Looking at some of the top models on display at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, you’d be forgiven for wondering if the go-go gas-guzzling ways of the American auto industry are indeed a thing of the past. The best and the brightest of the lot are the trucks, crossovers and utes with the Detroit big three displaying some impressive designs across the range.

Of course, the gas consciousness is evident in the number of hybrids and flexi-fuel vehicles also on display. Clearly Motown seems intent on marrying fuel-glugging platforms with all-green alternative modules.

Nowhere is that marriage better showcased than with the GMC Denali XT hybrid. This all-muscle, rear drive, four-door, flexi-fuel ute offers a 5 litre version of the GM V8 engine. But those horses are harnessed to a two-mode hybrid as well as an 85% ethanol compatible (E85) engine. The Denali is interesting not merely for the engine concept but also because it will spawn a range of future cars from the General Motors stable. That includes the new Pontiac G8 and the Chevrolet Camaro.

But hybrid or no hybrid, the Denali is a muscular, macho part sedan, part truck which can be the standard new segment of the future, the way that crossovers became the segment straddlers in the 90s.

Of course that isn’t the only model of interest at GM. Just as exciting is its Chevrolet Traverse crossover. Also a macho vehicle, this one will finally replace the Chevy Trailblazer and has already been received with some enthusiasm in motoring media circles.

GM’s big muscle models were topped by the Hummer H3t pick up which uses the H3 ute platform and is so unashamedly macho that it does not even offer a hybrid variant. But all that testosterone was balance by the GMC Sierra hybrid pick-up, a nice little hybrid that has also created a bit of a ripple.

Fellow all-American carmaker Ford decided to unveil its Euro credentials with the Transit Connect van, a nice minivan which it expects will perk up its home market. The van will be made in low-cost Turkey so the margins should be decent for Ford. It will also fit in nicely with the gap in its product range that has come from the phase out of the Freestar minivan and the soon-to-follow Ranger pick-up. The Ranger, incidentally, is the platform on which the ord Endeavour is built. Essentially a South-East Asian model, the Endeavour uses design cues and shares its chassis with the Ranger.

The Ranger’s phase out could mean a whole new next-gen version of the Endeavour some time in the future.But that’s just guess work.

As for Chrysler, like the Detroit Motor Show, it will hog the limelight for innovative marketing. At Detroit, its Dodge Ram debuted with a cattle run and cowboy theme. Here its Dodge Journey has a couple theme woven around it. A contest and a selection later, one lucky couple will be married at the Chicago Auto Show, courtesy Dodge. And they will also get a brand new Dodge Journey as a wedding gift. All this on Valentine’s Day. Of course Chrysler also launched the Dodge Challenger SRT8, one of the most important launches of the show.

Of course even beyond the American big three, the ute and pick-up muscle continued to make itself visible. Suzuki for instance is showcasing its own compact pick-up based on the Nissan Frontier and sourced from Nissan under a model swapping arrangement according to which Suzuki will offer Nissan a small car as well.

The most eagerly anticipated Euro debut was the Routan Van from Volkswagen whose spy shots have been doing the rounds for a while now.

The Japanese brigade were out in full force with Honda showcasing its Acura RL flagship sedan. Mitsubishi’s Eclipse and Gallant facelifts were among the best of the facelifted lot in the show with the Eclipse in particular shining through. As for Toyota, it’s Scion brand showcased the tC Release Series 4.0RS but its real show stealer was the 1/X compact hybrid concept.

With a bio plastic roof, body weight thats lighter than the best-selling Prius and more spacious as well, the 1/X is a hell of a concept. If Toyota does launch it, it will be as much of a runaway success as the Prius.

The Lexus ES 350 is the second model this year to get the Pebble Beach Special Edition treatment, along with the Lexus RX 350. Both of them join Lexus’ Pebble Beach regular, the Lexus SC 430, in the bespoke-paint-and-packages options. We don’t mind the 17-inch wheels with the liquid graphite finish one bit. And just as with the RX, you get your choice of three additonal special packages that can bestow you with Callaway goods, custom luggage or Viking cookware for you epicureans. For full details, check out the press release after the jump, and take a gander at the gallery of hi-res pics below.

While the little green angel on our right shoulder prompts us to applaud cars that get good fuel economy, the Italian-racing-red devil on the left whispers how cool it is to waste gallons of irreplaceable fossil fuels on things like supercharged Land Rovers. Truth be told, we like giving in to the red one. We just feel guilty about it the next morning. And just in case the force-fed Range Rover Sport from the factory wasn’t enough, along comes something that makes us forget all about the letters HSE.

What you see here is a circa-1950’s Defender Series I, the original Land Rover that has crossed continents countless times. But in case it didn’t get from coast to coast quite fast enough, some blessed soul has dropped in a supercharged Ford V8 kicking out around 800 horsepower. In its current state, though, we doubt it’ll be fording any rivers – unless they’ve already dried up. Check out the images for yourself in the gallery below.

The Aircar can be filled with air in just three minutes

An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500. It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis. The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car.  Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job. For long journeys the compressed air driving the pistons can be boosted by a fuel burner which heats the air so it expands and increases the pressure on the pistons. The burner will use all kinds of liquid fuel.

The designers say on long journeys the car will do the equivalent of 120mpg. In town, running on air, it will be cheaper than that. “The first buyers will be people who care about the environment,” says French inventor Guy Negre.

“It also has to be economical.”

Major savings

Mr Negre has been promising for more than a decade to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Independent observers are more convinced this time because he recently secured backing from the giant Indian conglomerate Tata to put the finished touches to the engine.

The compressed air is stored in carbon-fibre tanks

Tata is the only big firm he’ll license to sell the car - and they are limited to India. For the rest of the world he hopes to persuade hundreds of investors to set up their own factories, making the car from 80% locally-sourced materials. “This will be a major saving in total emissions,” he says. “Imagine we will be able to save all those components travelling the world and all those transporters.”

He wants each local factory to sell its own cars to cut out the middle man and he aims for 1% of global sales - about 680,000 per year. Terry Spall from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers says: “I really hope he succeeds. It is a really brave experiment in producing a sustainable car.”

But he said he was interested to see how the car would fare with safety tests and how much it would appeal to a public conditioned to expect luxury fittings adding to the weight of the vehicle.

Mr Negre says there’s no issue with safety - if the air-car crashes the air tanks won’t shatter - they will split with a very loud bang. “The biggest risk is to the ears.”