drivetofive

Odometer:  505,296

I was thumbing through the above magazine in a doctor’s office last week and thought the headline would be appropriate to use on Drive to Five.  This year’s Detroit show was huge for Acura since the company proudly unveiled 3 never-before-seen bodystyles to the public.  In talking with Jon Ikeda, lead designer of the 2013 ILX concept, he feels the car’s design will endure as timelessly as the 1991-1995 Acura Legend has.  So perhaps it’s fitting to say that since from a styling perspective, these new models are winners, the Legends have yet again been reborn.

The auto show was a total sensory overload.  Instead of going crazy with the photo uploads here, I’ve put “most” (about 170) of my pictures into one of my Photobucket albums that you can browse at your leisure.

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn43/tysonhugie2/

This sign from the entrance to our “backstage” coat room says it all!  This whole experience felt like a dream.

Following are a few of the highlights, though.

Acura rolled out the red carpet for me and for a few other online bloggers at the Atheneum Suites Hotel in downtown Detroit.  The company’s hospitality was unmatched!  I felt like a celebrity when I arrived at the DTW airport and met up with “my driver” at the baggage claim who was holding a sign with my name on it.  The next two days carried on that feeling.

The Press Schedule was distributed to us upon arrival.  Acura’s 25-minute time slot was at 2:35 p.m. on Monday; Honda’s moment in the spotlight was the following morning.  A few of us staked out the front row of the Acura booth so that we had a perfect line of vision for the big 3-car unveil.

I had the chance to meet and greet many great people.

Below is Chris Tobias, editor of the AcuraConnected.com blog.

Below is my photo with Kurt Antonius, Assistant Vice President of American Honda Motor Co.  I was having him (and a number of other Honda & Acura important people) sign the inside cover of my hardback copy of the “Drive to Five” blog.

Here’s the result – along with a glance at the Acura Press Kit – a small black box that contained a USB drive with media.

Ford’s slogan here struck a chord!

Loved the suspense of seeing the next generation NSX under wraps.

The second day of the show (Tuesday), instead of just having the new ILX, NSX, and RSX on display, Acura brought out the rest of the fleet – all finished in jet black paint schemes.

It was super chilly out when we walked to lunch.

The absolutely stunning next generation Accord coupe concept was rolled out at the Honda conference on Tuesday morning.  I LOVE this paint job!

Awesome video spotlighting the new NSX concept.

The overall NAIAS experience was incredible.  Plus, I was able to see Michigan for the first time.

I had to laugh when getting on the Detroit “People Mover” train system in downtown Detroit on Monday night with Acura’s Senior Manager of Digital Marketing, John Watts.  We quickly learned that the train only moves in a clockwise direction and therefore had to take the very “scenic” route around downtown Detroit to get to our destination, which we probably could have walked to faster than the shuttle got us there.  Still a good way to get a nighttime view of the city skyline.  Huge thanks to Acura for the chance to experience the Auto Show!

This afternoon I had a (free!) oil change on the Legend coupe performed by the friendly folks at Acura North Scottsdale.  Here’s a picture from when I picked it up in the service drive.  No major issues noted — it’s ready to go for another 3,000+.

I’ve got special company for the next few days – my mom’s here for this Sunday’s PF Changs Rock & Roll Half Marathon that we’ll be competing in together.  Given my lack of preparation, this upcoming 13.1 miles will be a challenge.  If only I conquered the miles as easily as my Acura does.

This entry was posted on January 13, 2012 at 5:28 am and is filed under Car Show, ILX. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.