Corvettes at the North American International Auto Show

Each January all eyes on the automotive world focus on the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. All the major carmakers roll out their latest creations and concepts for the world to see. This year General Motors created a whole new display to highlight their portfolio of products. We grabbed a couple of tickets to the ritzy charity preview event so we could check out all the good stuff before the show opened to the public.

The mood at this year’s NAIAS was different than in recent years. The wondering and questions regarding survival were gone. The focus was once again on growth and new technologies.

Automotive enthusiasts filled the GM display throughout our visit. While the focus this year was on the launch of the new Sonic and Malibu, Chevy did bring 2 Corvettes to the 2012 NAIAS. Tucked away in a corner near a bright green ZL-1 Camaro were a Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Convertible and Centennial Edition ZR1. The $130,000 ZR1′s Carbon Flash paint sparkled wildly under the bright car show lights. The GS convertible featured the Heritage package, 6 speed, and Titanium two-tone interior. Spending time with these 2 cars made us yearn for the summer when we can get our Corvettes out of winter storage.

Adjacent to the Corvettes were the Code 130R and Tru 140S concepts both sporting their Corvette badges we told you about last week. We’re still not quite sure that they’re deserving the iconic crossed flags.

Here are our pictures from our trip to the North American International Auto Show. For those interested, it runs through January 22nd at Cobo Center in Motown.