As with most overflowing sensory buffets, the real gems at 2012’s International Motor Expo reside off of the well-beaten path.
This year’s Expo is peppered with rare and exciting cars, but one must first sift through the crowds and the garden-variety manufacturers in order to see any cars that are worth the long, grueling trip out to Impact Arena.
At first glance, the Motor Expo is hardly worth getting excited about. The Honda Amaze, a sedan version of the Brio, debuted. Wow. Ford unveiled the Territory, a half-assed attempt at an SUV marketed toward the Thai public.
The exciting cars at this year’s Expo are found only on the outskirts. The 2012 edition of the show seems to be packed with people who are clearly not car people. When Thai celebrity Yaya showed up to talk about the Honda Amaze, it came as no surprise that everyone flocked to the Honda section to catch a glimpse of her talking about what might be the most boring car on planet earth.
This magnetic attraction to boring cars left most of the floor open to exploration, and soon it became clear that this year’s expo is packed with incredible cars, but they don’t come from the major players. Steer clear of Honda, Ford and Nissan if you’re tight on time. Toyota is a different story—a race prepped FT-86 is on display, and its decals might have leaked a closely guarded secret. Stop by to see what will most likely be the spec’d car used in the Race Of Champions at Rajamangala National Stadium on December 14th through 16th. Traditionally, no one knows what car will be used in the race, so it’s worth stopping by Toyota to catch a glimpse of the ROC-clad racecar. You might not get this close again.
The importers brought an incredible array of exotics and supercars. Stop by the TSL area to check out the newest Porsche 991 911 and the new Boxster in addition to the Bentley Continental GTC Convertible. This importer knows its target market well. It skipped the skimpy pretties and went with girls clad in velvet black dresses—keeping it classy for the hi-so market.
Next to TSl you’ll find the Ramkhamhaeng-based importer BRG. They brought a few simple, but hard-to-find cars like Toyota’s most pure SUV, the FJ Cruiser. Pretties here get a 6/10.
The Ford-owned Swedish manufacturer Volvo debuted a flat-gold V50 with a gaggle of Tron-meets-The Hobbit pretties surrounding the Swedish turbo brick. The Volvo exhibition showed its Swedish roots with a stunning S60R in a Swedish flag paintjob.
If you’re looking for hypercars like Lamborghinis and Ferraris then you’ll be let down, unless of course you put tuned Porsche 911’s in the same league as these Italian stallions. German Porsche Tuner RUF brought a barrage of Porsches built to specs that could most likely spank their Italian competition, like the RT-12, which has a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds. The prancing horse’s crowned hypercar, the Enzo, achieves the same speed in 3.4 seconds. These RUF models are worth taking a good, solid look at because you aren’t likely to see them on the roads any time soon. The RT-35, RUF’s take on the 991 chassis, appears in a military green.
Mitsuoka is known for producing the ugliest car in the world, the Orochi, but it had mercy on the eyes of the showgoers and opted to bring something interesting instead. The Himiko is a Mazda MX-5 platform built up to look something like a British roadster from the days of yore. Think Jaguar XK120.
Ducati brought some bitchin’ bikes and fast babes this year, although there were no new bikes debuted. Ducati’s flagship model, the Paginale 1199, stole the exhibit and got the most attention. Pretties here score a whopping 9/10.
On the opposite end of the show, across the hall from the Honda and Suzuki exhibits, sits an area that most people might breeze by, but the real auto enthusiasts will geek out over. This area features a slew of rare and interesting cars built up by enthusiasts. There’s a R32 Skyline by Endless Motorsports, a super-rare 993 Porsche 911 built by RAUH-Welt, Pete Tongchua’s RX-7 and even a rocket-powered drag car.
The pretties inside the show all carry themselves like proper ladies. They’ll pose for pictures and make sure to have excellent posture, some of them even sound like they know a thing or two about cars when they’re reciting the scripts. Throngs of teenagers and old men alike will flock to the pretty shows. You can skip these and check out the interesting exhibits, saving your inner pervert for the show’s best (or worst) kept secret: the coyote show.
The coyote show is situated in the parking area behind the convention center, so you’ll have to take the free shuttle bus or walk. Just follow the sound of fast-paced techno beats. The lot is full of pickup trucks, which are in turn packed with subwoofers and festooned with hordes of scantily clad women who writhe to the pulsing music.
This is certainly a spectacle unique to Thailand. In most places, if you want this sort of entertainment, you have to pay for it.
[JUICEBOX_GALLERY]
