I want to tell you about two different press events that occurred at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show -- one by Detroit's own GM, the other by China's Changfeng.

They were so different, that I kept re-playing them in my mind, sure that I could glean some insight from the mass of polarized molecules that was created out of seemingly nowhere, and was now hovering between them. But I came up dry.

The only thing that connected them, as far as I could see, is that they were both slightly weird, and very cool because of it.

The GM event was up first. In fact, it took place on the Saturday night before the first official press day on Sunday. It was called GM Style, with the subtitle, Cars & Stars. Jimmy Kimmel of late-night talk-show fame hosted it, and it all took place under an arena-sized tent that was erected solely for the occasion.

It was billed as, "an exclusive, fashion-splashed event combining celebrities, couture and automobiles." Well, it couldn't have been all that exclusive or fashionable -- because, myself, and fellow WoW scribe, Bradley Horn, were in attendance

But there were real celeb's, like Carmen Electra, Jennifer Hudson, Jay-Z, Nick Lechay, Rosie Perez, Christian Slater, etc., all of whom took a turn strolling down the "fashion runway" with an assigned concept car from the GM toy store.

At the very end, the Camaro Convertible Concept came down the runway on its own, celebrity-less.

This was followed by an eclectic mix of live music, courtesy of hip-hoper, Lady Sovereign, and soul artist, John Legend. At one point Lady Sovereign, a pint-sized dynamo from Great Britain, did a particularly effecting version of the Sex Pistol's classic, Pretty Vacant, though I wouldn't say it was particularly well received from those still hanging around.

Quite a mlange of people moved through the tent that night ... B-list celebs, senior auto industry execs, dealers, dealer wives (some over-dressed, some just right), local politicians and socialites, jaded auto journalists, people in and hanging around the fashion industry, and edgy musicians. You got the sense that this particular mix of people would not be repeated any time soon, and that there were probably good reasons for it.

Quite a way, however, to launch the Camaro ragtop concept and kick off the auto show. But all journalists wanted to know was how much GM shelled out for this event. And they didn't say.

Two days later, on the other side of the forest, in the basement exhibit space of Cobo Hall, it was another automaker's turn to take the stage. Last year, China's Geely displayed a car in the concourse, but this was the first year a Chinese automaker had an official press conference at the show, and more than a few people were interested in what Hunan Changfeng Motor would have to say.

But the standing-room-only crowd would have to wait a bit, until a welcoming delegation from Michigan's Wayne County did a ceremonial gift exchange with Li Jianxin, chairman of the Changfeng Group. Upon receiving the gift bag, Chairman Jianxin unwrapped the present -- a small paperweight -- and raised it over his head with two hands. He then presented it to the crowd, in all directions, like it was the Championship buckle from the World Wrestling Federation. The representative from Wayne County had probably not anticipated that the chairman would open the memento on stage, and made a quiet remark about local governments and budget constraints.

With that out of the way, the chairman was then free to address the crowd.

The chairman's English was not good. We knew we were in trouble seconds in, when he used the term, "Ladies and their Gentlemen." But the Detroit show crowd was polite, and heard him out, even though they, like me, had little idea what he was saying. He probably should have spoken through an interpreter, but you had to admire his guts, for making such a difficult speech in front of so many recording devices.

The film that was shown next was more enlightening, even though its style was reminiscent of our industrial films of the 1950s (the ones prone to showing smoke billowing out of tall smoke stacks). We learned that Changfeng Motor is specialized in sport utility vehicles, has a history of supplying such vehicles to the Chinese People's Revolutionary Army, and produces about 288,000 vehicles a year.

And then we were released, and invited to check out its vehicle display. That was it. No big announcement about flooding North America with inexpensive vehicles. At least not yet.

So why was Changfeng Group at Detroit then? We found an answer in the press release: "Changfeng's message in participating at NAIAS is to announce its intention to enter the international market. But more important, Changfeng wants to find out the reactions and comments about the Changfeng brand technology so as to offer a satisfactory product to the market. In the meantime, Changfeng would be able to learn from fellow manufacturers as well as the world's advanced technologies and trends."

For their sake, I hope they don't learn too much on the press conference front. Because one thing about style and being noticed, is being unique. And they were certainly that.