San Jose convention center showcases auto show

By Joshua Chemparathy

Looking for a new car as a graduation present or to drive that ridiculous distance from Bellomy Street to your classes across campus this year? You may have wanted to attend Motor Trend's Silicon Valley International Auto Show. Located in the San Jose Convention Center, four miles from the Santa Clara University campus, the auto show ran from Thursday, Jan. 6 to Sunday, Jan. 9 and featured automobiles from most major manufactures, excluding auto show favorites Nissan, Audi and a few others.  

The Silicon Valley Auto Show is much smaller than other major auto shows. Most of the colorful luxury brands that car lovers go to see (like Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, etc.) were situated in dimly lit, small hallways, while the larger, well-lit showrooms were filled with dull-colored family vehicles, since most of the people who attend the San Jose auto show are families window shopping for their next car.

Vehicles that stood out were the 2011 "American Pride" Camaro, which "features an artistic representation of the history of American freedom in a custom airbrushed paint treatment" and the batmobile-like Stingray concept car made by Corvette which was a huge attraction to many of the younger auto show goers.

Families still recovering from the recent recession looking to make a good investment may be a little disappointed by this year's selection of vehicles.

Organizers have noted that consumers are still much more concerned about fuel economy this year than the colors or options that the cars come in, yet most of the vehicles at the auto show did not have significantly improved fuel economy.

There were a total of two fully electric cars showcased at the auto show: the Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt.

There were plenty of other activities at the auto show to do besides ogling new cars. RC cars, toys and flags filled the convention center entrance.

There was also a variety of F1 vehicles and other colorful race cars on show. San Jose State engineering students displayed a custom designed race car built by the students.

Those over 21 years of age were able to test drive cars from Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford and Toyota.

Contact Joshua at jchemparathy@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.