The Central Valley experienced yet another year of the Downtown Fresno Convention Center being filled with the newest models of economical and luxury vehicles, Nov. 16-18.

Domestic and Imported cars were available for the the public to view and test drive, this year was the 9th annual Central California Car Show Show which was sponsored by Motor Trend. Every year the car show is put on to help motivate consumers to purchase new vehicles to increase sales for dealerships and economy.

New hybrids, concept cars and exotic vehicles occupied the 133,500 square ft. convention center which attracted a numerous amount of people especially since the event was free, compliments of the Fresno-Clovis New Car Dealers Association, proud donor to Children’s Hospital Central California. The show rooms included the Expo Hall and Valdez Hall, which patrons were able to inspect and sit in the featured cars which included Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Range Rover, Chevrolet, Fiat, Cadillac, Jaguar, Ford, Acura and many others.

Like last year, Motor Trend was happy to provide the eye candy vehicles that most will only dream to get close to. New Lamborghini and Ferrari’s were on display behind red rope, allowing only pictures to be taken. The price tag of the super-expensive cars surpassed the price tag of a custom home on a golf course.

The cars in the Expo Hall were my favorite, being a car enthusiast I love to inspect the different types of models and the new technology that is integrated each year. One car I was particularly impressed with was the new Fiat. I have always hated small cars and mid-sized cars, mostly because I am claustrophobic, but I sat inside and it was quite roomy for the outer appearance. I would never buy the car, but I would recommend that anyone who wants to drive a car around town without the disgusting fuel price hurting the wallet the Fiat is the way to go with an Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) price of only $16,000.

The priciest and shiniest of them all was the 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 that dominated the showroom. With the base price at a staggering $445,300, the Aventador is car every car enthusiast would love to test drive. Under the hood you will find the same 6.5 liter aspirated V12 that delivers a total of 700 horsepower and mated to an ISR 7-speed gearbox. The Roadster version will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just three seconds and can hit a top speed of 217 mph. If I had the money, I would buy this car in a heart beat, only so many are made each year; this is soon to be a collectible.

Despite the rising gas prices, many car manufacturers are trying to improve their vehicles’ gas consumption. Although we may never see prices below three dollars again, we can only hope that technology will increase the ability to drive farther with less gas. Thanks to Toyota at the forefront advocating less gas usage, the prius family was impacted many families wallets; even though the design of the car is not the best the prius has proven that it is possible to consume less gas in the future and find alternatives.

This year’s car show was by far one of the best car shows the Central Valley has seen in a while. One aspect that really helped increase the size of this years crowd that attended was the free admission; most people that I know don’t want to use gas to travel downtown and pay the normal fee of $7 per person. Another key factor that was impressive was the diverse amount of cars shown compared to previous years; some companies did not reveal their cars last year.

For more opinions, read the Nov. 20 article, Junior spends time with Platon, changes outlook.