It's January and that means that its time for the annual three day extravaganza of world premieres that is the Detroit Auto Show.

The Lotus Elise and fixed-roof Exige define sports car purity, but with the recently unveiled new Evora, due here late this year, Lotus will live a bit larger. The Evora retains the brand's trademark aluminum tub structure and mid-engine layout, but the former is stretched to squeeze in an (optional) pair of kid-sized rear seats while the latter switches from four- to six-cylinder Toyota power. Adapted from the Camry, the 3.5-liter V-6 puts out 276 hp and 252 lb-ft of torque, enough to zip the luxe Lotus from 0 to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds (the company claims) on the way to a top speed of 160 mph. This despite the Evora's 2976 pounds, a full 50 percent more than the featherweight Elise. Of course, the Elise, with its bare-aluminum interior, makes zero concessions to comfort, whereas the Evora promises to be a veritable Maybach by comparison. It sports such unimaginable luxuries as navigation, an optional paddleshift automatic transmission, power steering, and - gasp! - cupholders. Not only that, but Lotus promises that entering and exiting the Evora will be "a less athletic undertaking," thanks to narrower sills, wider-opening doors, and a taller roof, all of which perhaps explains the brand's sudden embrace by the Hollywood glitterati, who have signed up for early test drives. Either that, or they think it's a hybrid.

Nearly ten years ago, in these pages, I pontificated that online racing-that is, virtual racing, over the Internet, against other human beings-was about to become The Next Big Thing in motorsports. As predictions go, this one rates up there with howlers such as "Personal computers? Who needs 'em?" and "That Jobs kid won't ever amount to anything."

We can thank advertising for our belief that crankcase oil loses its efficacy after only 3,000 miles. Sure, if you driving style is purely short trips (so the engine never warms) in harsh climates (extreme heat/cold plus dust), and you rev the wee out of your motor from the moment you key the ignition, you may need to change your oil every 3,000 miles.

Hate it or love it, the crossover market is expanding at a rapid rate. Automakers are investing lots of time and energy in this space and all the competitors are pretty solid choices. The 2010 Chevrolet Equinox should handle all that competition pretty well.

Yes, this is a wooden car. Forget the jokes. Anyone making more than mere decorative use of wood in an automobile has heard them all. And doesn't care. Wood is a magnificent structural material, "God's own composite," proclaimed the late Frank Costin, the brilliant technologist behind the glorious shapes of early Lotus cars, the Vanwall Formula 1 car, and-significantly-the plywood chassis of the Marcos in which a young Jim Clark won some of his first races.

Truly useful technologies always seem to find their way into the market. This helps explain the proliferation of toilets, shoe laces, paper clips, and today, direct injection.

There may be no better way to pay tribute to the end of the modern SLR - as well as its racing forbears - than with the new 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss.

Is this the next Subaru Legacy? According to corporate sources, the Subaru Legacy Concept - which will debut at the 2009 Detroit auto show in January - is our first look at the Legacy's next design direction.