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St. Louis Front Page."
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ST. LOUIS, February 2, 2005 - An impressive row of highly-polished black Dodge trucks greeted car enthusiasts at the entrance to the St. Louis Auto Show.
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(Top to bottom) Dodge's legendary HEMI engine; GM's powerful Duramax diesel, 6.6L V8 engine; ornament on Jaguar's new all wheel drive X-Type Sportswagon; stylish headlights on the Mercedes CLS 55 AMG 4-door coupe.
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St. Louis Auto Show Is a Snapshot of What's New in 2005
by Betty Magrath, SLFP.com
photos by Bob Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) February 2, 2005 - The St. Louis Auto Show at the Edward Jones Dome, through February 6, is all about style and size.
From the impressive row of highly-polished black Dodge trucks greeting car enthusiasts at the entrance to the show to the rainbow palette of metallic colors to stylish exhibits featuring concept cars, the show captured admiring glances and enthusiastic comments on opening day.
Local auto dealers pulled out all stops for this year's show, hoping to entice potential buyers into their exhibits. Dodge dealers showcased nearly every model truck in black, making an elegant statement of power. It was a daunting walk past the line-up to see the gleaming Magnums, bold muscle car wagons featuring legendary HEMI engines.
Not to be outdone, the Chrysler staff took pictures of audience members in front of their show-stopping concept Firepower, turning slowly under the bright lights.
It took little more than sitting in the front seat of the new Crossfire convertible for a women to shout enthusiastically to her husband, "This will be my last car. It's really cute."
Auto shows strive for memorable elements to showcase their wares. This year, Ernie, an annimated robot created by Mannetron in collaboration with Ford entertained with quick responses and one-liners to questions from onlookers at the Ford display. An actor wearing a sophisticated telemetry suit in a remote control room transmitted his movements in real-time to Ernie, giving the audience the impression that the robot was alive as he spoke directly to them.
"Every movement the actor makes with his arms or torso or head is duplicated electronically to Ernie. He can see what Ernie sees because there is a fiber-optic camera in the helmet that is attached to virtual reality glasses worn by the actor. The actor can also hear by virture of microphones placed at the base of the robot" stated Geoff Safron, display manager for Ford in St. Louis.
Ford has used robots for the past eight years at various auto shows around the country as a way of demonstrating its ongoing automotive development. Ernie was the highlight of the Ford exhibit which included the Ford GT 200-mph supercar.
Pontiac stepped up production on its popular concept car, the Solstice roadster, in order to bring it to dealer showrooms in fall 2005. It promises thrilling open-air driving, a human show model standing near the vehicle told onlookers.
Nearby, the HUMMER line-up featuring the scaled-down, more fuel efficient H3 packed in the audience. It was hard to resist climbing into the H2, H2 SUT and H3 models to experience the HUMMER way of life. Apparently, the company has been listening to its market as this year's models come in dark grey cloth and black leather interiors. Softened edges, sunroofs and better seating configuration are part of the dream package.
Chevrolet's powerful Duramax diesel, 6.6L V8 engine was showcased as a gleaming sculpture near a beheamouth white truck which occupied a sizable chunk of the display area. Also featured was the Envoy XUV and XL. It's newest entry, the HHR 06, was featured with a chopped roof and silver paint with a blue pearl coat.
Tucked back into the farthest corner of the exhibit hall, beyond the blaring music from the Scion exhibit all decked out in Urban gear, was the exotic area featuring the very stylish CLS 55 AMG 4-door coupe by Mercedes. "She's a beaut," said an onlooker. This spring, Mercedes will introduce its 350 M-Class. Show-goers had the opportunity to see it up close and dream.
Volvo presented its XC90 T6 AWD, built entirely of LEGO blocks, including flashing lights. The red vehicle received more than one inquisitive glance from viewers in the nearby Infiniti area.
Jaguar quietly presented its new all wheel drive X-Type Sportswagon. The vehicle also featured a return of the familiar cat on the polished hood.
This year's show was smaller than previous and without the starpower draw of a Batmobile, virtual-reality driving experience booths, climbing walls and carnival rides for kids. However, families can enjoy meeting Spiderman on Saturday and soap opera stars from "Days of Our Lives" on Sunday near the Hyundai exhibit area.
The Ford GT 200-mph supercar
Pontiac's Solstice roadster promises thrilling open-air driving.
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Ernie, an annimated robot created by Mannetron in collaboration with Ford, entertained with with quick responses and one-liners to questions from onlookers.
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 The Saint Louis Front Page Style St. Louis is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group .
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