The 15 Coolest Cars At The New York Auto Show

The New York International Auto Show, the most popular auto show in North America, opens to the public this weekend.

If you're in the area and want to see the future of the auto industry, it's worth making the trek over to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center before the show closes on April 27.

We were on the scene for the press-preview days to check out what the world's biggest automakers have been working on.

From the gorgeous new Corvette convertible to the latest Rolls-Royce to the future of the iconic Land Rover Discovery, here are the cars you won't want to miss while you're there.

The engine under the hood of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT cranks out 430 horsepower, good for a 0 to 60 time of 4.6 seconds. Even better is the unusually low price tag for the British luxury mark: $99,900. And to top it all off, the GT comes with a standard manual transmission.

After a two-decade hiatus, Alfa Romeo has finally returned to the U.S. market, and its ambassador is the lovely 4C sports car. Thanks to lightweight construction and sleek aerodynamics, the 4C should hit a top speed of 160 mph and run from 0 to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds.

This week is the 50th birthday of the iconic Mustang, and Ford pulled out all the stops to mark the occasion. That included bringing a car to the top of the Empire State Building and a special edition car, complete with retro styling to complement modern performance.

For the New York show, Nissan trotted out a new, surprisingly stylish, version of the Murano. The automaker says it expects the midsize crossover to appeal to empty nesters. The Murano will hit the market in late 2014.

Meanwhile, Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, is working hard to put itself in the realm of the top dogs like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. The new version of the Q70 looks like a good step in that direction. Infiniti is also introducing a long wheelbase version to make the sedan even more spacious.

Dodge made a splash at the show this year with the 2015 Charger, which it calls the world's only four-door muscle car. The Charger is powered by a V6 engine that will generate 300 horsepower that also delivers an impressive 31 mpg.

Land Rover kicked auto show week off with a bang with the reveal of its Discovery Vision Concept, a sleek new take on the boxy Discovery SUV that's been around since the late 1980s. This car looks little like its rigid predecessors.

GM calls the new Corvette Z06 convertible a "world-class supercar," built to deliver 600 horsepower, 600 pound-feet of torque, all in an aluminum structure that should keep the topless body stiff under tough conditions. GM head of product Mark Reuss says the convertible will go from 0 to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds, and is "every bit as capable" as the coupe.