Who would have dreamed a year ago that the big names at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show would be Acura, Hyundai, Kia, and Mazda? Who would have ever imagined that a U.S. auto show would be dominated by companies from Japan and Korea?

Everyone thought the Chicago Auto Show would be a great opportunity for the Big 3 to pull out the stops and put a positive spin on a bad situation. But, instead of a much-needed infusion of confidence, all the Big 3 got was an old-school whuppin’ at the hands of the Foreign 4.

While the Big 3 was busy taking private jets to Washington D.C., closing production facilities and laying off workers at an alarming rate, it seems that the Foreign 4 has been hard at work.

Sure, the Big 3 did unveil some great new cars. But, questions still remain. How quickly can they get these vehicles to market? Are they earmarking bailout money for these projects? (They must be.) But, while the Big 3 wonders, the Foreign 4 plunders, and that’s the name of that tune.

4 new cars from the Foreign 4: The 2010 Acura TSX V-6, the 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe R-Spec, the 2010 Kia Forte, and the 2009 Mazda MX-5 were displayed at the Chicago Auto Show.

Read the article from Kirk Bell, contributing author to CarReview and Search Chicago, after the jump:

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sa-WEET! I love these little guys. Sure, a lot of people, men mostly, look at Miatas as being “girls cars”. They either don’t know the first thing about sports cars, have never ridden in the passenger seat of one when a competent driver is at the wheel, or are in the midst of some heavy Freudian psychology (e.g. compensation and denial).

If MG/Austin-Healey/TR had been making cars like this in the 70s, they’d still be in business … but alas, they did not, and for too many years, the affordable drop top was not seen on these shores (or anywhere else for that matter). In ‘89 Mazda changed all that with the introduction of the Miata. It’s in its third generation by now (if you ignore a couple of half-gen updatings here & there), and no longer officially called the Miata. Now Mazda calls it the MX-5 here in the U.S., and in the home country it’s referred to as “The Roadster”.

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By Kurt Gensheimer

Blings:

• Telepathic, idiot proof performance
• More fun than your first go-kart
• Retractable hardtop is genius

Dings:

• Intrusive door panel cupholders
• Retractable hardtop still isn’t a true hardtop

Ruling: A legendary weekend sports car becomes a legendary every day sports car.
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