Concept car: Mazada Kabura above Concept car: Ford Reflex above

"Petrie dish" won't be the first thing that comes to mind for folks who walk into the Anaheim Convention Center to see the Orange County Auto Show, but according to Eric Noble of The CARLAB, an Orange-based automotive consultant for major auto manufacturers, that's just what most car shows are. "Auto shows are probably the most important single litmus test that manufacturers have for new ideas," he said.

The Orange County show has taken on special importance to those manufacturers, according to Noble. Not only is it the first major auto show for the season in North America, it's in a county that has a tradition of leading the nation in diverse industries. It has pioneered theme parks, pharmaceutical advances, surf fashions, aftermarket auto accessories, even restaurants. Marie Calendar's, Mimi's Café, and Claim Jumper all originated in Orange County. Successful innovation seems to be a way of life here.

"The auto industry used to see Orange County as a sleepy little bedroom community for L.A., but the reality is that now O.C. is an economic powerhouse, with millions of affluent people and quite a few automotive-design studios," Noble said.

There are two parts to any auto show's litmus test. One part is made up of the late-model cars, trucks, SUVs, and crossovers that are on the floor of the show. These are the same models people can find at their dealerships, but without a salesman lingering nearby.

Instead, chances are good that a manufacturer's representative will be lingering, maybe with a pen and clipboard to survey popular opinion of the vehicle in question - but more likely incognito.

"Very often, designers and consultants like me will be there essentially masquerading as normal consumers, kicking the tires and slamming the doors and listening to everyone who is doing the same," confessed Noble. "Consumer reaction to the vehicle is really important in terms of how vehicles get marketed and whether or not some of them even come to market."

Concept car: Chevrolet Camaro convertible

That last comment relates to the second part of the litmus test: concept cars. Noble speculates that part of the reason this year's Orange County show has more concept cars than ever before - 11 in all, as opposed to six or seven in recent years - is because of Orange County's rising respectability in the auto industry as a distinct and powerful market.

For many auto enthusiasts, concept cars are the créme de la créme of the show - and it's easy to see why, judging by offerings this year. The cars are one-offs, priceless, and represent the investment of millions of dollars, millions of man-hours, and some very big dreams:

• Ford's Shelby GR-1 is a 605-hp, V-10 beauty that is probably the least trendy and the most timeless of all the concepts at this year's show. It would look perfectly at home in a 1960s-era Daytona event - yet you can also imagine it in a high-tech race set 100 years in the future. "It's not a pastiche or retro statement of the cars of the '60s, but it has certain similar proportions. Spectacular proportions - so low, such a long hood, such a beautiful roofline - those are the elements," said chief designer David Woodhouse, who works at Ford's Irvine design studio. The most striking feature about the car is its polished-aluminum exterior, which was also its most difficult feature to achieve. "It was a shocking challenge," said Woodhouse.

• Jeep's Hurricane has two 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engines - one in front, one in back - to deliver 335 hp each to a doorless, incredibly rugged and futuristic beast of a 4X4. The Hurricane's design is just as extreme: it has what looks to be a cast-aluminum console with ruggedly industrial throttlelike controls. Its exterior is unpainted carbon fiber.

It has a ground clearance of 14.3 inches, and its wheels can turn in the same direction to such a degree that the vehicle can literally move sideways - while the driver is still facing forward!

• Saab's Aero X exterior and interior design conjures simultaneous images of the Batmobile and Star Wars' Imperial Stormtroopers. There are no doors or windshield pillars. Instead, a wrap-around windshield gives the driver 180-degree visibility, the entire roof is clear acrylic, and butterfly-lift doors give the driver easy egress from the car's interior, which was conceived in the image of a fighter jet cockpit. The Aero X has a 400-hp twin-turbo BioPower V-6 engine powered entirely by ethanol.

• Suzuki's Flix has an interior suspiciously like the inside of a modern high-tech Cineplex. There are lighted floor strips, and the door and upholstery colors are mauve, lilac, gray and purple. They all do justice to the car's purported purpose: to be a movie theater on wheels. The entire moon roof opens clamshell-style to give rise to a 40-inch giant screen. Bucket seats inside the vehicle swivel 180 degrees to catch the film, and quarter-window panels are converted into pivoting speakers.

• Ford's Reflex shows that fuel-efficient diesel-electric hybrids don't have to be stuffy. This is a two-seater sports car (albeit with a third seat for baby in the back) that is low, sleek and exotic with its reverse butterfly doors. Solar panels on the roof and circuitry on the exposed carbon fiber-covered lithium-ion battery "are not just superficial elements, they're functional elements and visually artistic elements, too," said lead designer Tyler Blake, who works at Ford's Irvine design office.

• Chevrolet's Camaro convertible is a real-life version of the personable star of "The Transformers" - looking at it head-on, you almost expect one of the headlights to give you a saucy wink. The 400-hp V-8 engine powers a new Camaro that retains what Chevy's General Manager Ed Peper describes as "the 'let's go' stance" of the classic muscle car that debuted in 1967. Yet this new version clearly belongs to the 21st century, with less curvaceous lines and a much more sleek and streamlined interior.

• Chrysler's Imperial is described as a potential "flagship," and it delivers on that impression in size and stateliness. It's large without looking massive - the 123-inch wheelbase accommodates a design that includes a roof that's been pulled rearward to enlarge the cabin; windows are longer, and passengers sit nearly 7 inches higher than in standard designs. Doors that open outward from the center for extra-luxurious access and egress give the car added style and elegance.

• Lincoln's MKR has a smoothly artistic interior, with chrome-edged sculpted seats and a center console that seems to flow almost organically from the dashboard to the trunk. The 415-hp 3.5-liter TwinForce V-6 engine is flex-fuel capable, able to run on either gasoline or ethanol as the occasion demands.

• Mazda's Kabura looks like a tiny powerhouse for speed and style - it is all haunches in the rear, low and prowling in the front. All of its passenger seats can fold down flush to the floor, and the car features Mazda's signature front-engine, rear-drive layout of rotary engine sports cars.

• Hyundai's Genesis is most striking at first for the blue-hued lighting in the front grill and taillights. But it's more than a pretty face to this relatively new auto manufacturer: It represents the spirit of "premium performance" products Hyundai is introducing in 2008. It is powered by a newly developed Tau DOHC 32-valve, 300-hp V-8 engine and features safety devices such as electronic stability control.

• Chevrolet's Volt combines high style with high-consciousness in energy consumption. It is low and sleek in its design, yet can travel 40 miles on electricity alone, or up to 640 miles when combined with a small internal combustion engine, before needing recharging.

"Manufacturers bring their concept cars to these shows because they can get feedback there better and faster than anywhere else, and they get that feedback in the context of their competitors," Noble said. "They're not just getting feedback about their own concept vehicles, but how well those vehicles are doing vs. the others. In the end, the consumer decides to wins and who loses."