2008 Geneva International Auto Show

Tuesday was my birthday. And though it was my 21st, all I really wanted was a plane ticket to Switzerland and a press pass to the 78th Annual International Auto Show in Geneva.
The show is from March 6-16 and there are going to be so many world premieres I'm going to have to drink myself into oblivion so I don't feel as bad about missing out.
A newer version of a car that would most likely grant me eternal happiness if I ever called it my own will be making its debut. A Jaguar XKR-S coupe. I fell in love with the XKR last fall, but after ogling the latest version for about 30 minutes I remember why I adore it. It's a fierce looking coupe powered by a 4.2-liter V8 engine, unfortunately I don't see the price of it going down to my range any time soon.
Another dream car of mine that's becoming a reality is the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione as a cabriolet. That's right, the Alfa Romeo staple is losing its top but none of its class. Under its hood is a 4.7-liter V8.
One more car that's probably going to be over priced, then I'll get to some a affordable car, I promise. But this is not only a world premiere of a particular car, it's a world premiere of a new class of vehicle. BMW has made what they call a Sport Activity Coupe (SAC). It's not your average crossover, which is the offspring of an SUV and sedan, because they've given a SUV body coupe like features. It's bad enough that so many drivers in monster SUVs already drive like they're sitting behind the wheel of a compact sports car, but it seems as though now BMW is fully encouraging that behavior. Keep an eye out for the X6, because you might need to remind the driver that although BMW says it's built from a coupe, it's still much larger and should therefore be handled with more care.
I'm not usually a jealous person, but sometimes, I feel like as Americans we get the shaft from car companies. I feel betrayed by our home-based company Ford because it offers Europeans cars I'd like to see on our highways, the Focus Coupe-Cabriolet. The Focus is a common car for people in my age group probably because of it's price. Recently the styling and gas mileage has improved so I'm expecting to see even more. But I won't see anyone driving a Focus with the top down, because that option just isn't available in the states and I can't figure out why. Do we not have nice, sunny, convertible-friendly days here in the states? Do convertibles not sell here? Why won't Ford give us the option? Personally, I think they'd sell pretty well. It's a cute car, it could be reasonably priced and should get excellent mileage. There you go, one practical car, as promised.
There are also a lot of European market cars which aren't available in the United States, but that doesn't really bother me because the cars just aren't that stunning and I don't really know much of European-only brands so I would feel inadequate in telling you about them.
The four cars I mentioned are the ones I'll be missing tonight and the rest of the week. Perhaps I'll start my celebration off tonight with a toast to the dream of the Geneva Auto Show, maybe next year my birthday wish will come true.