2012 San Francisco International Auto Show

The San Francisco Chronicle|SFGate.com 54th Annual International Auto Show

International Auto Show

Starts: 11/19/2011

Ends: 2011-11-26

Moscone Convention Center

San Francisco, California

USA

The International Auto Shows vehicles fill the 1.2 million sq. ft. Moscone Center.

Some of the extreme and not so extreme vehicles available are the Audi A7, BMW's 6 Series Coupe, Cadillac's XTS, the Dodge Mopar Charger, the 2013 Ford Taurus and Escape, plus the Mustang Boss 302, Hyundai's Veloster, the Jeep JK8 Pickup, the Mini Coupe S, Nissan's Versa, the Scion iQ, Subaru's Impreza, the new Toyota Camry and Volkswagen's Beetle and CC.

Also among the alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles, many of which are new introductions: The BMW Active-E electric, Chevrolet's Volt, Frisker's Karma, Ford's BEV electric, Escape and Fusion Hybrids, Honda's Civic IMA-L Hybrid, Insight and Civic Natural Gas vehicle, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, the 2013 Lexus GS 450h and Lexus RXh, Mitsubishi's IMIEV electric car, Nissan's LEAF, Toyota's Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, Prius and new Prius V.

Also the EV-X11 race car, the E-Kart and E Assist bicycles.

Sponsored by the 100% electric Nissan LEAF, attendees can do the The drive electric tour and drive a LEAF on an indoor course on the show's main floor.

The International Auto Show is looking forward to manufacturers exhibiting their 2012 vehicles of: Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, KIA, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Lotus, Mazda, Mini, Ram, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Saab, Scion, Subaru, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

The International Auto Show is the premier auto exposition in Northern California and the second largest auto show in the western United States.

In past years The International Auto Show featured the Academy of Art University Classic Car Collection.

Exotic Sports Cars of Aston Martin DBS, DB9, Rapide and Vantage Convertible; Audi R8 Spyder; Bentley Continental 80-11 and Supersports; BMW; Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette Grand Sport, Stingray and ZR1; Dodge Challenger and Charger; Ford Mustand GT Coupe and V6 Convertible; Jaguar XF and XJ; Lamborghini Murcielago Superleggera and Gallardo Spyder; Lotus Evora, Elise and Exige and Porsche have been on display at the 2010 show.

San Francisco's Academy of Art University Museum will exhibit classic cars at SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE-SFGATE.COM 54th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW this November 19 - 27.

31 cars from the 1920's-1960 have been selected by the University's Industrial Design Department Director Tom Matano, a designer at Mazda for 20 years before joining the University in 2003.

A History Of The San Francisco International Auto Show

MEDIA RELEASE No. 1 - pdf

A report on the 2012 cars. MEDIA RELEASE No. 2 - pdf

Update on events. MEDIA RELEASE 3 - pdf

MEDIA RELEASE 11-17-11 - pdf

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2010
Clara Cunningham Photo 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011
Clara Cunningham Photo 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011

American Pride Chevrolet CamaroSS-RS 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011

Note: This image is a composite of several sections and therefore has some distortion introduced due to processing.

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American Pride Chevrolet Camaro SS-RS 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011

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American Pride Chevrolet CamaroSS-RS 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011 Lad
San Francisco International Auto Show

American Pride Chevrolet Camaro SS-RS 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011
Clara Cunningham Photo 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, November 2011

Corvette ZR1 1G1YN2DT7C5800010 2012
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file

Dodge Challenger SXT sn- 2C3CDYAGXCH128312 2012
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011

Nissan Leaf San Francisco International Auto Show

Nissan Leaf 'electric tour'
SAN FRANCISCO, INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW November 2011
Clara Cunningham Photo 2011

Nissan Leaf 'electric tour'
The San Francisco Auto Show offered a new twist on the usual show-and-tell. The Nissan Leaf 'electric tour' was held inside the exposition hall right along side the display cars. This type of driving demonstration would not be possible with any other type of car. Emission fumes and engine noise would be unbearable in an inside environment. But with the all Electric Leaf, one could not tell that the driving demonstration was even being held, unless one was standing next to the driving course where cars could be seen going around the short indoor course.

It was interesting that there were several manufactures in the hall all with various cars showing alternate forms of power plants but Nissan was the only one to put a car-where-their-mouth-was and show-off the technology.

The Leaf was started by pressing a button. I would think that some large toggle switch would be more fitting than a button. Many lights on the dash console came on but no other indication that anything had happened. The next step was to move a strange looking lever in between the seats to the side and back and then as it flipped back into the center position, the car was now ready to go. Pressing the floor mounted accelerator peddle moved the car forward in a strangely quite manner., but very smooth. The driving course was short much like driving around the outside of a basketball court. On the backside I stopped the car and then tried out the acceleration, and found it OK, smooth and somewhat quick. There seemed to be a bit of a lag up to a few yards than increasing the rate beyond that. I was one of the last drivers for the night and I got to make a total of 3 laps, on each lap I had the same overall feeling of very quiet, not even the usual 'hum' one might expect from a golf or utility cart, smooth acceleration, each with the initial resistance, then moving off briskly.

My previous experience with an electric driven car was a few months ago with a Chevrolet Volt, where I wrote, "It was a "nice" car. What can I say. The drive gave me a chance to try the electric motor get-away. The first few yards are smooth and quick, no wheel spin, even on the wet roads. From 20 mph the max acceleration was good but to me the car felt heavy. Granted there were 3 people in the car for the test drive so it did have some work beyond the very heavy battery pack and the 4 cylinder (dead-weight-when-not-operating) engine."

The Leaf only had one passenger with me and I did not get the feeling of it being 'heavy'