Clearly worried that the assembled metal would fail to wet the public's insatiable appetite for glamour, the world's automotive manufacturers had the foresight to pay hundreds of attractive young women to linger in the Cobo Arena and greet the hoards with a welcoming smile.
Fortunately, the days of scantily-clad girls reclining on the bonnet of the latest Lamborghini are long gone; today's showgirl is more likely to be cloaked in a ballgown than a bikini.
Mini's new 4x4 Beachcomber concept has appeared in a video from the Detroit motor show that delves a bit deeper into the car's detail.
The video shows a range of features such as a dashboard-mounted compass, a rear-mounted lockable compartment in the spare-wheel box and, wait for it, plastic palm-tree decorations. It also reveals the Beachcomber's dune-tackling off-road mode, which is illustrated on the classic Mini central instrument dial.
Mini will not be putting the Beachcomber into production, but the styling hints heavily at the look of the upcoming Countryman SUV that the brand will be selling from autumn 2010.
Volkswagen has unveiled a hybrid concept called the Compact Coupe at the Detroit motor show, which it says blends practicality, performance and style with incredibly low CO2 emissions.
The new hybrid system combines VW's award-winning 148bhp 1.4-litre TSI engine with a 25bhp electric motor. Mixing the two has the happy effect of generating impressive performance - 0-62mph takes just 8.6 seconds and top speed is pegged at 141mph.
Driven gently though, VW says the Compact Coupe can run around town on electric power alone and potentially offer a Prius-matching fuel economy of 67.2mpg on a longer journey. That means CO2 emissions of just 98g/km - low enough to qualify for road tax exemption in the UK.
