Just got back from the show at the plant. It was WELL worth it!

Gonna post a bunch of pics now, and I'll fill in the comments in a bit.

Edit: The cars are still there on the transporters. I'm guessing they'll be there until Monday morning.

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This one was sitting right at the gate where you pay to get into the show. I asked if I could sit in it, and to my surprise, I was told "YES!!"

Asked if I could open the trunk and I was told, "you probably shouldn't "

My wife and I sat in it, took some pics, and started to head over to the check out the rest of the car show (which was pretty impressive, especially for being only its second year). The gentleman that let us sit in the car chased us down and told us that he was able to get away from his post for a bit, so he would be happy to show us the car some more.

We spent quite a while over there with the car. Didn't take too many more pictures, because we were so giddy we forgot.

I sat in it with the top up as well. The visibility to the rear is better than I expected with the top up. There is a pretty big blind spot where the buttresses are, but not a whole lot worse than I remember in my Miata. The guy says the mirrors are placed well enough that he doesn't find the blind spots to be a big issue.

Looks like they DO all have the "GM" logo on them. It's not too bad looking, and more importantly it looks like there's no recess for it, so it can be easily removed without leaving a trace behind.

The trunk has some clear plastic on it around the buttress mounting locations to minimize any damage to the finish from wind buffeting, etc.

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The window stickers are mostly blank. One of the other cars at the actual show had a similar sticker in the windshield but it had NO numbers where zeros are on these. It also said "for shipping purposes only" on it.

The guy that was showing me the car at the entrance tells me that all of these cars are "captured test cars" meaning that they're headed for Milford, among other places for evaluation. The few people I spoke to today that seemed to know about the car all said start of retail production should be May 31st, for what it's worth.

I apologize for the quality of the close-ups, I had to take those with my digital video cam, since none of my other cameras have the zoom capabilities.

The other cars were cool and envious, both with graphite leather interiors. After seeing both interior colors in the flesh, I'm torn. If the steel/sand were darker (which I'm still hoping for) there would be no question. As it is, the steel/sand looks a little washed out in person, like it's already faded. Reminds me of the trend in blue jeans in the late 80's (acid-washed/stone-washed).

They didn't seem the least bit protective of these cars. They were opening anything and everything, putting the tops up and down for us, and letting anyone who wanted to sit in them. I'm certainly glad I went.

The best thing of all is that it was pretty much my wife's idea to go, since she hadn't yet seen one in person. She's as crazy about that car as I am lately. I think she reads the forum more than I do these days. After we walked away from the first one, she leaned over and told me that it got her a little aroused, so to speak. No question I MUST HAVE THIS CAR!!

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Just snapped these two because I found it odd that the cars are shipped with the hoods completely exposed, but the chrome lettering on the decklids is protected... somewhat.

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Whoever #16 is is going to be VERY happy!

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8/24/08 Meet/Drive

That is some pretty crappy gas mileage!

Thanks for posting all of these pictures. It is pretty exciting to watch all of this come together. Even though I don't get one of the first 1,000, I've got my money down one and am enjoying learning about the whole process that goes into getting a car to market.

Thanks again!

S.

Awsome pictures, I know everyone here will be extremely pleased. Looks like you fit really well with room to spare based on the seat position. And most importantly your right hand lands right on the shifter. Thats good design.

You are the man!

Wow! Amazing! Many Thanks!
How did it fit?
Did you see a top operate?
More, more, more!

These are great! Wish they would've let you test drive it too!

You lucky dawg! Thanks for sharing!

Ok, this is the bomb!!!
Awesome images.

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If fit great. I must say though, that I was on cloud 9 just that I could sit in one. You do feel like you're sitting pretty low, and the high beltline doesn't help. But I'm used to driving a small SUV these days. I'm sure I'll be able to adjust to it

Saw the top operate. You do have to latch the butresses individually. Also, if you don't close the header latch before you stow the top, it seems like the trunk doesn't want to close because the top doesn't fold all the way down.

Check out the original few posts for more info... I edited them a few minutes ago.

You are the MAN!! What a great job you did and thanks from all of us. We are all very jealous. How easy was the top to work?

As loose as they seemed with the cars, I probably coulda gotten a test drive if I tried hard enough, hung around until the end of the day, and paid a small bribe!

OK, probably not.