2007 Frankfurt Auto Show: Eric at Press Day #1

There's no rhyme or reason to any of the halls. From the outside, you can hardly tell that these buildings are actually one common unit. One building looks like a sports arena, some look like warehouses, another recalls classic Renaissance architecture, and one covered in brightly colored tiles looks like it was constructed with Legos. And they are all connected by mazes of moving sidewalks and escalators. The diversity and disunity is actually fairly compelling -- if it didn't mean I had to walk for 20 minutes to get to everywhere I needed to be.

But even these 10 halls aren't enough to contain the chaos of the Frankfurt auto show. BMW hosts its display in a temporary structure in the courtyard of the conference center. We're not talking about a tent, folks, this thing has four walls, windows, a ceiling -- even a second floor.

Much of the size of the Frankfurt show is due to the presence of any company that has ever had anything to do with cars. I'm sure if you look hard enough you can find a company that manufactures valve caps for tires.

Despite the constant ache of shoes that are overpriced and under-cushioned, the events of today were thrilling. I was honored when Editor in Chief Scott Oldham asked me to cover two press conferences as Inside Line's only reporter -- they trusted me to do the real thing.

Oldham appointed me to cover GM and Kia, both of which were conveniently located as far as possible from the media center that the Inside Line crew was calling home for the day. While neither press conference produced a show-stopping introduction for the American market, I did have a front-row seat for some big European news, plus speeches from some top auto execs. I also enjoyed the gripping entertainment of seeing a pack of photographers mutate into a mob of over-caffeinated toddlers as soon as the covers came off the show cars.

We capped the night with another GM event, the Agila Rooftop Party to promote the company's new city car. The venue was a chic bar with a great view from one of Frankfurt's tallest buildings. The elevator featured a speedometer (we almost hit 11 mph during the 650-foot ascent), and the food and drinks were flowing.

But the highlight of the evening was the keyboard and saxophone duet that cranked out renditions of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and Kool and the Gang's "Celebration." It was like something out of Saturday Night Live, only funny.

Hopefully GM will spend a little more money on the Agila's marketing campaign. -- Eric Tingwall, Inside Line Contest Winner and Citizen Journalist