Fast Meets Fabulous at the Miami Auto Show

Miami’s don’t-miss collection of art, exotic cars and the best new cars.

Cars Meet Art Miami Auto Show
BMW 4 series skinned by artist Jay West

It’s that time of year: the new car models are starting to roll into dealer showrooms, ads for these lovelies fill Sunday afternoon football broadcasts and looking at them seems to make our current cars start to seem dated and drab.

I want a new car.

If you’re lucky enough to be anywhere near South Florida this week, all sorts of cars, from fabulous to exotic to fuel efficient are on display. You can shop, dream and compare, all under one roof.

Here’s what you’ll want to see at the Miami Auto Show.

Cars Meet Art

So simple, and so brilliant: The Miami Auto Show brought together a group of local artists and had them turn a new model car into art on wheels. Artists ‘skinned’ the cars with their work, for  the first ever Car Meets Art at the Miami Auto Show. The cars will also be part of the 2014 Art Basel fair in early December, where a total of 180 art cars will be seen. The display includes an interactive touch screen display that allows show guests to create virtual art on a car, and also, attendees can see a VW Beetle that was painted during the show.

Exotic cars

Super fancy super cars are at home in Miami, long known as the place where the rich go to be fabulous. And anyone in the market for a super fabulous car will find it here. Here’s what we saw:

Maserati Grand Tourismo
The Maserati Gran Turismo Convertible MC Centennial –a four-seat convertible with a Ferrari engine

 

Maserati GranTurismo Convertible MC Centennial Edition

Since I don’t get to sit in a Maserati every day, I took the opportunity to explore the Grand Tourismo Cabrio convertible. Noted for the attention to detail and the Ferrari engine under the hood, this car is designed to make long drives delightful ones, with a roomier passenger compartment (well, the front seat at least) and lots of amenities. Here’s a look at the car’s details:

 

More cars for millionaires

A nice array of super cars is on display at the Miami Auto Show’s Million Dollar alley, including a car that actually costs $1 million.

2015 Alpha Romeo 4C
2015 Alpha Romeo 4C

 

And then, there’s the million dollar baby: the Pagani

Since I never get to sit in a million dollar car, I took the opportunity to get comfy in the Pagani and snap a few shots. This very limited production car is hand crafted and its exterior is completely constructed of carbon fiber. Buyers can customize the interior to match a favorite handbag, shade of lipstick or shoes. This is a true race track roadster and built for speed, the brain child of Horatio Pagani who started his career sweeping floors in a Ferrari factory. After learning about the craft, believed he could to it better, so he designed his own car. Each piece and part is carefully designed, forged and built and features an AMG engine, the only car to feature an AMG other than Mercedes Benz.

Scotty Reiss
Scotty Reiss

Journalist, entrepreneur and mom. Expertise includes new cars, family cars, 3-row SUVs, child passenger car seats and automotive careers and culture. A World Car Awards juror and member of the steering committee, Scotty likes to say the automotive business found her, rather than her finding it. But recognizing the opportunity to give voice to powerful female consumers and create a voice to match their spending power, her mission became to empower women as car buyers and owners. A career-long journalist, she has written for the New York Times, Town & Country, Adweek and co-authored the book Stew Leonard, My Story, a biography of the founder of the iconic grocery company Stew Leonard’s. Her love of cars started when her father insisted she learn to change the oil in her MG Midget, but now it mostly plays out in the many road trips taken with her family.

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