Visit the 2016 Detroit Auto Show

By Tim Jagielo
[email protected]; 810-433-6795
 Detroit — Walking through Cobo Center during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) is like walking through a futuristic mall or airport from a science fiction movie or the next “Mission Impossible” installation.
 The lights, sounds, spinning projected graphics and sharply dressed floor professionals all create this feeling, along with the diversity of visitors and variety of languages being spoken.
 As a sign of the times, YouTube stars, not local news celebrities, do snappy high-energy broadcast segments from the floor of the show, about what’s next with cars.
 Guests have their faces scanned, and appear along a rotating panoramic projection lining the wall of the Ford exhibit. Some even have a “selfie” taken from inside a car, which is also shared on the wall.
 More accurately than a “futuristic mall,” you are walking through a carefully constructed advertisement for the auto industry; music and lights are timed to aggressively give the visitor an experience beyond sitting in a car, and checking out the paint.
 The auto show is always about the future — this year it was about self-driving cars, and more power and efficiency. The Chevy Bolt EV, a subcompact fully electric car, made its debut.
 Muscle cars were also a highlight, with the Ford GT and Dodge Viper featured heavily. Mainstays like the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang were observed by enthusiasts under the lights as well.
 The NAIAS is a hands-on activity. Families check out the trunk space of a new Volvo, while gear heads pour over a bisected display model of a new engine.
 All day, visitors from all over the world can sit on a motorcycle, on in a car or track, feel the seats and the steering wheel, trying their dreams out for size.