The 2018 New York International Auto Show is happening right now, so if you’re in town, definitely grab a ticket and head out to the no man’s land of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to see all the cars! Here’s what Jalopnik found while poking around the show floor during the media days.
This year’s show was largely very dull (lots of new crossovers and SUVs, though), so ace night man Justin Westbrook and I decided to take a walk on the second media day to see what, uh, unusual stuff we could find.
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Formula Drift racer Fredric Aasbø was there, showing off his new Toyota Corolla hatchback-based drift car. It was gnarly! We blessed the car with the Jalopnik Bump.
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Then this happened:
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It was some kind of dealer’s meeting or something. People were holding glasses of champagne. We didn’t know what to do. We just wanted to check out the new CT6 V-Sport.
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Then we were finally able to scuttle away to look at some German cars.
In particular, the backup camera in the BMW Alpina B7 is very good a picking up journalists.
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Our favorite display was definitely at the Mercedes-Benz stand, though. We saw it from afar and just had to try it.
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We had no idea what it was, but it looked like a Futurewagen, so that’s what we called it. It was a fully functional seat attached to a steering wheel and a screen and some speakers. You could control the volume of the music with the steering wheel. It was great fun.
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Eventually, though, our antics caught the attention of two very German Mercedes product specialists, who approached us and helpfully asked if we had any questions about the product.
The conversation went something like this.
“Is this a Futurewagen?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“It’s our MBUX kiosk. It’s meant to display the UX systems of our new cars. You can use natural language to control it, like saying, ‘Hey Mercedes, I’m cold,’ and the car will warm up. It will be in the upcoming A-Class.”
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“But I like this set up. Can I just buy this?”
“No.”
“Have you see WALL-E? This reminds me of those seats that everyone in the future drives around in.”
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*silent for a moment* “Yes, I have seen this. No, it is not the same.”
Then we decided to go (and spare these two poor product specialists) because the day was wrapping up and it was time attend our own party, where guests of honor included a Yugo and a 2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo.
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Anyway, if you have some time, go and check out the show. If you are thinking about buying a new car, it’s a great place to sit in them and compare them all side-by-side without some obnoxious sales person getting up in your personal space.
And if you are lost or unsure of where the convention center is, it’s right next to this awesome billboard.
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