Every year they put this on in midtown, and I, camera in hand, jump on the one train and head down to 34th to get the cross town transfer to the Javis Center, a huge glass and steel structure that appears to defy gravity.

And every year there seems to be the same to-do about very little in the way of exciting new vehicles. Well not quite this year as there are a couple of cars that do peg my interest.

The first and foremost has to be the new Nissan GTR. Whirling around on its lazy suzan it looked a great deal more impressive than its does in the car-magazine photos, thought the bonnet, nose, headlight treatment will take a bit of getting used to.

I find this with most Japanese designed cars – there's always some small aspect of the design that doesn't quite work when compared with the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche. Some detail that needs either more work or less fuss. You wouldn't be wrong if you thought the new GTR was trying to impersonate a transformer (robot).

There is however no denying the fact that this car with more technology onboard than the Space Shuttle has the driver's delight in mind. At a shade over $70,000 it will embarrass just about anything else on the road at twice the price.

Performance and specs on this car are jaw-dropping and all from a 3.8 Liter twin turbo V6. With all the iridium tipped, carbon composite, hand-crafted, super low friction thingy-mar-bobs, it was the adaption of the super smart DSG (dual clutch) transmission that got my juices going.

How well this car will do here in the States is yet to be seen, as it's my impression that any American with 70 Gs to spend on a fast car wants a home grown Corvette. Though I should mention the new supercharged Z1 is drop-dead gorgeous. However it didn't look like it would make it over any speed-bumps with those nice little carbon fiber bits. Not that there are any speed bumps here in New York. The roads just aren't anywhere flat enough to put em.

A big dissapointment for me is that Alfa Romeo failed to show up once again since their murmurs of returning to the US market. The C8 promises to get to the top of many wish lists. And I was hoping for the Bera and Spider to come on the scene soon at market-share grabbing prices.

The other dissapointment, apart from the fact I can't afford either a GTR or Z1, is that the Audi R8 V12 TDI wasn't to be seen. As you probably have guessed I've been an Audi fan ever since the R8 LeMans Racer ran away with it more than a decade ago. I was told, appologetically, that the car in question was here at the New York International Autoshow on the first day before it was shipped to Florida, or was it California, or somewhere else I don't care about. The thing is that I never got to lay eyes on it!

When it comes to the crunch most of us "Car Lovers" are just poor working stiffs who really aren't going to shell-out much over $40,000 for our next motor and so these exotics are mostly for musing over a beer with the boys. The thing is, there is so many great cras in this price range, it can be a really hard call. So here and now, 2008, what's the best car for you and me?

And when I say you, I mean you the enthusiast, and not someone who's content with driving around in a mini-bus or shopping trolly. Of coarse there are those amoung you who insist on doing as few miles per gallon has possible, with no return in performance, the SUV gits, but I'll save them for another story.

When you look at the pricing, with and without the extras, a lot of the so called economical $30,000 cars start looking like $40,000. Prime example is the exciting new BMW 135i Coupe . The fit and finsih wasn't perfect and the interior looking a little scant. Admittedly it was going to go powerfully quick (0 to 60 in 5.1 sec). It's still going to set us back the full 40 Gs with a few extras (no moon roof opion). At the end of the day I have to say I like the new Audi A5 Coupe, with the S Line packaging. It is still under 45 Gs and so much more car for the bucks. You can still make it to 60 in 5.9 sec. Unfortunately niether car has a DSG transmission, though the auto does have a sports mode that will keep the motor in the power band. Nice to feel it change down as you break into the corners. Those purists among you that say go for the stick don't drive around New York, or not often enough.

"I fear it to be too much the boy-racer icon"

There is one other vehicle we must consider, though I fear it to be too much the boy-racer icon. It's the new Misibishi Lance EVO 10 MR. There's something about a Lancer that makes me want to resist paying $40,000 for it, but this car can bring out the drool factor, no problems, when you get behind the wheel (which I'm yet to do). From what I have read it is truley quite something. Looks nice in blue too!

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