The Cube was interesting but I found the ergonomics completely off. The driver's arm rest gets in the way of the center mounted gear shift, for one. Even after adjusting the seat downwards, it still seemed a bit off.
The show was not as interesting as in previous years, at least for me. Perhaps because the novelty of a car show had long since worn off, perhaps because I went with a few specific goals in mind - at least one of which was
not met
, perhaps because there were still too many locked cars, ... I don't know. I was disappointed in not being able to sit in a Kia Soul; I guess I'll have to wait until I go back to the dealer for my car's servicing, like mwqa wrote. One nice thing about the smaller crowds seen last night was the speed at which we got in and were able to move from car to car. Even the exotics and oddities on display weren't surrounded by a sea of people. BTW, the show's official "tour"
started with the exotics this year; something that I don't recall being done in previous years. Certainly I never started with that part of the show in the past; I always liked to leave that for last. For those who have never been to the Montreal show, there is a path laid out to follow, complete with arrows on the floor and actual barriers when they really want you to follow the route. The most annoying part of that little bit of planning is that you
cannot avoid the room full of knick knacks, junky accessories or "miracle products" and the hucksters who sell the stuff. Yuck.
The GM area seemed almost deserted, although there were a few people looking around. Groups of young kids (17 to 25?) were looking at some of the big trucks and the Pontiac offerings but not much else. The Astra was on prominent display, as was the Vue, with at least 2 Vues and 3 Astras on display.
As mwqa wrote, we bypassed the Chrysler display altogether. The omission was purely by accident but when we both realized that we had missed their area, neither of us cared enough to go back. I can't speak for mwqa but in my case is was no great loss.
Speaking of locked cars, why do they persist in doing that, in a year when most car companies should be pulling out all the stops to keep the cars rolling off the lot?
