Photo Essay: LA Auto Show

It's cars! It's girls! It's flashing lights! It's...the LA Auto Show! Feel the excitement!

The Infinity girls sure are feeling the excitement!

This year's show is two weeks earlier than last year's and longer than it's ever been - 12 days (two press days and 10 days open to the public). Unfortunately, the lengthy show seems to have taken it's toll on most of the booth staffs, most of the guys and girls given the task of engaging the show visitors looked to be bored out of their minds.

The crew from Honda huddled it up, talking about anything but the exciting new hydrogen powered Honda FCX Clarity.

Take a look at the outfits of the girls working for Honda, it makes them look more like Booth Baby Boomers than Booth Babes. Seriously, what female who wasn't born between '46 and '64 has ever made the conscious decision of throwing on something that looked like that?

Meanwhile, Volvo outfitted their guys with the ultra-manly scarf.

The leggy Lamborghini girls got cold.

So do you guys work for Chevy or Best Buy?

Toyota had a meeting and said, "Those are the dresses our girls are going to wear." As Zach pointed out a few days ago, this wasn't the only bad decision Toyota made at the show.

Smart cars will be available for purchase in the first quarter of 2008, in the meantime their staff is just chillin'.

What good would coverage of an Auto Show be without actual photos of cars, right?

Suzuki reaches out to the surfers with the Makai, which comes complete with lawn chair interior.

Smart car was a fan favorite.

So was the AutoTrader.com booth. They were giving away stuff.

This was a big year for Hybrids/Alternative Fuel Vehicles, here's a quick look at a few.

Natural Gas

Hydrogen!

There's still time to head down to the Convention Center and check out your potential new ride. The Auto Show runs through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults, children under 12 get in free with an adult.

Photos by Tim Hammer and Karla R for LAist.