It wasn’t so long ago that the New York Auto Show was filled radical concept cars. Automakers were trying their best to one up each other in terms of recklessness and in feasibility of their concept vehicles. Concept cars like the Chrysler ME-12 and Imperial, the Ford Bronco and Interceptor, or the Chevy Nomad and Trailblazer Twin-Turbo were the vehicles you fought the crowded Javitts Center to see. One concept vehicle that I will never forget is the Dodge Tomahawk, a Viper V10-powered motorcycle capable of over 200 mph.

But those days may soon be over. This year’s New York Auto Show wasn’t about flashy concept cars or outrageous engines or anything particularly thrilling. Instead, it was all about fuel economy, low emissions, and environmental responsibility. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that. But where is the pizzazz, the excitement, the whole reason for coming to an auto show other than seeing all the cars you can see in any dealer showroom?

Here is a brief breakdown of the each of the Big Three’s displays and announcements.

FORD

This year’s keynote speaker was Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company. He gave the opening address to the media and spoke about the hard times behind us, and the good times coming. Ford has been refreshing and updating its lineup consistently, with many new, high quality cars hitting the roads in the past 18 months. Ford’s press conference at its booth was second, after Mercedes. The biggest news as of late was the Mustang 5.0 and new V6 engine, both of which were on display as cutaways…though the Mustang was conspicuously absent from Ford’s car display. Instead, the big news from the Blue Oval was the Lincoln MKZ hybrid, which joins its sister car’s the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids. There wasn’t even any mention of the Mustang in Ford’s presentations.

This was as much Mustang as there was…the new 5.0 engine

There was a lot of talk about hybrids and electric cars and a brief mention of the EcoBoost engine, and then an announcement of a new partnership with Microsoft. The partnership concerns a new electricity management system having to do with electric cars and charging during off-peak hours and lots of nifty electric car stuff. But even the Fiesta was hardly mentioned. Ford is going high-tech and small engine, and eventually, electric, with a Focus electric car coming out next year. Which leaves me (and I’m sure many others) wondering…what about the Mustang?

General Motors

Despite still having four brands under its umbrella, GM held just one press conference yesterday at the Chevy booth. It had two small cars under wraps, but unlike Ford GM still had a sizable number of big-engine vehicles sharing the floor with its smaller displacement power plants. There were several Camaros on the floor, not far from the Chevy Caprice PPV, the new rear-wheel drive cop car based on the same platform as the dead Pontiac G8.

V6 Synergy Green Camaro is surprisingly sharp

At the Cadillac displayer, the CTS-V sedan, coupe, and just-announced Sportwagon drew lots of attention. With a 556 horsepower supercharged LSA engine under the hood, these luxurious cars will defiantly haul ass. At the Buick stand the Regal GS concept slowly rotated around, showing off its sleek body and dual exhaust tips. But at this point, these cars are mostly old news. We’ve heard about them and their presence was expected at the show. So what was under the sheets at the Chevy booth? Two different Cruze models destined for showroom floors, each sharing an engine though with different intents in mind.

The Cadillac CTS-V Sportwagon looks good (and practical) at least

The Cruze RS was the more aggressive of the two, with a rear spoiler, fog lights, and upgraded interior. It shares its 138 horsepower and 148 ft-lb of torque 1.4 liter turbocharged engine with the Cruze Eco. This 40-mpg car reduces its drag with front air dams that close at high speeds and a six-speed manual, without stripping out any of the components that make the car appealing to young buyers (or anyone that values convenience really). That about wrapped up the GM displayer. So what about Dodge?

DODGE

Two is company, but three is a crowd it seems at this year’s New York Auto Show. While the Ford and Chevy displays have always been uneasy neighbors, Dodge has for a long time had its own corner in the massive Javitts center. But number three of the Big Three seemed even further from its cross-town rivals than ever. Dodge had no press conferences, no announcements, just lots of Challengers in many different old-school hues. On the rotating display was a Furious Fuchsia-colored Challenger R/T, which was not far away from the Dodge Viper ACR sitting in the corner.

This car is very, very pink in person

There were several 300C’s on display as well, and rumor has it Chrysler has pushed up the release date for a refreshed 300C to this fall. Next to the Dodge display were some Fiat 500’s, and a Chrysler Lancia concept (essentially a Lancia Delta crossover with a Chrysler grill) with a spokes model wearing a very uncomfortable-looking armor-plated dress. That was Dodge’s contribution to the New York Auto Show this year. Armor plated women.

The Other Guys

But it wasn’t just the Big Three keeping the performance tone down. Many of the Japanese and European manufacturers focused on fuel efficiency over performance as well, and many concepts from earlier shows. Even the all-electric Audi E-Tron was not in attendance, though there were several R8’s there to make up for the lack of the E-Tron. Toyota did not have the FT-86 rear-wheel drive turbocharged coupe on display either. Hyundai had a very impressive four-cylinder, 274 horsepower sedan on display though, arguably stealing some of the thunder from other automakers. And then there was the Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, a race-ready luxury car that will break your wallet and your back.

Hennessey HPE600 was as much muscle as there was at the New York Auto Show

There was one truly bright spot when it came to performance cars. Hennessey had a Challenger and two Camaros on display, including the LS9 HPE700 monster racer. It was a nice reprieve from all the talk about fuel economy and emissions, but the display was predictably small. The A-Team van was also there though, so at least there is that.

I get the feeling though that the days of radical concept cars may be over. Everything seemed to have production intent in mind, and there was nothing really mind blowing. That isn’t to say the performance cars are going away…but we may be experiencing the last hurrah of the real muscle car and big V8 engines. The talk was all about turbos and small displacement…and I think we should get ready to expect more of the same.