Here are some pictures from the 2006 Washington Auto Show.
Some Ramblings
Toyota
Right now I'm a little disappointed in Toyota. Mazda has the Mazdaspeed
6, and RX8, Subaru has the STi, Mitsubishi has the EVO, Honda has the S2000,
and Dodge has the SRT4. What does Toyota have? The Scion tC? Come
on! Toyota has become the Buick of Japan. Even though they are
becoming the largest car manufacturer in the world, I think they need some
more exciting cars. They must be doing something right though, since
it's looking like they will be taking the #1 throne away from GM. At
least GM has the Corvette! Toyota's most exciting car, for me, is the
new IS350 - but it's a four door sedan - I want a sports car! You can't
even get the new IS350 V6 in a manual! What happened to the twin turbo,
6speed, 300+HP Supra? That car still has a 'cult like' following, and
even old ones sell for big bucks. What about the MR2 - the real one,
the one with 200HP? Is it any wonder they are discontinuing the MR2 after
giving it only 138HP? Even the Celica is now gone. It seems Toyota
is only interested in volume cars like the Camry, Avalon (YAWN!), and Corolla. Notice
how there are no pictures of Toyotas? Golly - were they even at the show?
Mazda
In the Supra/3000GT/300ZX days, Mazda had the twin turbo RX7. Too
bad they kept blowing engines. Kudos to Mazda though for sticking
with alternative technologies such as rotory engines, miller cycle engines,
and now direct fuel injection coupled with turbo-charging in the new
Mazdaspeed 6. I'm hoping Mazda will turbo-charge the new RENESIS
rotory in the RX8 and put it in an RX7 replacement.
