2006 Buick Rainier CXL

I have a soft spot for the 2006 Buick Rainier, as it shares the name of my hometown: Rainier, Oregon. Alas, in a couple years the Rainier, and its companion, the slightly smaller Rendezvous, would both be replaced by the Enclave, in 2006 still a concept car that apparently the Portland International Auto Show was not worthy of.

For 2006, the Rainier soldiered on, powered by a 195-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 or an optional 242-horsepower 3.6-liter double overhead cam V6 offering not only more power but also better gas mileage than the smaller engine. Front-wheel drive was standard; all-wheel drive was optional.

2006 Buick Lucerne CXL

The brand-new 2006 Buick Lucerne CXL: the car named after a brand of milk! How exciting! Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the name. The CXL was the mid-level trim. The standard engine was a 197-horsepower 3.8-liter V6. A 275-horsepower 4.6-liter Northstar double overhead cam V8 was optional in the CXL and standard in the CXS. This Lucerne had four portholes on its flanks, indicating it was equipped with the V8.

2006 Hummer H3

 

Behold the latest vehicle that diluted the reputation of the Hummer name in 2006: the H3, with less size, less power and less off-road ability than the existing H2, which already had very little to do with the massive military-based trucks these SUVs tried to live up to. Conspicuously, no real Hummers (now called the H1) were present at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show.

2006 Toyota Avalon Limited

Toyota's flagship sedan in 2006, the Avalon, was an impressive sight, especially on the inside, where the dashboard and center console featured doors to cover most of the car's controls to give a clean-looking interior.

The Avalon was powered by a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V6. Standard features included automatic headlights, steering wheel-mounted audio & climate controls & dual zone automatic climate control. Available features included rain-sensing windshield wipers, dynamic laser cruise control and a voice-activated DVD navigation system.

2007 Toyota Yaris Liftback & Sedan

New for Toyota for 2006 was a pair of subcompacts that shared a name to replace the Echo. The 2007 Yaris liftback became available in March 2006. The Yaris delivered fuel economy of up to 40 miles per gallon with its 106-horsepower 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual transmission. A 4-speed automatic was also available.

The Yaris featured an interesting interior with the instrument cluster mounted in the center of the dashboard.

Sharing the name of its slightly smaller sibling was the 2007 Yaris sedan. The sedan featured different exterior styling and a different dashboard, though the instrument cluster was still in in the center. The sedan had basically the same available features as the liftback; the main difference was that the sedan offered integrated audio with an LCD display as an option.

Motorcycle Gallery at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show

This custom chopper is called Pirate's Booty, and was built by Terri-Lynn Link of Siren Custom Cycles, a builder of custom motorcycles especially for women based in Sandy, Oregon. It was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

This patriotically-painted custom Harley-Davidson was customized by Team Latus Motors, a Harley-Davidson dealer in Portland, Oregon.

This award-winning custom cruiser is a customized Honda Valkyrie Rune, powered by a six-cylinder engine.

Here are some samples of the Harley-Davidson line, displayed by Team Latus Motors.

The white cycle in the foreground is a Yamaha Star Road Star Tour Deluxe.

Here's a pair of Yamaha Star motorcycles. On the left is a Roadliner and I think the one on the right is a Virago.

This motor scooter is a Suzuki Burgman 400.

This motor scooter is a Yamaha Morphous.

This group of Honda motorcycles was brought by Bob Lamphere's Beaverton Honda-Yamaha-Suzuki.

These Honda Metropolitan motor scooters are decorated for Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, respectively.

2007 Audi Q7

Audi called the new 2007 Q7 a "performance utility vehicle." The Q7 offered the choice of a 350-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine or a 280-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 engine, both with FSI® Direct Injection.

The Q7 featured a 6-speed Tiptronic® automatic transmission and the newest asymmetric/dynamic version of quattro® all-wheel drive.

2006 Audi A6

 

Though smaller than Audi's flagship A8, the A6 had won several awards, including World Car of the Year and Motorweek's Driver's Choice Award for Best Luxury Sedan. The 2006 A6 was offered with either a 335-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine with a 6-speed Tiptronic® automatic transmission and quattro® all-wheel drive or a 255-horsepower 3.2-liter V6 engine with FSI® Direct Injection and either the 6-speed Tiptronic® with all-wheel drive or a Multitronic™ Continuously Variable Transmission and FrontTrack® front-wheel drive. The A6 could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds with the V8 or 7.1 seconds with the V6. Top speed was limited to 130 miles per hour. A station wagon version called the A6 Avant was also available with only the V6 and 6-speed automatic, giving the Avant a 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds.

2006 BMW 550i

The 5-series is the mid-range entry of the BMW line. The 2006 525i and 530i offered the same 215-horsepower and 255-horsepower 3.0-liter double overhead cam in-line six-cylinder engine choices as the smaller 3-series, but the 550i features a 360-horsepower 4.8-liter double overhead cam 32-valve V8. In addition to the standard 6-speed manual and optional 6-speed StepTronic automatic transmissions of the 3-series, the 530i and 550i also offered a 6-speed manual sequential gearbox.

2006 BMW 325i

The "base" model of BMW is the 3-series. Shown here is the then-new 3-series sedan, Automobile Magazine's 2006 Automobile of the Year. The 3-series was powered by a 3.0-liter double overhead cam in-line six-cylinder engine rated at either 215 horsepower in the 325i or 255 horsepower in the 330i; both were capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 7 seconds. The 3-series featured a standard 6-speed manual transmission or an optional 6-speed StepTronic automatic transmission, standard run-flat tires, and available all-wheel drive.

2006 BMW Z4

The 2006 BMW Z4 roadster offered the 215-horsepower and 255-horsepower 3.0-liter double overhead cam in-line six-cylinder engines and 6-speed manual and StepTronic automatic transmissions of the 3-series in a 2-seat convertible with a DVD navigation system and a top that lowered in 10 seconds, starting at under $35,000.

2006 BMW M5

The 2006 M5 was a high-performance version of the 5-series, and was BMW's fastest and most powerful offering. Powered by a 500-horsepower 5.0 liter double overhead cam 40-valve V10 engine with a 7-speed sequential manual gearbox, the M5 could accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 155 miles per hour.

2006 BMW 750i

At the top of the BMW ladder is the 7-series, available in 2006 as either the 750i, with the same 360-horsepower 4.8-liter double overhead cam 32-valve V8 engine used in the 550i and 650i, or the flagship 760i, with a 438-horsepower 6.0-liter double overhead cam 48-valve V12, both with a 6-speed StepTronic automatic transmission.

2006 BMW 650i Coupe

The 2006 BMW 650i was available as a coupe or convertible, with the same 360-horsepower 4.8-liter double overhead cam 32-valve V8 engine and 6-speed manual, StepTronic automatic, and manual sequential transmissions available in the 550i sedan, only in a sleek sports-car body.

2007 Audi RS4 Safety Car

The Safety Car was a preview of the 2007 RS4. The RS4 would be Audi's high-performance sport-sedan. With a 420-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine with FSI® Direct Injection, a 6-speed manual transmission and the new asymmetric/dynamic quattro® all-wheel drive, the RS4 would have a 0-60 time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 155 miles per hour.

2006 Land Rover Range Rover

Land Rover's traditional flagship in 2006 was the V8-powered Range Rover, with a 305-horsepower 4.4-liter or a supercharged 400-horsepower 4.2-liter and with either engine featured a 6-speed automatic transmission, permanent four-wheel drive with 4-wheel electronic traction control, and a color, touch-screen for the DVD-based navigation system.