About 800 vehicles from 42 manufacturers are on display at the 51st New England International Auto Show, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center through Sunday.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

BOSTON There is something for everyone at the New England International Auto Show, which runs through tomorrow afternoon.

Along with current models from all mainstream manufacturers, there are a number of developed concepts to marvel at and supercars to salivate over, including a Lotus Elise, a brace of Ferraris and a troika of Lamborghinis.

The show is housed in Boston’s spectacular new Convention and Exhibition Center, whose cavernous glass and metal-framed space is bathed in natural light, a stark contrast to its low-ceilinged and dark former space, the Bayside Expo Center. Indeed, the space compares more than favorably with the glass-encased Jacob K. Javits’ Convention Center in Manhattan, home to the New York Auto Show.

In Boston, some 800 vehicles from 42 manufacturers are on display. General Motors displays its good-looking 2010 Camaro prototype and the new Turbo X from its Swedish subsidiary, Saab. Brian Nesbitt, GM’s vice president of design for North America, said he hoped the new Saab, which is modeled on the successful and distinctive 900 series, will boost sales of a marque that has lost its way in recent years.

“We would certainly like more [sales] volume,” he said in an interview at the Saab stand on Tuesday, when the show was open to the media. Saying GM wanted to resurrect the brand, he noted that the car had become “invisible” from a design point of view.

Nesbitt returned from Europe in June after a three-year stint with GM’s European design team — the company has 11 design studios worldwide — and said he was pleased with the favorable reaction that the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu has been receiving.

“It’s a nice validation,” he said, noting that it was the last car for which he directed the exterior design before moving to Europe.

The car has been compared to the iconic Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

“It’s a legitimate competitor to the Toyota brand,” he said. “Something credible that should be considered.”

With fuel economy and alternative fuels dominating the headlines, Nesbitt said “the design function participates in fuel economy through aerodynamics.”

“It’s exciting, a new set of variables,” he said, referring to the electric Chevrolet Volt, which he quoted GM vice chairman Bob Lutz as saying will be on the market in 2010.

“We are developing the car and the batteries at the same time,” he said.

He said GM is looking to combine function and elegance, and compared the Chevrolet marque to Target. “It’s a discount store, but an upmarket discount store,” he said, noting that design plays a crucial role in even the most mundane items. “Even my toilet plunger has a design,” he said.

Among the eye-catching concept designs are Saab’s Aero X, with its wraparound windshield and Corvette-like bulging fenders.

Other eye candy includes Suzuki’s Wave, which is a pure beach fun boxy convertible with a pull-out freezer and barbecue in the rear, and the Suzuki Blizzard, a snow bunny of a wagon with a fold-out seat in the rear for putting on ski or snowboard boots.

“We let the designers have some fun,” said Thom Haskell, Suzuki district sales manager, eastern region.

The concept Jeep Trailhawk and Chrysler Imperial — both of which have been shown before — have the high-beltline aggressive look that is increasingly popular in auto design, including the Camaro prototype. The Trailhawk is a Jeep on steroids, an SUV that is all but open to the elements and has distinctive headlights that are hooded by the fenders, giving the face of the vehicle aggressive eyebrows. Likewise, the Imperial looks like a Chrysler 300 on steroids.

The Dodge Challenger is gorgeous, a classy clean version of an iconic muscle car from the pre-OPEC days of the late 1960s, with four pipes, a red ID light across the rear and massive doors. The one at the show is a crisp orange, trimmed with black and with a black interior and fat wheels and tires.

Mini is introducing its Mini Cooper Clubman at the show, which is a four-door extended (9.6 inches) version of the new Mini whose two cargo doors open sideways like the old Mini Traveler, and which also boasts passenger-side suicide doors. Minis are made in Oxford, England, according to a spokeswoman, but the marque is owned by BMW, which unfortunately is not showing the 3-  and 5-series diesels that are making a big impression in Europe.

Rockets include Audi’s $125,000 white, silver and black R8, with design echoes of the Bugatti Veyron, the Porsche 911 Turbo convertible, which reaches 60 mph in 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 193 mph ($136,000), and Nissan’s elegant GTR supercar, which a spokesman said will be available next summer for $67,000 to $80,000.

Speaking of supercars, there are a couple of Ferarri F430 Spiders (a coupe and a roadster), a pretty Lotus Elise, Aston Martin’s V8 Vantage and DB9 Volante and a couple of Lamborghini Gallardos (nearly $250,000) and a lime green and black Lamborghini Murcielago ($415,000!).

During a media lunch hosted by the New England Motor Press Association, awards were given out to Amar G. Bose, president of Bose Corp. and a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who still teaches a course in acoustics there. He made a presentation featuring his company’s new suspension technology, which he said had cost $100 million and 27 years and was still under development.

Other awards were made to New England mega dealer Herb Chambers. Referring to the current economic climate that has slowed auto sales, he said, with characteristic optimism, that “next year will be a hard year if you believe it will be a hard year.”

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack the Tappet brothers, the hosts of National Public Radio’s show Car Talk, were also recipients of awards for their contribution to the industry, as was GM’s Nesbitt, who was the keynote speaker.

For more information, on the auto show, check out: www .paragonexpo.com/189.html

pelsworth@projo.com