NYIAS 2016: It's a Car! It's a Plane (in Your Dreams)! It's a 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' Replica!!!

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car has a place of pride at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. Photo by Sylvain Ricard, Les Éditions SMG.

Half shafts, knock sensor, pent-roof, planetary gears, sump, torque, viscous coupling , yaw … It’s mostly Greek to some of us, which is why when we visit the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) – as was the case on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 March) during the Media Preview Days – we do not concern ourselves with the latest technological advances, bells and whistles, add-ons and whatnots. Instead, we roam the cavernous confines of the Javits Center to see what niftiness we encounter. This year, we discovered it mostly in the virtual reality realm and will bring said niftiness to your attention over the next few days, including today's finale. Should you visit the NYIAS, do have a look. The show is open to the public through 3 April.

BY V.W.

SHE is a showstopper. Pass through the tunnel en route to the North Hall of the Javits Center and prepare to halt and gawk.

Sitting as pretty as you please on the red carpet at the 2016 New York International Auto Show behind a barrier beyond the reach of the pawing public is a thing of beauty. Worthy of a museum. Songs. A technicolor film.

Wait. That's been done, at least for the original, not for this comely doppelganger, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car (CCBBRC).

Creator Tony Garofalo, a huge fan of the iconic 1968 film,"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," spent five-plus years, dating to June 2015 and more than $100,000 lovingly, meticulously and painstakingly restoring scrapheap detritus into the sleek, shining specimen making its auto show debut.

The backseat of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car is made from the hull of a boat. Photo from NYChitty Website.

Like the original, CCBBRC has a 1928 Model A Ford engine. It is also built on an original 1914 Overland Model 79 Automobile.

Incidentally, the original car, owned at the time by "Top Gear" host Chris Evans, sold for around $800,000 last August at a Los Angeles auction of Hollywood memorabilia.

Car and maker: The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car and Tony Garofalo on the red carpet at the car show. Photo from NYChitty Website.

Do note that this automobile is not merely a pretty combination of brass, stainless steel, copper and wood, it is road-worthy. It is registered with the New York DMV. It can achieve a maximum speed of 65 m.p.h. Getting married? Strike a deal and you can arrive at the church in old style.

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car has a top speed of 65 m.p.h. Photo from NYChitty Website.

Dick Van Dyke is the car's creator and inventor Caractacus Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." TG has an interesting background, too. Not only does he restore cars, he is a retired NYPD police officer. Further, the Long Island resident is a 911 responder. And a musician.

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car was five-plus years in the making. Photo from NYChitty Website.

He has been cast as John Lennon in the Beatlemania touring company. In Strawberry Fields, his Beatles tribute band, he assumes the role of JL. What a character!

One question remains about CCBBRC, however. Does it fly?

A 1928 Model A Ford engine allows the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica Car to produce the same sound as the one in the 1968 film. Photo from NYChitty Website.

"As high as your dreams can reach."

Visit http://www.autoshowNY.com to learn more about the 2016 New York International Auto Show; visit http://www.nyChitty.com/ to learn more about the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.

NYIAS 2016: At Lexus, Scott Pruett Takes the GS F and RC F to the Limit With You Riding Shotgun

The Lexus 2015 RC F. Photos from Lexus Website.

Half shafts, knock sensor, pent-roof, planetary gears, sump, torque, viscous coupling , yaw … It’s mostly Greek to some of us, which is why when we visit the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) – as was the case on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 March) during the Media Preview Days – we do not concern ourselves with the latest technological advances, bells and whistles, add-ons and whatnots. Instead, we roam the cavernous confines of the Javits Center to see what niftiness we encounter. This year, we discovered it mostly in the virtual reality realm and will bring said niftiness to your attention over the next few days. Should you visit the NYIAS, do have a look. The show is open to the public through 3 April.

BY V. W.

AND there is virtual reality, Lexus style …

Visitors to the automaker’s quarters at the 2016 New York International Auto Show will be enthusiastically encouraged to try the “360 Virtual Reality Experience.”

Here, you sit in a passenger seat much like one in the Lexus 2016 GS F and Lexus 2016 RC F. You are handed special goggles, then a headset.

Now, you are ready to roll with none other than Scott Pruett. The champion racecar driver is your host.

He’ll give you a talking tour of the performance cars. If that is not quite your speed, he will take you for a spin on a racetrack.

And the 360 of the experience? From your comfortable seat, look up down and all around and see the surrounding terrain as SP tells. And shows. (See video above).

The Lexus 2015 GS F.

It may be the next best thing to being there.

Visit http://www.autoshowNY.com to learn more about the 2016 New York International Auto Show; visit http://www.lexus.com/models/GSF/ to learn more about the Lexus 2016 GS F; http://www.lexus.com/models/RCF/ to learn more about the Lexus 2016 RC F.

NYIAS 2016: On a Gran Turismo 6 Tour in the Hyundai 2016 Genesis Coupe

The prototype of the Hyundai 2016 Genesis Coupe makes a virtual circuit of GT6 courses. Photo by V.W.

Half shafts, knock sensor, pent-roof, planetary gears, sump, torque, viscous coupling , yaw … It’s mostly Greek to some of us, which is why when we visit the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) – as was the case on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 March) during the Media Preview Days – we do not concern ourselves with the latest technological advances, bells and whistles, add-ons and whatnots. Instead, we roam the cavernous confines of the Javits Center to see what niftiness we encounter. This year, we discovered it mostly in the virtual reality realm and will bring said niftiness to your attention over the next few days. Should you visit the NYIAS, do have a look. The show is open to the public through 3 April.

BY V.W.

AT car shows, automakers are mainly doing the soft sell. The heavylifting is left mainly to the team at the dealership.

To ease that burden however, company’s set up all manner of customer-engagement experiences at these dog-and-pony affairs.

Take family-friendly Hyundai, for instance. In its space at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, it will engage visitors with a trivia contest patterned after the show, “Cash Cab,” while also showing some of its latest model cars,

“We are going to set up stadium bleachers and there will be a stage for a host,” Erik Thomas, Senior Manager Auto Shows & Exhibits, explained to this reporter during our impromptu chat. Contestants and audience members will compete for prizes such a earbuds.

The set for the show was not assembled during my visit. However, Hyundai’s virtual reality station was operational.

The company has built a prototype of its 2016 Genesis Coupe. To these eyes it looks like a mashup of a bumper car and jet ski. For the driving range, Hyundai has teamed up with none other than PlayStation 3 and the award-winning Gran "GT6" Turismo 6 video game. (See video above).

Visit http://www.autoshowNY.com to learn more about the 2016 New York International Auto Show; visit https://www.hyundaiusa.com/genesis-coupe/index.aspx to learn more about the Hyundai 2016 Genesis Coupe.

NYIAS 2016: A Light Touch Can Get You to the Finish Line in the Nissan 2017 GT-R in No Time Flat

The Nissan 2017 GT-R will be available for actual driving this summer. Photo by V.W.


Half shafts, knock sensor, pent-roof, planetary gears, sump, torque, viscous coupling , yaw … It’s mostly Greek to some of us, which is why when we visit the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) – as was the case on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 March) during the Media Preview Days – we do not concern ourselves with the latest technological advances, bells and whistles, add-ons and whatnots. Instead, we roam the cavernous confines of the Javits Center to see what niftiness we encounter. This year, we discovered it mostly in the virtual reality realm and will bring said niftiness to your attention over the next few days. Should you visit the NYIAS, do have a look. The show is open to the public 25 March – 3 April.

BY V.W.

PULLING instead of pushing will put you on the road to success.

Do note that what is needed is a very gentle tug of the steering wheel to the left or to the right. A robust tug or pushing the steering wheel will cause the car to exit the racetrack for the shoulder or the median. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and deducting time gained for every stop, crash and bang.

Follow this simple instruction, plus accelerate, and you may find yourself at the finish line in around 50 seconds. That was the best time recorded yesterday on the Nissan 2017 GT-R virtual simulator at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. It allows the driver to simulate the experience of being on a racetrack behind the wheel of the automaker’s news sports car.

A quick and easy download of the GT-R app from your mobile phone puts you on the racetrack.

Elsewhere, download another GT-R app, strap on the Virtual Reality Viewer goggles, slide the mobile phone into the viewer compartment and see the GT-R do its thing on some of the world’s most famous tracks, including Le Mans, Circuit of the Americas, Fuji Speedway and Silverstone Circuit.

Meanwhile, the prize for the best time on the GT-R virtual simulator: Bragging rights.

Visit http://www.autoshowNY.com to learn more about the 2016 New York International Auto Show; visit http://www.nissanusa.com/sportscars/2017-gt-r/ to learn more about the Nissan 2017 GT-R.