Outside of visits as a media person, I cannot confirm when I last attended an auto show (not to be confused with a car show, as in a bunch of guys showing off whatever in a parking lot, which you’re also free to discuss), but I would guess it was in the late 1980s when my Dad was in the peak of his new-car-every-two years habit. He usually just got the latest Toyota Celica, but he’d pack up the fam each year and we’d check out all the latest wares nonetheless.
Though not valueless as a buying-decision-helper, the event was hardly essential and mostly just a good time. It did, however, go a long way in building excitement for getting a new car if not solidifying the call on which one to get, and maybe Dad visited a few dealerships he may not have otherwise bothered with before getting that latest Celica. And so, you could say the car show worked.
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A lot has changed since then, what with the electronic tube system communication system and our pocket supercomputers/televisions/attention-absorberizers that have become fixtures in our lives. The auto show scene has contracted greatly, and the era of major manufacturers saving their big new releases for auto-show debuts is long past. The auto show may be defunct as the best, if not sole, means of getting the word out about the newest models, but who among us doesn’t like to look at cars?
And so, the Autopian Asks: What Was The Last Auto Show You Attended?
UPDATE: The Bishop tracked down “The Fiero Triplets” on video, nice:
Top graphic image: The New YorkAuto Show
The last auto show I attended was the this years Chicago auto show I February. I haven’t missed an auto show since I started going in 1994 or 1995 as an 8 or 9 year old. Though what auto show I have attended, has depended on what city was living in at the time.
I still love going to auto shows even if the list of car makers that show up is not as comprehensive as it used to be. In fact over the last five or so years I have started going to auto shows in two different cities.
For me, it was the Los Angeles Auto Show in November of 2024. You know, the one that The Autopian was NOT at this time!
Car shows? I attend 4 or 5 each year.
Auto Show? I went to the Detroit Autorama once 25 years ago.
LA Auto Show – 2019
But the funnest Auto Shows I’ve been to were press days at the NYC Auto Show and LA Auto Show with Joel Feder.
And the most memorable auto show was the Tokyo Motor Show in 1991.
2012, wow..
It was a lot of fun, though I admit was was drinking.
We fit 4 adults into a Scion iQ, tested out a mobility van loader, and insulted a Fisker rep..
Me: blink…
Rep: “It’s a Fisker Karma!!”
Me: “yeah, I know… I’m just kinda shocked because it’s not on fire”
Oh and I bought a die cast version of my WRX with pull back action from a Russian guy..
I haven’t been to an autoshow since before the Pandemic. Usually just Denver’s which wasn’t great, but it’s what I could get to.