During a time of deep Flash, Flex, and Flash Media Server development, it’s nice to be able to get away and delve into my other passion which is of course, cars. I have been to the Toronto AutoShow every year for the past 6 years or so. This year I took the opportunity to attend twice in one week. These events are usually much more fun when a few friends join you. It also helps if they have some mild interest in vehicles.

This year, I got another chance to sit in my favorite realistic car (I have categories for my favorites), which is the Nissan 350Z. I love this car. It’s not the fastest, it’s not the cheapest, and it’s (arguably) not the best looking car, but I like it damnit. However, it was a car from a completely different company that stole the show for me. This car actually stunned me when I saw it circling on it’s platform. This car is the Audi R8. I remember seeing images of the concept but seeing this rolling wedge of gorgeousness in person was just fantastic. Seriously, I believe I have a new favorite unrealistic car, toppling the fantastic Ferrari F430 (although that car will stay as a close second). I can’t wait for Clarkson, May, and Hammond to get a hold of one and drift it in one of thier ridiculously entertaining reviews.

An interesting Flash related thing I found at the show (in the DaimlerChrysler section) was the vehicle knowledge displays that were scattered around. They were large touch screens (about 50″) and had what I believe to be a Flash app that allowed the user to learn about DaimlerChrysler’s cars. The app was well designed and built and a great example of product knowledge through Flash. After some digging, I found that the app was created by McGill Digital Solutions (here’s the link to their press release and case study). If anyone from McGill is reading this, I’d love to know if the app is in fact Flash or maybe Flex? An interesting thing about the display is that touch screen that large didn’t actually use “touch” technology as I’m used to. I was still able to interact while my finger hovered over the button. Not sure what’s going on there but it did work well.