Auto Show, Hyundai talked up a storm about their new HCD-14 concept, particularly how its styling is supposed to preview upcoming design trends for the brand. Forget that. It's yet another mild concept car, just like any other we've seen for the last decade.

Wrapped up inside the all too familiar coupe-esque sedan exterior is the coolest thing on the whole show floor: an infotainment system with no-touch controls that uses eye recognition and Xbox Kinect-style 3D motion sensors.

In the HCD-14, you select a control by looking at an icon on a heads-up display and you make adjustments by reaching your hand up in front of the dashboard and turning your hand. You never take your eyes away from the road, you never reach out to touch the dash. It's genuinely worth getting excited about.

The eye recognition was developed in partnership with Tobii, the company that blew the minds of the Gizmodo crew when they went to CES. Gizmodo writer Casey Chan tested Tobii's eye control system on a laptop, which you can see in operation here, functioning just as it does in the Hyundai.

The system requires a personal calibration test before you use it and some unique finger movements (akin to a smartphone), but once you get settled in, it's simply stunning. It's sniper accurate, Tobii never missed my target by more than a few pixels. It's lightning quick, I couldn't even say my next move fast enough because Tobii had recognized my eyesight already glanced away.

The way Tobii's eye tracker works in the Hyundai is you press a button on the back of the steering wheel with your left hand to activate the system. A sensor in the steering wheel tracks your eyes as you focus on one of four icons put up on a HUD. There's the telephone, the temperature, the audio, and the navigation. You release the button and the item is selected.

Once the control is selected, you reach out with your hand like you were going to turn a knob a foot away from the dash. There's a detailed motion sensor in the headliner that reads a 1 foot area in front of the dash, recognizing even the shape of your hand as you twist the imaginary knob. This is how you raise or lower the temperature (seen above), change volume for the radio (seen at the top), switch stations, whatever. The company that Hyundai worked with for this gesture control is SoftKinetic.

I spoke with Christopher Chapman, chief designer of Hyundai North America, and I also spoke with the lead interior designer for the HCD-14 concept. Both claimed that the gesture system used in the concept was similar to the Xbox Kinect system, but Hyundai's was more detailed. We couldn't get a Hyundai designer to explain the fundamentals of the motion-detection system, but this article in Wired detailing how Microsofts' Kinect system works is probably not far off. Gizmodo also put the visual hardware into pretty simple terms in this 2010 article.

The way the optical system works, on a hardware level, is fairly basic. A class 1 laser is projected into the room. The sensor is able to detect what's going on based on what's reflected back at it. Together, the projector and sensor create a depth map. The regular old video camera is held at a specific distance away from the 3D part of the optical system in a precise alignment, so that Kinect can blend together the depth map and RGB picture for dynamic, on-the-fly greenscreening.

I should point out that Hyundai's system may use different sensors, and was not operational on the floor. The interior designer said it was thanks to an overheating issue and was genuinely crestfallen as he admitted it was broken.

I peeked under the car and all I saw was a bunch of tubes. How this thing is supposed to run with a 429 horsepower, 5.0-liter V8 is beyond me, so I'll cut Hyundai some slack on their concept car issues.

Even if the car had been functioning (as it was the following morning of the Auto Show), I wouldn't have been able to demo the systems. One Hyundai rep told me that the systems were locked to just two sets of retinas, presumably of the developers behind the concept car. I asked if they had a spare disembodied eyeball I could use, but they didn't have one.

I then tried to at least get in the car to shoot some video of the twin dashboard displays. The one for the driver only displays the bare necessities for operating the car, while the one in the center runs all the games and infotainment systems. The center display is angled towards the passenger to the degree that the driver really can't get distracted by the video poker or whatever else the person riding shotgun is doing. Unfortunately, the Hyundai representatives could not get the wirelessly-activated doors to open, so I had to again turn away empty-handed.

The video you see at the top of the post features Christopher Chapman and was shot by Hyundai itself. Hyundai claims the systems are remarkably intuitive, which I can't yet personally verify. I can say that from speaking to the designers I fully believe that this technology works at least at a prototype stage.

The idea behind the systems is what really appeals to us. Texting and busy in-car infotainment systems are genuine safety concerns as we hear of more and more accidents from distracted driving. Drivers are focusing on in-car games and taking their eyes off the road. When we're all in driverless cars it won't be a problem, but until then distracted driving needs to be seriously addressed.

Christopher Chapman pointed to safety as the reason why he was personally pushing for these systems and why the in-car screens displayed only the bare driving essentials to the driver.

"I don't like the idea of entertaining the driver at all," Chapman said. When I mentioned a stereotypical distracted driver watching movies while behind the wheel he interjected, "they have no business doing that in the car." He went on to tell a story how two people in his neighborhood were killed in a distracted driving-related crash.

Since Hyundai debuted everything at this show, they have currently had no talks with the Department of Transportation about getting these systems approved for use on the road. It's a great idea, and one that meets the DOT's desire of reducing distracted driving while also meeting the enthusiast's desire to reduce clutter inside new cars.

Covering the Detroit Auto Show reinforced my belief that older cars are generally cooler than new ones. Oh, there were plenty of exciting new concepts and debuts in the Motor City, like the new Corvette and the the NSX concept. I also got to sit in my first Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, which was absolutely sick. But walking around the floor of Cobo Hall, I found myself wishing some of these companies would haul out their historic cars for us to ogle as well.

I did get a very nice surprise when I ran into one of my favorite cars in person for the very first time. But when I investigated further, it turned out to be a very bittersweet experience. More bitter than sweet, in fact.

I am talking about the Toyota 2000GT that was converted into an electric vehicle. I'll give you a moment to let your shock set in.

Okay, ready now? The EV 2000GT is nothing new. It's been around at least a year, and it was showed off at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is the result of the Toyota Automobile Association's "Crazy Car Project," wherein the standard 2.0-liter DOHC Yamaha engine was swapped out for an electric motor with solar panels built into the hood.

I first noticed it in Detroit when I was going up an escalator from the media center to the show floor, and I saw it off in the distance – it had one hell of a crazy paint job, but its shape was unmistakable.

"Holy shitballs, you guys, I think that's a 2000GT!" I exclaimed to some fellow auto journalists around me, who just nodded and went back to grumbling to one another about how websites are just a fad.

But the 2000GT meant something to me. For all we rag on their boring-ass beigemobiles, I do consider myself a Toyota guy. My family owned a bunch of them growing up, including a seriously cool Cressida wagon. I used to lust after the Supra and the MR-2 when they were around, and I'm an advocate for the FR-S now.

And the 2000GT is arguably the king of all Toyotas. No, there's nothing to argue about — what Toyota commands more respect and awe than this car? The 2000GT debuted with a bang at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show and "declared boldly that the Japanese auto industry had arrived," as Japanese Nostalgic Car so eloquently puts it.

Yes, the overall shape is a kind of Japanese ripoff of the Jaguar E-Type, but it looks great in its own right. And if you're going to rip off an existing sports car design, you could do a lot worse than the E-Type.

The car famously made a star turn with Sean Connery's James Bond behind the wheel in 1967's You Only Live Twice. Only about 350 were ever made. They command extremely high prices at auction today. Clearly, the Toyota 2000GT remains special to a lot of people. I can't say it's my absolute favorite, all-time dream car, but it's one I've always greatly admired and wanted to see in person.

So I was pretty excited when I finally got my chance in Detroit, but it wasn't at all what I expected. I can't really describe the spiritual kick in the nuts I felt when I saw this thing. I'm all for electric cars, and running solar panels in the hood is a great idea — but couldn't you guys have picked something else, anything else, for the donor car? Anything else besides a Toyota 2000GT, a sportscar icon that's rare enough? I feel like you ruined a car that really didn't have it coming.

How do I describe the way this felt? Keith Barry over at Wired called it "Solar-Powered Sacrilege", and I'd say that's pretty on-point.

It was like losing my virginity, but getting an STD in the process.

It was like meeting the Dalai Lama, but then he punches you in the throat and tells you to get a real job.

It was like seeing your old best friend for the first time in years, along with the girl you grew up with and still carry a torch for, and finding out that they're engaged.

I mean, an electric 2000GT. Jesus. Come on, man.

What car least deserves an EV conversion in your book?

But if you weren't in Detroit over the last two days, you couldn't take in the full design. That's why we're proud to present the C7 Vette in full 360 degree mode. Please, come take a walk around the new heartbeat of America. We insist.

Use your mouse to rotate the image above and see the car from every angle. Do you like the design? Does it feel cohesive? Let us know your thoughts below.

I've been to a few car shows now and I've rarely seen as happy a group of booth professionals as the ones I saw at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week.

Maybe it was because of the buzz about the 2014 Corvette, maybe it was the fact that the industry is turning around, or maybe it was just because our spy shooter Brian Williams is a very charming man, but these booth pros seemed in better spirits than usual.

No matter how you look at it, the whole show had a great atmosphere. Take some of that in with the lovely men and women working at the show.

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

Photo Credit: Brian Williams/Jalopnik

At the Detroit Auto Show and other shows like it, automakers tend to invite journalists to over-the-top dinners and events so they can schmooze and build relationships. Sometimes there are bands, other times celebrities, and there is always excellent food. Automakers have pampered us for so long that it is now expected everywhere we go.

But Audi did things differently. They gave us cold pizza and then didn't let any of us win a go-kart race. I'm completely outraged.

I'm used to everything being handed to me on a silver platter since I'm a member of the media. So when I went out on track — under my racing pseudonym Turd Ferguson — and was slightly slower than Stephan Reil, the General Manager of Quattro GMBh, I was livid and immediately complained to all the Audi officials on site. I used to race go karts. He must have been cheating.

So you can imagine my consternation when I was once again slower than Reil in qualifying. I was also slower than Audi's Anthony Foulk, who was in the second group. Did Audi stack the deck in their own favor? Was Alex Lloyd's karting advice somehow wrong?

That meant I had to start third in the feature race. It was better than seventh placed Matt — who goes by Ray Wert on track — and 10th placed Raphael, but it wasn't the pole position I had assumed would be mine. Audi not letting journos automatically get pole? This sucks.

I figured that they must have been waiting until the feature race to let me win. That didn't happen. I stayed in third at the start and then had a spirited battle with Reil, whom I eventually passed while Foulk pulled away from us both. I thought a little help would come from Foulk getting caught behind our own Raphael Orlove, which did let me catch right up. I just couldn't get close enough to make a pass against him stick.

I settled for second out of the 20 people that came, 0.891 behind. But hey, I beat sixth placed Matt "Ray Wert" Hardigree by 23 seconds and lapped ninth placed Raphael Orlove to solidify my position within the Jalop-ranks as the hot shoe. I was also told after-the-fact that Anthony was a "ringer."

All I know is that he was damn fast. I did have the fastest lap of the night, but apparently Audi didn't want to recognize that.

Audi did make me feel a little better with a consolation prize: A 1:10 scale Audi R8 RC car. Stay tuned to the site, we'll be giving it away in the near future.

Forget the new Corvette Stingray. Forget the holograms or Tesla's sweet gull-winged Model X. Forget the Chinese cars in the lobby, the BMW 4-Series concept, or any of the fancy electric or hybrid cars on display throughout the Cobo Center.

The Ford Atlas concept was far and away the most important vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show. Here's why.

It may not get as much media attention as an exciting, well-built (finally) performance car like the Corvette, but because the Atlas is more than likely the next F-150, it is a really big deal. And it is hugely important to the global auto industry and millions of people everywhere.

In the U.S. last year alone, Ford sold some 645,000 new F-Series trucks, making it the best-selling vehicle of any kind in America, a record they've held for more than 30 years. USA Today notes that the F-Series trucks "account for most of Ford's worldwide profits."

You probably won't find too many automotive publications (us included) hyping up a pickup truck, or slowly leaking out images of it over several years. The Corvette is a hell of a lot sexier than any truck. It's important to General Motors and Chevrolet because it's a showcase of their best technology, a rolling example of their very best efforts. And it may even have that "halo effect" where it draws people into showrooms, some of whom may leave in a Malibu or even a Camaro (although I often wonder whether that's really effective or not anymore with so much information about cars available on the Internet, but that's another story.)

But the Corvette doesn't pay the General's bills. In the last few years, they've sold about 12,000 per year, and while we can expect that to rise somewhat when the C7 goes on sale, it won't keep GM executives' children warm at night. For Ford, the F-Series trucks do exactly that.

This is a vehicle people don't just drive — they're essential to getting work done in scores of industries. People's lives and paycheck literally depend on the durability of the F-Series trucks.

But then you have markets where people DO just drive them. In my native Texas, people own trucks regardless of whether they really need a truck and a fully loaded King Ranch Ford truck is considered as much a luxury car as any Mercedes-Benz.

And if the features previewed on the Atlas carry over to the production F-150, then it will be as revolutionary as the Corvette. It will be more aerodynamic, carry an evolved EcoBoost engine, and will weigh as much as 700 pounds less than the current truck. Check out Jason's story to learn about a ton of other clever features that may end up on the next F-150.

By my logic, the next most important car at the show is the Toyota Furia, because that previews the next Corolla, another massive volume seller. But I say the Atlas is more important because it's a more evolved concept and less of a design study, and because it's a vehicle for working, not just driving.

What do you think? Was the Atlas the top concept at the Detroit show, or was there something even bigger there?

Dear Guangzhou Automobile Group,

Hey guys. It's me, P. George. We met yesterday when my Jalopnik colleagues and I stopped by your display at the Detroit Auto Show to poke around under the hood of your Trumpchi sedan. (I was the handsome one, if that helps you remember.)

Let me start by saying that I like you guys a lot, and I'm fascinated by the Chinese auto industry as a whole. I think you're scrappy, and it's incredibly interesting to watch you grow from the ground up with the goal of one day competing on the world stage. That's pretty admirable. You showcased some truly interesting cars at the Detroit show, even if they aren't onsale in the U.S. (Yet, anyway.)

Having said all that, I'd like to help you out, like we did yesterday when we checked out the Trumpchi and informed a few of your extremely friendly company reps that "sackbut" is almost certainly not the word you wanted to display on its windshield. We weren't trying to make fun of you or be mean — many manufacturers have issues when entering a market that doesn't speak their native tongue.

I grabbed a couple of your spec sheets on the way out, and I wanted to let you know that they have a few missteps that we native English speakers find really comical as well. Instead of keeping the company totally within China, which is commendable, I would advise you to branch out and hire an American, British or Australian person who can copy edit these things properly for every market.

Here are some examples from the Trumpchi sedan's spec sheet that we may find a bit clunky, even funny:

• "European Racing Car Suspension System" — Yeah, unless you lifted it off a Lotus 79, I don't think you should call it a "racing car suspension." Just say "European-style sport suspension." It's total bullshit, but the Americans, Japanese and Koreans use it all the time and it seems to sell cars.
• "Sturdily Stable" or "Steadily Driving Performance at High-Speed" — Not wrong, just awkward. "Stable at highway speeds" works much better.
• "Can Sensitive Integral Transmission" — Not sure what you were going for here, but it sounds important.
• "Bionics Leather Seats" — I think you meant "power seats," but now I really wish bionic seats were a thing.
• "Maturity Suspension System" — Sounds like something that belongs on an old Cadillac DeVille.
• "6 Gear Shift Mode of Transmission" — Just say "6-Speed Automatic Transmission."
• "Driving Speed Inductive Door" — Um... I got nothing for this one. Is that even a thing?
• "Integral Electrical Controll (sic) Wing Mirror with Turnning (sic) Indicator" — Watch your spelling, guys! "Wing mirror" doesn't really make sense to us. I think you meant to say "rear-view mirror."
• "Material of Panels (Fabric)" — "Cloth seats." Done.
• "Lamp of Sleeve" — I have no idea what this means.
• "Interior Lamp Lingering Function" — "Auto-dimming interior light" works much better.
• "Grainy Gearshift Levers" — This one took me a while, but I think you meant to say "Wood Grain Gearshift Knob." I think.
• "Anti-squeeze Driver Window" — You guys used "anti-squeeze" a lot, not sure where you're going with it.
• "One-touch Auto-down Feature Driver Window" — Just say "Automatic Power Windows."
• "DVD + Touching Screen" — "Touch screen," not "touching screen."

• "Intelligence Combination Instrument" — I'm not entirely certain what that is.
• "Key-Fob Remote Keyless Entry with Folding Shank" — Unless you're taking it to prison with you, that's not the word you want to use here. "Flip Key" sounds much nicer and less murder-y.

I truly hope you find my suggestions beneficial. I offer them in the international spirit of cooperation and friendship. You're probably making the same kinds of unintentional missteps that any foreign automaker made when they entered a new market, and look where they are now. I have no doubt that one day, I'll be seeing Chinese car literature that's perfectly polished.

Also, you own a ton of my country's debt, so I'm trying to butter you up a little bit. Please do not crush us someday.

Sincerely,

—P. George

This year's Detroit Auto Show was the Golden Corral of car shows; a giant spread of Asian, European, and American offerings designed to offer something at least palatable to nearly everyone in attendance. And when we say everyone, we honestly and truly mean every single person on planet Earth.

From the rebirth of an American icon to executives speaking with strange holograms, from a high performance sexy German hatchback to new Chinese cars based on old Italian ones, not even the strictest palate couldn't at least find something to begrudgingly swallow.

With all the excitement over the last few days you may have missed out something great or, at least, something terrible enough to be amusing.

Have no fear. Here's are all the stories from Detroit 2013 you need inside you.

In addition to the stories below check out our Detroit Auto Show page for every single story from our time in the Big D.

The New Corvette Stingray: Everything You Need To Know

Tired of hearing about the new Corvette Stingray yet? Didn't think so. Major redesigns for the Corvette come so rarely you could have been born when the last one debuted and be allowed to legally drive today. More »

2014 Audi RS7: Someone Please Buy My Unneeded Organs

Audi just dropped the 2014 RS7 on us here at the Detroit Auto Show. I'm now trying to figure out how I can afford one.

In the last 20 minutes, I've considered befriending an older woman to leave me her fortune when she dies, robbing a K-Mart, and even becoming a man version of a lady of the night. But then I figured out just what I needed to do. More »

2014 Infiniti Q50: The G37 Is Now Brought To You By The Letter Q

Infiniti is getting rid of random letters across their range and replacing them all with the letter Q for 2014 so people aren't confused anymore.

Can the new Q succeed and beat the 3-series at its own game? More »

2014 Cadillac ELR: This Is What Happens When A Volt And An ATS Get Dirty

I really like the Chevy Volt. I really like the Cadillac ATS. I've tried to force them to mate on my own, but the results have been quite lackluster.

That's why I'm happy that General Motors took it into their own hand and created the Cadillac ELR, probably so I'd stop destroying their press cars. More »

A Guide To Stingray Sex For Your Corvette Metaphor Use

We now know that the new Corvette is going to be called a Stingray, in a nice nod to Corvettes past. They've even got a nice little stingray badge on the side there, and the steering wheel center has a stingray motif center. More »

VW CrossBlue Concept: Screw You, We're Making A Diesel Hybrid SUV Out Of A Golf

Volkswagen is a hulking automaton of a carmaker at this point. Want proof? They're showing off a seven seat SUV based on the same platform as the Golf. And they're making it a diesel-electric hybrid. More »

The Ford Atlas Concept Is The 2015 F-150

If you woke up from a bender in Ford's press event this morning, you'd have seen a large scaffold full of buff men in construction outfits spraying showers of welding sparks and pounding large hammers into girders with rippling muscles glistening with sweat....More »

The Acura NSX Concept Is The Acura We Really Care About

Acura's marketing VP Mike Accavitti this morning said that the Acura MDX Prototype is "the star of the show today" for his brand. With all due respect to Mike, I'll have to disagree.

Acura's real star is the latest iteration of the NSX Concept they unveiled today. Damn it's hot. More »

Shelby Ford Focus ST: Where Is The Tire-Murdering Horsepower?

The Detroit Auto Show is always a lot of fun, but in this era of spy photos and leaks, there aren't many real surprises. One huge exception we encountered here was this, the Shelby Ford Focus ST covered in a bright orange tarp just outside the media center. For days we've been wondering what kind of magical mysteries were hidden underneath that tarp. More »

I Kissed A 2014 Lexus IS And I Liked It

I am a Lexus hater. Much as I like the original LS400, everything else they make just seems so willfully bland, inoffensive, and characterless. And then there's this new 2014 IS, and…and I think I like it.More »

Photo Credit: Getty Images

There's actually a number of new cars at the Detroit show that I like — I think Chevy did a fine job with the new 'Vette that we've been carefully ignoring, and that Audi RS7 is really impressive. But the only one I sat in and genuinely felt like I was in something really new and different was the Tesla Model X.

Tesla certainly has their share of issues, not the least of which is the still mostly unanswered question of can they really make these cars in quantity. Also, the Model X I saw here isn't truly a production model. It's not really a concept or a show car, either. Tesla's people told me it's a "design prototype" which they said means that it represents what the final production design will actually be. Interior materials and a number of details may change, but I was assured that the fundamental body design and features will remain.

Based on their (currently, still few) production Model S cars, I feel reasonably confident that the materials and fit and finish will be close to what I saw at the show, though likely not in white. So, let's give them the benefit of the doubt that they'll build something close to what this looks and feels like, and I'll tell you why you should care.

First and most obviously, the car has gullwing doors. And I think this is one of the very, very few examples of gullwing-type doors being used on a car other than a high-performance car, and for a utilitarian purpose. Well, if you don't count helping you get laid as utilitarian.

Technically, Tesla calls these doors "falcon wing" and they differ from traditional gullwings in that they're hinged in the middle as well, which allows them to open without demanding almost any space at all on the side of the car. Tesla's PR people insisted to me that these doors can open in a smaller area than a minivan's sliding door. That's both impressive and actually useful.

Plus, the size of the opening of the door is remarkable. When open, the hole in the side of your car is like that of a door and a T-top combined; I've got plenty of baby-shoving-in-cars experience, and this would make loading even a toddler-sized coked-up octopus easy. There's so much open access into the Model X, and that's with the middle row of seats up, even.

Which brings up another point: many may see the Model X as a sort of SUV, but it's closer to a short van with a hood. It seats seven in three rows and the middle row can fold onto the floor to create a sort of ottoman/low tableish surface. With that down (it was locked on the car we saw here, but I was shown how it would work) you'd have a really flexible and useful interior space to be in. It would solve many of my latent little-van desires in how it could act as a mobile little room, as well as being flexible enough to seat seven people and their luggage.

I'm sort of a space-utilization fetishist when it comes to cars, and I can get as excited about a car that uses space really well as I can about a car that goes really fast. The Model X feels like a modern version of one of my all-time space-utilization heroes, car-wise: the rear-engine wagon. Cars like the Volkswagen Type III and IV, the Corvair wagon, the Fiat 500 Giardiniera, and a few select others. These cars all had good (for their size) cargo room in the traditional wagon area in the back, and a trunk up front.

The Model X fits in perfectly, with good cargo room at the rear, and a deep trunk (sorry, Tesla, I'm not calling it a goddamn "frunk." Not even if you give me a frookie) in front. This layout is possible here thanks to the use of the Model S platform, which is like a big skateboard of batteries and motor.

In the Model X's case, they've added an electric motor to the front axle to supplement the rear-axle mounted 362 or 410 HP motor, giving more power and AWD. Tesla says the Model X will get to 60 in five seconds with this setup, which sounds great.

Though to be honest, I'm so taken by the Model X body layout I'd be interested in this car with, say a flat-four Subaru engine mounted under the back seat, in front of the rear axle, replacing the batteries with a gas tank and the necessary other hardware. That would be outside of Tesla's fundamental goals, but it would still be a remarkable MPV-type car to the wider public.

Of course, Tesla said in their press conference that their main goal — even above actually making cars — is to "accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles." So they're not going to go that route. But, if Subaru or all those other (one) companies that make cars with flat engines (maybe one that begins with "P"?) want to steal this design, I'd be all over that.

Two normal doors, two gullwing doors, two trunks, van-like interior space, awd, sleek exterior design, world-of-tomorrow dashboard and electronics, and a (claimed) range of up to 265 miles — what's not to like here? They stated they'd like to make it available for about $30,000 as well. I'm still on the fence about all-touchscreen controls, but it's hard to deny it doesn't look cool and appears to be very well-thought out.

I guess the rub here is the uncertainty if it'll ever happen. It certainly could, and the Model S success or failure will be a big indicator how likely it actually is. I hope so.

Perhaps some of my ardor is the result of being a man with offspring, and the associated practicalities that entails. Maybe that's why what is essentially a minivan is so interesting to me. It could be my geeky love of maximized space, it could be all the fumes from prototype plastics getting me high. I don't know.

What I do know is that sitting in the Model X was the first time 2013 actually felt like the future to me. And the future looked pretty good.

Pardon me for making the same point people have been making about Kia for the past however many years, but I remember when their cars were plasticrap and now they're making a flagship sedan? Insane.

It wasn't so long ago that I wouldn't even laugh at a guy driving a Kia. You could laugh at a Geo driver, that was fine. A Kia? That was just sad.

Now they're doing so well selling mainstream sedans that they're making a a car that looks like a quasi BMW 5-series. And it'll probably even be successful.

It's called the Cadenza and it's just the Kia version of the Hyundai Azera. The Cadenza's got the Azera's 3.3 liter V6 with 293 horsepower and 255 lb-ft. of torque, the Cadenza's got the same chassis, transmission, the whole thing. There's climate control, an eight-inch screen in the interior, lane departure warning, radar cruise control, and all the other luxury car accoutrements. We don't know pricing, but know that the Hyundai Azera is just over $33K.

For once, my only critique of the Cadenza is the styling. Kia's breakout hit is the Optima, a car that's just about as eye-catching and extreme as a mass-market family car can be. While the Cadenza is handsome, it's remarkably plain, getting to the point of being forgettable. That's not now Kia makes its money.

Still, this seems like a fine car, especially when you compare it to Kia's old flagship the Amanti. It's hard to wrap my head around how much progress Kia is making.

Oh, and Peter Schreyer shared the stage with his own head in a box. Yes, it was weird. And

In feng shui, "Chi" is the universal energy field that surrounds each of us. "Trump" is a wealthy buffoon who, by all appearances, is the product of an intimate encounter between a Connecticut WASP and an errant Homo erectus. The "Trumpchi," is a car by Chinese automaker GAC. Got it? Not yet, you don't.

You see, the Trumpchi isn't your typical Chinese import cipher, seemingly rolled out of the mid-1980s into the Detroit Auto Show for our amusement and edification. It's a reworked Alfa Romeo 166. If your first response is "get the fuck out of here," you're right. And I will. Just as soon as I tell you about the Guangzhou Automotive Group Trumpchi Sedan. Did I mention it's based on an Italian car last sold in Italy in 2007?

What could possibly go wrong.

Remember this: Chinese carmakers have been reluctant to show their wares here in Detroit ever since The Great Leap Sideways, also known as the Hysterical Laughfest At Chinese Automakers' Expense Of 2006.

That year, I returned home from the show with a tea set in a little wooden box. A tea set. All I had to do was sit in a Geely (or was that a Chery?) and inhale the pungent aromatic hydrocarbons of the Chinese adhesives, then grab my neck with both hands and pretend to asphyxiate while my colleagues looked on, chuckling. And they gave me a freaking tea set. The PR girl bowed slightly, presenting it to me as if it were a treasured heirloom and I an honored guest. I almost cried.

It was a year of strange, partly-formed cars with crooked badges and signs and speeches with ill-translated marketing messages. It was the year Changfeng Motors showed off its Black Giant SUV, proudly proclaiming in a video that, "strong power drives its mighty body!" and then Changfeng's Chairman Li took to the stage and announced — to a massive crowd of international media — "I am going to come all over you." He probably meant Changfeng would soon be everywhere in America, but he couldn't have gotten the phrasing more hilariously wrong if Adam Reed wrote his dialog for him.

Since then, most Chinese automakers have kept clear of the Detroit Auto Show, mainly appearing to show off electric cars and do weird stuff like taking Matt Hardigree on an insane ride around the Cobo basement.

For 2013, only one Chinese company showed up. That was Guangzhou Automotive Group (tag line: "Detailing Greatness"), tucked away on the concourse off the main floor. GAC, China's sixth-largest automaker, is known mainly as a maker of Honda products for the Chinese market. In 2010, it launched the Trumpchi, a luxury-ish sedan whose appeal to the Chinese middle class is mainly a function of its presumed domestically branded status. Will they bring it here? Perhaps. Will you be able to get an Alfa 166 for Chinese-car money?

Ok, We're Excited About That

The Alfa Romeo 166 was a good car. Jeremy Clarkson explained its allure colorfully back in 2007, when he gushed, "It's as though the 166 came down a pipeline from the gods." Imagine looking under the hood of the car you bought for the price of a Chevy Malibu and seeing those delicious chrome intake runners of an Alfa Romeo 3.2-liter V6. Oh the joy that would bring.

Hold On A Second...

The vehicles GAC showed here in Detroit were hybrids with gear from AC Propulsion of San Dimas, California. The Trumpchi Hybrid, which looks very little like a 166, can travel 62 miles on electric power. C'mon. Isn't buying a hybrid Alfa Romeo like dating a supermodel with narcolepsy?

But wait. Among its many features are Tweeter and Sackbut, which is not a 1960s novelty country music duo from Hee Haw. Actually, I have no idea what those things are, but they must be important, because they're listed right near Rear Children Lock. No doubt, children lockdown is something all parents can get behind, at least after the kids scarf down six packs of gummi worms and a juice box.

And before you ask, the answer is yes, the Trumpchi Hybrid does come with ATA and IMMO, which — strangely enough — was a 1960s novelty country music duo from Hee Haw.

Is That It?

No. GAC also has a hybrid SUV, the GS5-BEV. That's not exciting. But there's also the E-Jet concept, a very sleek looking sedan that wouldn't be out of place on Acura's turntable. Sadly, that will ride on a new, compact-car platform, and not on an aging Italian-car platform. After all, it's no Dodge Dart.

While every other publication has totally ignored the 2014 Corvette, we've been covering this lesser known debut at the Detroit Auto Show. But so far we've only seen it in grey and red.

Well, here it is in every color you could ever want in high resolution.

One complaint I've heard about the design from a few people is that it doesn't look cohesive. The black a-pillars and roof makes it look like 14 different people had different ideas about where to go with the design.

I happen to like it, but think it looks better in darker colors. But what do you think? Does the Stingray look best in black or awesome in lime green? Check out reader Webb's renders and let us know below.

(A pass of the photoshop blur tool to Webb!)

There's been a lot of hate on BMW's 560 horsepower four-door coupe. Oh, they already have a four-door sedan. Oh they have too many cars in their lineup. Forget it, this M6 Gran Coupe looks amazing.

This thing is basically a parts-bin special, just with exceptionally precise Bavarian parts bin parts. There's the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 (S63B44TU), with 560 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, just like you get in the M6 and the M5.

If your concern about the M6 Gran Coupe is about weight, the four-door coupe is just about even with the regular M5. The Gran Coupe is 4,299 pounds and the M5 is 4,288. That's heavy enough that we don't expect to see many people canyon carving in these M6 Gran Coupes. It's more about running 0-60 in 4.1 seconds and looking like the coolest guy at the country club.

It's no lithe, light E28 successor, but it is a big, brutish Autobahn cruiser. And it's gorgeous handsome.

If I were to come up and merely explain exactly what I saw at the Via Motors press conference, chances are you'd take a few cautious steps back and suggest that I seek out my clergyperson. Here, I'll show you! Here's a hypothetical exchange between you and I, sweet, sweet reader:

YOU: Hey, Jason! It's me, all of your readers from Jalopnik!

ME: You're my readers! You're taller than I imagined.

(We hug like lifelong friends)

YOU: So, how did you spend the past 30 minutes?

ME: Great question. I stood with a group of people and watched two suicide-girl-type women with lithe, muscular bodies wearing lingerie climb up some ribbons and then toss and grapple one another in a eerily but humidly erotic manner, and then I watched an orange-faced man lie to a ghost. Oh, and then a clumsily customized truck drove up!

YOU: (look of disgust and dismay, slowly fading into genuine concern)
I hope you get the help you need.

The thing is, it's all true. What I just described up there was what actually happened. I'll clarify a bit:

The first part with the lithe women you can, and probably will, imagine in detail I can't hope to replicate here. Plus, I got to see a German journalist laboriously hit on both of them as soon as their four feet touched ground again, so you can picture that, too.

The part with the ghost is more complicated. See, they used a hologram to have Thomas Edison — or, more accurately, a dinner-theater actor playing Thomas Edison — engage in a conversation with Corporate Board Enthusiast Bob Lutz. But since it was an actor, they didn't need to have "Edison" as a hologram at all. They could have just had the guy come out and talk to Bob Lutz as Edison. But nobody cares about some old actor guy talking to Bob Lutz — that'd be stupid. A hologram (which was really just a projection on nylon) of some old actor guy talking to Bob Lutz, though? GENIUS.

Speaking of genius, here's how Lutz lied to (or at least misled) fake Edison's fake ghost. You can see it in the short clip there, but here's the gist:

Edison asks how they solved the "battery problem." Lutz gleefully responds that they "solved" it by adding a gasoline motor! Boom! Problem ignored!

Fake Edison seems pretty excited about this, but Dead Real Edison would have lunged at Lutz in zombie rage and eaten most of that delicious face jerky. Because adding a gas motor isn't solving any battery problems. Hell, Edison could have added a gas motor to his failed electric cars anytime he wanted. But he didn't. Because he was making an electric car.

What VIA's doing isn't necessarily bad at all. Essentially, VIA is buying entire trucks from GM, adding battery packs and one or more electric motors, replacing the transmission with an electrical generator, and adding other hardware needed to convert the vehicle to purely electric drive.

The gas motor is retained, but is only used to generate electricity for the electric motors. So it's more like a Fisker than a Volt. The huge engines that they're using are likely overkill for the job of running a generator at a set RPM, but it does keep the engines very understressed. Many engineers think this range-extender method is inherently wasteful, as if you're running an engine to make electricity to drive a motor to power some wheels, you have less losses just using the gas engine to drive wheels more directly.

Still, the use cases of these sorts of vehicles means that most of the driving could be done in the 45 mile range of the electric motors, which put out a respectable 402 HP. Not bad at all.

They say they're shipping vans and trucks already, and good for them. In city-fleet work I'm sure these things will prove more efficient than gas-powered vans, and their ability to provide 110V AC is a very useful option for a large number of contexts.

Their rebadging of the trucks is pretty clumsy, though, with a lot of clunky plastic bits stuck over the GM family logos and over grille bars. Their show car seemed sort of a half-assed effort, with lots of plastic stuck on and some charming but not terribly professional-looking hand-painted striping and lettering.

So there's three takeaways here:

• VIA is selling electric fleet work vehicles that could be a good fit for their markets, even if not everyone's sold on their overall efficiency.
• Bob Lutz's dreams are filled with Suicide Girl acrobats and dead inventors.
• Bob Lutz now represents a company that electrifies V8 GM products, and a company that de-electrifies Danish cars and puts GM V8s into them. At the same time.

If you want a gigantic luxury sedan with V8 power and a performance pedigree, you have a pretty good range of cars from which to choose.

But if you want a very literally named one from Italy, you basically have one choice: The Maserati Quattroporte. And now there's a new one.

The 2013 car is bigger, longer, faster, and more powerful than the car it replaces and eschews natural aspiration for a duo of turbocharged engines. A new 3.8 liter turbo V8 has 530 horsepower and 542 pound feet of torque. Not too shabby.

An entry level 3.0 liter turbo V6 is also joining the fray. The base engine has 410 horsepower and 406 pound feet of torque. This seems like the engine to get. Fuel economy will be better, and it gets to 60 just 0.2 slower than the V8. No word on if the exhaust note of the V6 can still induce immediate orgasms.

This is all connected to an eight speed automatic. The V6 can even be all-wheel drive.

It's still pretty, but the growth in size has gotten rid of a little of the elegance that the last car so thoroughly enjoyed. I still like it, just not as much.

People have been testing the Quattroporte already. It sounds like it's pretty good but not perfect.

In other words, it's still a Maserati.

The Detroit Auto Show is always a lot of fun, but in this era of spy photos and leaks, there aren't many real surprises. One huge exception we encountered here was this, the Shelby Ford Focus ST covered in a bright orange tarp just outside the media center. For days we've been wondering what kind of magical mysteries were hidden underneath that tarp.

And now we know, because the photos and stats have leaked out before today's reveal (ha!). Shelby has indeed put their crazy hands all over Ford's current hottest hatch — but it's not quite what we expected.

According to the SVTUSA fan site, the Shelby package adds a stiffer Ford Racing suspension, larger brakes, custom wheels, a Borla exhaust, Shelby interior accouterments, and various exterior tweaks including functional hood vents.

But here's the kicker: the power output remains at the stock level of 252 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. SVTUSA says Shelby "is currently developing an optional performance tune expected to significantly increase horsepower." But it's not on this thing.

Now, the Focus ST is a phenomenal hot hatch in its own regard, but I can't help but be a little disappointed in Shelby's effort here. All of us were thinking that a Shelby Focus ST would mean some kind of tire-annihilating boost in power. Hell, Raphael and I were joking that if a Focus ever had a V8 swap version, Shelby would be the one to do it. These add-ons are nice, but they don't make it the Focus' GT500 equivalent.

Oh yeah. This package also a $15,000 add-on to the normal ST. Go ahead and smack your head now if you haven't already.

I just told Raph about this, and he's sitting next to me crying. You upset Raph, Shelby! Way to go.

Hat tip to carsoooon!

Acura's marketing VP Mike Accavitti this morning said that the Acura MDX Prototype is "the star of the show today" for his brand. With all due respect to Mike, I'll have to disagree.

Acura's real star is the latest iteration of the NSX Concept they unveiled today. Damn it's hot.

We first saw the basic design that will be the next NSX at last year's Detroit show. The concept they showed off this morning is closer to what the production car will supposedly look like when it goes to market in 2015 or thereabouts.

There are some slight tweaks here and there to make the NSX look more like a real car. The grille, headlamps, tail lamps, and front and rear fascias are more developed, and the Ferrari-esque rear arches are more pronounced. It's attractive, but if I have one criticism, it's that it looks even more like the Audi R8 than last year's concept.

But the big news is that Acura showed off the first look at a possible interior design for their hybrid halo car. It's definitely still concept-y in there, but it seems to give a good indication of where they're headed with it. That big, sloping center console kind of reminds me of the inside of the original NSX, too.

I like this thing, but it's still two years away from production. Let's all hope it will drive as good as it looks.

I've watched MotorWeek — the finest car show on public television — since I was a little kid. Even though my daily MotorWeek Theater posts are a tad tongue-in-cheek, I'm actually a fan of the show.

I set one goal for myself when I got to the Detroit Auto Show: Meet MotorWeek host John Davis. Last night I did just that.

When the floor closes at auto shows, the nights are typically packed with events from various automakers. Last night, Matt, Raphael, and I were out with the folks from Audi while Jason and Patrick were hanging out with Chrysler.

On our way back downtown, a text came in from Patrick: John Davis was at the Chrysler event.

We hightailed it downtown as fast as we could. Patrick was physically restraining John Davis from leaving. We arrived and hit a snag: I wasn't on the list to get into the party. Matt was and said he'd go in for me.

Two minutes later, the elevator opened and out came the majestic Mr. John Davis himself. And guess what? He couldn't be a nicer guy. Mr. Davis was very complimentary towards Jalopnik and is familiar with our recent obsession with MotorWeek posts. In fact, he cannot believe that some people have saved those really old reviews. He is a true gentleman and it was a pleasure meeting him.

We might even be doing some things with Mr. Davis and MotorWeek in the not too distant future, so stay tuned...

Jason and I both walked past the Tesla stand yesterday and the same lightbulb went off above our heads: let's try and get in that trunk.

We had to really talk our way into this trunk, but nobody can stop Jalopnik's resident vehicle-trunk-escape expert. Jason said it was sketchier than the Beetle trunk, thanks to super-low headroom.

Excuse me, did I say trunk? I meant frunk, as the Tesla reps actually corrected us several times.

I am a Lexus hater. Much as I like the original LS400, everything else they make just seems so willfully bland, inoffensive, and characterless. And then there's this new 2014 IS, and…and I think I like it.

Lexus has been on a bit of a roll for the past few years. It either started with the imperious LS600hL hybrid or the woven-carbon LFA, but then news started trickling in that the GS and LS cars are pretty good in F-Sport trim. Even on the Toyota side things have gotten interesting with the Toyobaru twins and their badass pink Grandpa car.

So now I kind of trust Lexus to build a sharp-handling, aggressive sports sedan.

And while I grew up thinking that IS drivers were even bigger assholes than the dicks in my college town driving BMWs, now I'm kind of coming around to the Lexus. I'm starting to think it's gone from being a jackass' car to being a bad guy's car. I like that.

The white car you see is an IS350 F-Sport, with a familiar direct-injected 3.6 liter V6. It's got 306 horsepower, which is plenty, as far as I'm concerned. More important to me is that Lexus seems to care about building a car that handles. When the car starts showing up in June, we'll see how people like the thing.

The red car is a Lexus 300h hybrid, not coming to the US. It's got a 2.5 liter four and Lexus claims it will drink less than 4.3 liters of gas per 100 kilometers. In our numbers that's around 55 miles per gallon.

And it doesn't look too bad, either.

"Prototype" is the perfect word to describe the this MDX concept as it doesn't appear to look like any Acura, or really any car, we've ever seen before. From its dramatic use of headlights in the front of the car to the inclusion of LEDs — normally reserved for hi-tech electronics — to the glass enclosed cockpit protecting its passengers from the elements, it is a shockingly sci-fi vision of a world we can barely glimpse.

Do we live in 2038 already? Is this Minority Report? Is there a use for a man anymore or is the future led by iron men with circuited brains?

Acura takes a huge risk with showing this prototype as it's impossible for them to create an MDX that looks remotely like this for production. Can you imagine them building it? Their buyers would wonder if they hadn't accidentally teleported to one of H.G. Wells' magical worlds of flying men and movable images beamed into every family's neon hovel.

Fortune favors the bold, and I can't imagine fortune smiling on anyone as much as Acura if even 10% this wild, absinthe-fueled dream is built.

If you woke up from a bender in Ford's press event this morning, you'd have seen a large scaffold full of buff men in construction outfits spraying showers of welding sparks and pounding large hammers into girders with rippling muscles glistening with sweat. And, based on this and the loud, blaring industrial music, you'd probably think you were in a gay dance club. But you'd likely realize you were wrong when the large truck was lowered from the ceiling and then mobbed by men far too poorly dressed and out of shape to ever be in such a club.

The truck was the Atlas, Ford's new concept for the future of the F-150.

While it's a concept truck with more than its share of opulent concept car indulgences, it's also very clearly still an F-150. All the usual F-150 styling cues are there, only more so. There's the trademark beltline drop and kink, the proportions still retain the F-150 bulldog-beefiness, the taillight treatment fits the same basic profile even if they're now the rounded-rect shape that's infected pretty much nearly every taillight today.

The front end's styling is the most dramatically different, though still clearly F-150 based. I find the front grille a bit baroque and fussy, with a number of intersecting bars and openings and slots of varying weights and thicknesses. The headlights are show-car extravagances, LED units with blue glowing piping.

The concept is built on the F-150 platform, and retains the general dimensions, though it is a bit wider, and Ford said it'll be powered by a "next-generation" EcoBoost engine. The real changes body-wise, however, are in active aerodynamic features. The grille features adjustable shutters that would open when more cooling is required (idling in traffic on a hot day) and close for aerodynamic improvements for, say, highway cruising.

There's also a dynamic chin spoiler/front air dam to help with aerodynamics, and each wheel has a set of active, spring-loaded shutters that can close to improve aero performance at speed. I felt these with my hand, and based on the hard duty and environment these trucks will likely face, it's hard to picture them staying intact long. But this is just a show car, so I imagine they'll figure it out.

There's a number of other interesting features designed based on the kinds of work these trucks tend to do. There's a very nice little inverted-U-shaped hydraulic frame that raises out of the tailgate to assist in managing long cargo. If you've ever tried to haul a dozen 12' 2x4s you can imagine how handy something like this could be. Though they didn't mention it, with this thing extended and the tailgate down, you could drag an idiot/friend on roller skates for an excitingly pants-soiling asphalt-skiing session.

Most tantalizing and least explained was a trailer backup assist system. As someone who's blocked traffic horribly backing up trailers, this is very exciting.

The interior is full of leather and screens and some very clever removable aluminum-and-rubber floor mat tray things — possibly representing the pinnacle of floor mat technology. Also, the roof features an integrated cargo area/rack system for oversize bed cargo tie-downs or smaller item storage. All these features combine into a well-thought-out truck concept.

I talked to Ford Design Head J Mays about the truck and the word he kept saying about it was "intelligent." That word choice reflects a bit of defensiveness to the perceived lo-brow nature of full-sized trucks. If the "intelligence" takes the form of useful tools like they hinted at here, that'd be great, and not the awful attempt to move a truck higher up the brow that was J Mays' old Lincoln Blackwood.

Even though I was really, really hoping for a small or even mid-sized truck (J Mays told me, basically, not a chance) this does seem a rationally-thought out concept. Hopefully the clever bits will make it to production, and not just the overdone grille and fancier interior.

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