1987 Ford Ranger 2.3 Turbo Diesel on 2040-cars

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Why the 2015 Detroit Auto Show will be the best since The Crisis

The Detroit Auto Show clearly has its swagger back, and the 2015 edition will be a veritable feast for the enthusiast senses. We're talking serious performance, and it will be exhibited in a variety of forms. Sports cars. Supercars. Muscle-bound luxury cars. They're all set for splashy debuts in January in the Motor City. It's another signpost that companies have recovered from the global economic crisis that gripped the industry from 2008-09. For a while, automakers played it safe at Detroit and other shows. Environmentally friendly cars were important, especially for General Motors and Chrysler that were living on loans from Uncle Sam. Ford, Toyota and other companies generally focused on their best-selling or core models. With a few notable exceptions, recent auto shows have been a bit more buttoned-down than in the past. Boring probably isn't the right word, but austerity has been reality. That's changing. Car companies are making money. Sales are up. Aside from the many nagging recalls – and they are notable – the industry now has the time and energy to make performance cars a priority. That will be offered in hard evidence in Detroit. A year from now when we look back at this auto show, we'll sum it up with one word: Horsepower. But make no mistake, this isn't frivolous. Sports and luxury cars are expensive. They're profitable. They boost images and highlight strengths. With that in mind, here are five significant performance-oriented reveals to watch for when the show kicks off in less than two weeks. 2016 Acura NSX Acura's reborn NSX is a strong bet to earn plenty of votes for our Editors' Choice awards. It's one of the most anticipated – and strung-out – reveals of the year. Think back: we actually saw an NSX concept at the 2012 Detroit show, and Acura has spent the last three years teasing the car in a variety of ways. The slow burn, however, means we know a lot about the NSX. It's will use a mid-mounted twin-turbo hybrid powertrain and run with all-wheel drive. It will also wear an innovative zirconium e-coat paint, a new paint process that Honda says is more environmentally friendly. Honda has also said it will build the new NSX in Ohio, where a large part of the car's development work has been done. The original NSX was produced from 1990-2005 and helped establish Acura's performance credentials in the United States. It was a landmark car and a shot across the bow of Ferrari, Lamborghini and others.

1994 McLaren F1 LM-Specification fetches $19.8M at Monterey

The botched sale of that World War II-era 1939 Porsche Type 64 may have somewhat overshadowed the RM Sotheby’s auction last weekend at Monterey, but the event wasnÂ’t without its highlights. Exhibit A: The one-of-two 1994 McLaren F1 LM-Specification supercar that we told you about a month ago netted a whopping $19.8 million at the RM SothebyÂ’s auction last weekend in Monterey, and an almost equally rare 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype also netted seven figures.  The F1 is one of 106 examples ever built and one of just two in LM-Specification (the LM stands for “Le Mans”). McLaren upgraded the standard F1 at the factory post-production, adding a 680-horsepower GTR engine, an extra-high downforce coachwork kit highlighted by the massive rear wing, race-spec dampers, two more radiators and so forth. It also gained a more comfortable interior and creature comforts, with an upgraded air conditioning, radio, new headlights and a different steering wheel. Finally, the exterior was given a coat of silver paint, replacing the factory blue. Four bidders spent four-and-a-half minutes trying to outbid one another for the car, which eventually went to an unidentified American private collector. Also successfully auctioned on Friday: the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype for $7.65 million, which fell right in line with expectations of between $7 million and $9 million. It helped pave the way for the Mark IV race cars that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a reminder, it was the first of five GT40 Roadster Prototypes ever built, with seven hardtop versions also built, and it underwent a full restoration in 1983 and a mechanical overhaul in 2003. And it sure is pretty to look at.

2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Supercrew

I'm not normally a pickup kind of guy, but the 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor won me over nearly instantly. The street-legal trophy truck - there is really no other way to accurately describe it - is big, brawny and incredibly capable. Let's just say it's every bit the monster it visually portrays. I spent a week pretending I was one of Ford's Baja 1000 drivers, but lacking desert sand, I headed into the local mountains where a mild winter storm had dropped a couple inches of fresh snow on my favorite off-road park. The Ford was, for the most part, practically unstoppable.
Ford offers its SVT Raptor package on Supercab and Supercrew platforms with the five-foot, five-inch bed. The Supercrew I tested rides on a 144-inch wheelbase (about a foot longer than the Supercab). In addition to its cosmetic differences when compared to the standard F-150 - there isn't a young boy on the planet who doesn't think the matte black Ford grille is cool - the Raptor has a 73.6-inch track - nearly seven inches wider than the track on the standard F-150.
After upgrading the F-150 SVT Raptor significantly for the 2012 model year, there are only a few changes for 2013. The list includes standard high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps, Hill Descent Control, forged beadlock-capable wheels, and the new matte Terrain color (aka "Desert Storm") option seen on my test model.