The outstanding novelty at the show was the "Floride", a super-chic car made by Renault, directed at the American market.
A Smart car, perhaps: chic, cleavered, surreal; or maybe a Skoda, re-tailored, yet eternally low-tech.
Building eco-friendly cars, even eco-chic cars, is one thing, analysts say.
What it was trying to achieve – a pleasurable, solid but chic family car that at the flick of a switch turns into a sports car that could quite plausibly take off or fire rockets – is an insanely expensive proposition.
However, its recent decision to honor the soft rock of Chicago (whose lingering contribution to music consists of its horn section and a host of overcooked ballads) while the more inventive Chic, the Cars and even Yes remain frozen out further reveals it as an empty tourist attraction.
At a popular mixologist's bodega-chic bar, car-wash plastic stands in for a door and expertly crafted drinks are beside the point.
More than that, it defined a genre of city cars for decades to come, encapsulating an effortless, Italian chic that no car has matched since.
One of them, titled "Mediterranean" (1927), is an almost lyrical image of his iconic Hispano-Suiza, the very type and token of sports car chic, stopped on a shore road near Cannes next to a wide expanse of sea.
At Gucci, Tom Ford has swapped his signature tight, sexy second-wife silhouette for a slouchy pair of paper-bag-waist pajama pants, which could look just as chic driving the car pool as they could on the veranda at cocktail hour.
It's got the same cell phones, flashy cars, chic boutiques, Hollywood movie posters and fast-food restaurants that can be found, depressingly, from Bangkok to Vladivostok.
Tesla Motors at 50 Newtown Lane is a permanent showroom for the chic, eco-friendly cars where you can test drive or charge your vehicle.
