2002 Paris Auto Show

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American in Paris. Or, more specifically, American automotive journalists in Paris. To keep the American stereotypes intact, we wore shorts and sandals with socks everywhere, acted flabbergasted when people didn't speak English and yelled out, "We saved your butts in World War II!" whenever something wasn't going our way.

OK, not really. Mainly, we just appreciated the romanticism of Paris, ate way too many pains aux chocolats and checked out the latest and greatest hardware at the 2002 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile. As the biggest auto show in Europe (Paris alternates with Frankfurt for this honor), and the first of the auto show season, we got an early peek at some of the most interesting models set to debut for 2003. We also examined more than a few concept vehicles that gave us hints as to where the automotive future might be headed.

As you would likely expect, the European manufacturers had the most interesting products to showcase. Highlights included the full showings of the Maybach sedans and Porsche Cayenne, some seriously fast Mercedes and Volvo cars and new luxury sedans from Audi and Jaguar.

So load up your Amelie soundtrack MP3s and check out our meticulously prepared coverage. As with everything we write, we hope you find it entertaining, informative and useful in your future car-buying experiences. Salut!