Oddities From the Corners of the Detroit Auto Show Odds and Ends from the Detroit Auto Show Benjamin Preston The press days of auto shows are well known for their bright lights, loud music and hordes of journalists scrambling for the position most advantageous for executive interviews and photos. But only during news conferences. Along the fringes, often in a corridor, visitors to any auto show can often find the strange and interesting. At the North American International Auto Show this week in Detroit, there were a number of those curiosities: ■ At the Covisint booth, in the main corridor, several people were answering questions about the company and its cloud-based connected vehicle technology. My understanding of all that was, shall we say, nebulous. Many visitors to the booth seemed to be drawn to the "Back to the Future" Delorean - one of the originals from the film - and the foil-wrapped woman standing next to it. ■ Ford had a top-shelf racing simulator that spun, shook and made loud noises as side-by-side competitors raced virtual Ford Focus ST hatchbacks around a virtual course. Unlike the typical electronic gaming scene, in which participants do battle in places far from one another, the loser of this simulator was forced to face his opponent in person at the end of the race. ■ Chrysler's Mopar aftermarket accessory booth did a good job of physically showing the dazzling array of dress-up and performance goodies available for Chrysler vehicles. Wheels, intake manifolds and other parts climbing the walls toward the ceiling were an apt backdrop for Jeeps with huge tires, a burly Ram 3500 pickup, a surf-theme Fiat, an evil-looking green Viper and a tricked-out 2014 Dodge Challenger that breathed 1960s muscle-car mojo. ■ Although there were rumors that Tesla Motors might unveil the long-awaited Model X crossover in Detroit, it did not materialize. The electric-auto maker did, however, have the innards of its sleek Model S sedan displayed. If underpinnings could be described as elegant, those of the Model S certainly were. ■ The Lincoln Motor Company didn't unveil any new models at this year's show, but Jim Farley, Ford's global vice president for marketing and sales, did a video interview in front of one of the automaker's old classics: a Dietrich-bodied 1932 Lincoln KB Coupe. Don't expect to find its custom bodywork or 7.3-liter V12 in this year's Lincolns. ■ Behind current production models and the avant-garde LF-NX concept, which had been unveiled in Frankfurt last year, the Lexus area included a shadowed, secluded display featuring five short films. The underlying theme in all the films - at least one of which included gratuitous product placement for Lexus - seemed to be the cathartic effect of personal trauma. One film, however, was about love - that and the suffering required to attain it. ■ Ford had introduced its new global Mustang at events in five locations around the world in December, but in its Detroit spread this week, the company had an opportunity to include the 50-year-old car that started it all. A few feet away from the brightly colored 2015 Mustangs, the tiny-in-person white Mustang I concept coupe was squared off with its nearly unrelated namesake, a white 1964 Mustang coupe. ■ The Batmobile-like DeltaWing appears to have garnered its share of the limelight over the last year. It was at the Detroit auto show, but relegated to the remotest back corner of the Cobo Center. ■ It was probably an oversight, but why must the disabled-access products be virtually hidden behind the DeltaWing? The Creative Mobility Group had a full, if sparsely visited, display showing off its products, which included disabled accessible vans, special hand and foot controls for vehicles, motorized scooters and lifts.