Media days at this year’s Chicago International Auto Show has come to a graceful close. Apart from the delicious free pizza and cupcakes, thousands of pictures I took, and many miles of walking I did the past 48 hours, the two best parts of this show were the great media friends I got to see again, and the boatload of sweet cars sitting under the shining lights.

I’ve been coming to this auto show since I was a young teenager, and I still walk out of it with a big smile on my face. As my friends said to me last night, “Robby you were probably a kid in a candy store there.” Indeed I was. So on the theme of candy, let’s get started:

Yummy Hot Tamales!:

• Fiat 500 Abarth, Jaguar XKR-S, Nissan’s 370Z, new Shelby GT500 and Dodge’s 392 Challenger SRT8
• Huge Army Vehicles
• The 2012 Shelby GT500 Dyno runs….ahhhhh it sounds amazing!!!!!!
• The Foursome of Lexus LFAs
• Lincoln’s beautiful exhibit area with a giant expanding Hoberman Sphere (Google it)
• Blue Mercedes-Benz CLS with classic AMG rims
• The very first SVT product, the 1993 Cobra R
• New models like the Camaro ZL1, Suzuki Kizashi, Scion iQ, Ford Fusion, Buick Encore, Infiniti JX and the Hyundai Azera
• Volvo’s You  and Chevy’s Tru40S concept cars
• Mazda’s RX8 race car
• Swarm of customized Chevy Sonics

Boring, Lame Bit-O-Honeys:

• The plastic abyss grille on the front of Buick’s Verano
• NO 7-speed manual new Porsche 919
• The cheesy Monopoly Police outfits the workers at Toyota’s Hybrid Ride-along thingy wore
• BMW’s display area…..
• Not being able to sit in the Subaru BRZ or Scion FR-s
• Dodge Dart and Mini Cooper Coupe
• Random Panda bear inside the new Honda CR-V
• Nissan’s sad looking NV200
• Scion had no CD samplers this year, I’d been loving those since 2004
• Acura’s forgetful mind not bringing the NSX concept to Chicago
• The “I-work-when-I-want-To” Wifi connection in the press room
• The 90-something year old lady that called me an “asshole” for tripping over her walker…really?

Honorable Mentions:

• Smart’s awesome Sharpie art car
• McLaren’s gorgeous MP4-12C
• The 90s Pontiac Grand Prix with Indian murals painted on it
• Kia Trackster concept
• Scion’s TC race car and free swag
• Dodge’s off-road truck ride-along course
• The Toyota Yaris….because, well it’s a car!
• Half-and-Half Camaro
• 1954 Mercury Xm800 concept car

I’ll be editing and uploading more pictures to my Flickr account this weekend, but for now take a browse through some other unique cars seen at this year’s Chicago International

Auto Show: