How the $1.1 million Youabian Puma won the Los Angeles Auto Show

I feel bad for the auto industry. Hundreds of executives from around the world descend on the Los Angeles Auto Show to talk up their newest models and engineering feats — only to have a home-grown competitor crush their dreams beneath a hardtop, four-seat convertible coupe that costs $1.1 million.

Yes, for all the glamour of a new Porsche or Jaguar or video-game Mercedes, the car everyone couldn't stop talking about was a 20-foot-long piece of zaftig fiberglass that looks like no other car ever created — the Youabian Puma.

The brainchild of Los Angeles cosmetic surgeon Kami Youabian, the Puma has been under development for seven years. Project manager Onnik Hovansian said the goal was to build a car that would be mistaken for no other, with plans to build only to order, taking 18 to 24 months from a customer check to delivery. "It's a very unique design that he dreamed and decided to put into reality," Hovansian said

Built atop a steel and aluminum chassis with a fiberglass body, power comes from a 505-hp, 7-liter Corvette V-8, yoked to a six-speed automatic driving the rear wheels. The 20-inch wheels carry 44-inch tires designed for cruising the desert as much as the boulevard, although on pavement the Puma claims a 0-60 mph time of 5.9 seconds and, most shockingly, 22 mpg highway.