Most of the 6000-plus journalists who flock to Detroit in January aim their cameras at the concept and production-car debuts and point their digital voice recorders at the company bosses and design chiefs.

Fair enough, those are the stories most of you are clamoring for during press days. But step behind the curtains and venture up into Cobo’s second-floor meeting rooms.

Here the quiet, pocket-protected engineers shaping the future of the automobile always have lots of cool stuff to show off as well, and now that the fuss has died down over the Dodge Ram’s long-horn(y) cattle and Caddy’s super-cool CTS coupe, we bring you the technical highlights of the North American International Auto Show. Read more »

It’s the sort of car that any self-respecting secret agent would be proud to be seen in.

This high-speed amphibious sports car can swim, hover above water and it’s no slouch when it comes to flat-out speed either.

At the push of a button a hydraulic mechanism transforms the sports car into a propeller-powered boat.

At the flick of a button the car becomes a speeding hydrofoil. Read more »

We were captivated by the Karma plug-in hybrid when it was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month.

Its curvaceous, aggressive design combined with its ability to go 50 miles without using any gas seems like a bargain at the projected starting price of $80,000.

Fisker is hoping to deliver its first Karma to customers in the fourth quarter of 2009, but to do that they will first need to find a place to build the cars (and get the drivetrain sorted and figure out that batteries and…). Read more »

Our friends over at Hemmings who follow the auction scene like crack-addled chipmunks came across the mobile bane of the Batman franchise. The Batman Forever iteration of the Batmobile is one of the worst ever devised.

Universally panned along with the film in which it appeared, it was forced to do sit-com work after it was retired, appearing on The Drew Carey Show (some say the Batmobile’s appearance on the show was when it officially jumped the shark).

The car was recently up for auction with no reserve and sold for $297,000, less than half its estimated worth.

Aside from being an abomination and afront to Bruce Wayne groupies everywhere, the car sold so low because it came with many conditions set by Warner Bros. and DC Comics, including one barring the owner from driving the car in view of the public ! Read more »

Pontiac released the pricing details on the 2009 Vibe today, and when the wagon/CUV hits dealers this February you’ll be able to drive off in the base model for $15,895 (including destination fee) – a significant drop from the ‘08 model’s $17,395 cost of entry.

The all-wheel-drive equipped Vibe will come in at just under $20k at $19,495, while the GT model is priced at $19,895. Both the GT and AWD versions come with the Toyota-sourced 158 hp 2.4-liter inline four.

Not a bad deal, especially considering that all models come standard with four-wheel disc brakes, ABS, StabiliTrak traction control, OnStar and six airbags. Read more »

Nissan GT-R
Powered by a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6 to produce more than 450 bhp. MSRP ~$70,000. The on-sale date in the U.S. will be in the spring of 2008.

Read more »

We’ve seen static spy shots of the upcoming Corvette ZR1 supercar before, but this is the first video we’ve seen of the car in action. While most of the video shows the 650 HP Corvette puttering along, we do get to hear the supercharged 6.2L LS9 V8 while cruising.

The rumble emanating from the tail pipe is deep with lots of bass, so we can’t to see and hear one blast off to 60 MPH in 3.4 seconds.

Near the end of the video we do get one clip of the ZR1 accelerating onto a highway, which is the closest we get to a full on aural assault from the engine. Read more »