DETROIT -- If auto manufacturers are the lifeblood of racing, there is plenty of good news on display at the 25th annual North American International Auto Show, which runs Jan. 17-24 at Detroit's Cobo Center.
There are many more competition cars on display at NAIAS this year compared to recent years, as car manufacturers use their racing programs to develop street car technology in pursuit of the seemingly opposing objectives of performance and fuel efficiency.
With just about every major racing series (with the exceptions of NASCAR and the NHRA) writing some form of "green" initiative into its regulations, manufacturers are increasingly able to make a direct connection between technology developed and perfected on the track and the components that go into your everyday sedan or SUV.
Mercedes-Benz trumpeted the efficiency of Lewis Hamilton's World Championship-winning Formula One car every bit as much as it did for the company's BlueTEC diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Infiniti's display also included a Formula One car, from partner Red Bull Racing, while the Verizon IndyCar World Series was represented by Ryan Hunter-Reay's Indianapolis 500-winning Andretti Autosport Dallara, which was presented on the Honda stand alongside the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy.
Mazda enthusiastically played up the link between racing and its SkyActive philosophy, which prioritizes weight reduction to increase the efficiency of its gasoline and diesel engines. To go with the American debut of the next generation of the MX-5 sports car, Mazda had a diesel-powered prototype that competes in the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship and the new Dallara-Mazda Indy Lights single-seater on show.
Other current racing cars on display include a Hyundai that competes in the World Rally Championship, a Global Rallycross Championship Ford Fiesta, a Cadillac ATS-V from the Pirelli World Challenge, a TUDOR series Corvette C7.R, and a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys on the Toyota stand.
Fans of classic racing machinery won't be disappointed either, with Alfa Romeo's display including a 33 Stradale sports car, a Tipo 159 "Alfetta" Grand Prix car and an even older P3 single-seater. At BMW, one of the legendary 3.0CSL "Batmobiles" from the mid 1970s offers a glorious contrast to the past, sitting alongside the futuristic-looking i3 and i8 hybrids.
Perhaps more importantly to the car enthusiast, manufacturers showed that they are continuing to pursue increasingly higher levels of performance for road cars while respecting the more stringent fuel economy regulations the government will implement over the next few years.
The star of the show, the 2016 Ford GT, features a mid-mounted 600-horsepower turbocharged V-6 engine rather than the V-8 that powered the car in its first two iterations.
Ford intends to race the new GT in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, likely teaming up with Chip Ganassi Racing, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the company's historic 1966 win with the iconic, first-generation Ford GT40.
The Acura NSX is another V-6 powered supercar making its debut at Detroit, adding a hybrid element to the driveline. Acura played up the racing heritage of the original NSX from 1989, noting that the late Ayrton Senna assisted in its chassis development.
The new model was designed and developed by Honda in the USA and will be built at a new technical center in Ohio.
Seemingly every sensible vehicle, such as the Chevrolet Volt commuter car that promises 200 miles of electric range, is countered by a 200 mph supercar.
Horsepower numbers for street cars now approach or exceed the output of racing cars. Dodge now offers Hellcat versions of the Charger and Challenger that kick out more than 700 horsepower, and the Cadillac CTS-V features the same dry-sump engine that powers the fastest Z06 version of the Chevrolet Corvette, both topping 640 horsepower
Ford will actually need to detune the GT's engine to make it eligible for the GTE class at Le Mans.
The old adage that "racing improves the breed" has never rung more true.