Goooood morning Chicago, the first couple hours of today’s media preview have been filled with surprises and excitements. After a morning breakfast held by the Midwest Automotive Media Association and Volvo, reporters and media flocked to GMC for the unveiling of the new Acadia….and Acadia Denali. When the cover came off, the front end was what stuck out the most, with new headlights, a flater bigger chrome grille, and the absence of that ridiculous front lip seen on the outgoing Acadia Denali. I think the 2013 Acadia, and Acadia Denali look a bit more well, manly and not so crossover-ish. 

I then wandered my way over towards the insanely bright Cadillac exhibit to finally lay eyes on the Cadillac Ciel concept car. Good gosh is it beautiful in person and I’m praying it eventually roles off the assembly line in a few years. The back end of has some fin action going on and feels sharp as a razor blade. See a few of the pictures I took here. The two-wheel-off-the-ground-at-the-Nurburgring ATS compact sedan was next up on the list. The interior was pretty nice for a small Caddie. I appreciated the six-speed manual transmission despite its bulky shifting, but wasn’t a fan of the overly-reflective chrome and plastic surfaces (on a sunny day, the face of that steering wheel could blind you). Good luck for anyone sitting in that cramped back seat. 

Walking past a row of the black V’s, a matte grey 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550 sat on a spinning podium. Finally that sleek two-door gets a noticeable makeover and that makeover looks fantastic. I particularly like the slant-eyed headlights. A few other highlights from ze Germans included a E63 AMG Wagon, an ocean blue CLS wearing a set of classic AMG-style wheels, and the roadster version of the SLS AMG gullwing. My thoughts on the “sea paint brown” SLS AMG roadster are a bit lost.  There was just something bad ass about opening up the gullwing door after driving this Autobahn killer on a hot lap. Now you just, well open the door like it’s any other convertible. I’m half and half on the SLS AMG roadster because it is a gorgeous looking convertible  BUT it doesn’t have those nostalgic wings. Fun fact! A motto at AMG is “one man, one engine.” Why? Every AMG engine is built by one sole person, and you’ll find that genius’s signature on top of the engine block.

Look past the great white whale (Infiniti QX) and gaze upon the Malbec Black 348-hp G37 IPL, with its hugging red leather seats, two fat exhaust tips, and 19-inch graphite aluminum wheels. This car is hot and remains one of my favorites of the show today. I hold my opinion strong that Infiniti makes the best interior of the bunch, and that can be seen on the new JX suv. Best looking part of the three-row midsize suv? The rear window shape. Well, I’m off to a Nissan press conference! More coming soon!