It’s no secret that most of America’s auto shows aren’t what they used to be. Grand displays full of concept cars and bombastic themes are often replaced with local dealers rolling in whatever’s in stock. The Chicago Auto Show is no different. The auto show, which calls itself America’s largest, has scaled back dramatically over the past few years, becoming roughly half its prior size. Yet, there’s still a great reason to go to Chicago and other auto shows in the modern day.
I’ve been going to the Chicago Auto Show since 2009. I was only 16 when I went to the show for the first time, and it was a whole experience. I would join a few of my high school classmates on an all-day auto show adventure. We’d stop by the booths of all of our favorite car brands, sit in our favorite cars, and dream of a future of owning them. Chicago, while sometimes overshadowed by Detroit’s show, still had plenty of concepts from basically every automaker to look at. The automakers were also heavy with theming. Scion’s display would have neon lights, loud stereos, and big bass. Cadillac and Lincoln made their displays feel like black-tie events, while Kia leaned in on its relationship with the NBA.
Back in those days, it was easy to lose an entire hour at just a single automaker’s booth. I know I did. One of the coolest parts of going to Chicago as a teenager was walking up to the front of the display and kindly asking for a flash drive. Every automaker would have them, and the flash drives would have brochures and press images on them. The drives were also themed, with Kia’s drive being a carabiner, GMC’s replicating diamond plate metal, and so on.
My favorite Chicago Auto Show was probably 2015. I visited the show for the first time as the “new” me, and got to meet and race Tanner Foust in iRacing.
The Chicago Auto Show was also the first event I ever went to as media, as the personal car blog I ran for the passion of cars was regularly cleared to attend the media days. The show became so near to my heart that I never missed a single year until the COVID-19 pandemic. I often went to the show two or three times just because it was so fun.
Chicago even had a special edition in 2021, where visitors got the extraordinary chance to enjoy the show outside in summertime rather than the bitter cold of February when the show is normally held. When I returned in 2023, the show was still wonderful and all kinds of fun, but cracks were showing.
Large swaths of McCormick Place were empty, and several automakers skipped out on the show entirely. In 2023, Chicago was missing Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, Porsche, Mini, Land Rover, Audi, Lincoln, Jaguar, Mitsubishi, and Volvo. Other automakers, like Cadillac, were there only for the test track rides.
Chicago was a bit of a truck show until recent years. Automakers would show off their newest cars in Detroit, then roll in with the heavy iron in Chicago. America’s Big Three used to make a show of its commercial vehicle offerings. You could walk over to Ford and sit in a Mustang and then sit in a medium-duty F-Series dump truck in the same display! Ram would have its HD offerings, while GM would have a little of everything from service trucks to pimped-out Chevy Express vans.
Chicago had perhaps an even greater impact in the decades prior. The show markets itself as North America’s oldest, as it’s been held more times since 1901 than any other show. It’s also marketed as being North America’s largest show in terms of floor space. There was a time when some of the biggest debuts happened right in Chicago. When Mazda launched the MX-5 Miata in 1989, it was revealed right here in Chicago. The 1989 Acura NS-X Concept, the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8, the reborn Ford Taurus SHO, and the 1993 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning each had their debuts in Chicago. Dodge even teased a Viper V10 performance truck in Chicago before making it real.
The Chicago Auto Show has scaled back dramatically in the past couple of years. In terms of floor space and automaker participation, Chicago is now roughly half the size it was less than 10 years ago. If you’re less than generous and take away the many indoor tracks, the show might even be a third of its prior size.
To be fair to Chicago, that wasn’t its fault. Every American auto show is struggling. Detroit, Los Angeles, you name it, all of them are getting smaller with less content.
Many buyers are shopping at home now. You can shop for and buy a car without ever leaving your home. Pretty much everyone offers 3D car configurators and high-res imagery. Cars are launched online now rather than in person. If you’re loyal to a brand, maybe you’ll just drive to the dealer.
I’ve been seeing a lot of online chatter about skipping shows because of their size or how expensive cars have gotten. I think you should still go to these auto shows, because they still have a lot going for them.
Still Fly
My wife and I went to Chicago during the weekend. We worked the single show floor sort of counter-clockwise, starting in Toyota and then moving to Ford before continuing to Subaru. Toyota tends to have one of the biggest static displays at the present Chicago Auto Show, and it brought everything from the Tacoma and the Crown to the GR86 and the GR Corolla. There were long lines just to sit in the GR cars! Toyota even brought a spicy concept Camry, which was cool.
Ford brought out its lineup and set up a Bronco test track. The most bombastic car there was the 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC.
Yet, Sheryl and I gravitated the most to the Ford Maverick XL. The little work truck was stupendous, with a urethane steering wheel, steel wheels, and all. But it’s a shame the Mav’s base price is now $28,145, and that’s before you cough up an additional $1,845 for the destination fee. I suspect Ford’s little truck will be a great used buy for Sheryl once it depreciates some more.
Most automakers that bothered to come to Chicago didn’t do a whole lot of theming. At least, not like how they used to. Subaru is exempt from this, as it pulls out all the stops even for small shows. This time, Subaru went with a wilderness theme, which has been its go-to for some years now, and put a muddy car on center stage. Subaru also brought a BRZ, a hot yellow WRX, and even Travis Pastrana’s Brataroo 9500 Turbo.
Of course, Subaru also had a little pen with dogs to adopt in it. Subaru usually has great displays, and Chicago was no exception.
So many automakers just do not come to Chicago anymore, and the ones that do keep scaling down their displays. This year, I didn’t see Audi, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, Porsche, Mini, Land Rover, Lincoln, Jaguar, Mitsubishi, or Volvo. However, there were some pleasant twists, as Cadillac had a proper display this year, Tesla grew its display, and it was great seeing faces like Polestar, Vinfast, and Lucid.
There was even a big electric school bus at the show this year! It was easily one of my favorite vehicles of the whole show. The big ol’ bus was a taste of what this show used to be.
Chicago Is Now A Car Culture Show
The organizers of the Chicago Auto Show are honestly clever and crafty people. A large portion of the show was dedicated to the more obscure corners of Chicago car culture. Yes, the show had a bunch of supercars, just as it does every year. Anyone who has spent more than a couple of days in Chicago in the summer knows the city is full of Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces galore. Classic cars are also a huge part of Chicago car culture and make frequent Chicago Auto Show appearances.
But this time, there was a pleasant twist. This year, there was something called “Chi-Town Alley” where more obscure car clubs had their cars on display. It was a sort of meeting place to connect with other Chicago car lovers and talk shop. The display had a little bit of everything, from a Nissan R34 Skyline and a Toyota MR2 Turbo to a clean BMW 2002 TII and a highly modified 1997 BMW M3.
There was an entire lowrider section. The car that got my attention the most was this Chevrolet Fleetline, which had one of those neat swamp coolers that was painted to match the car.
Across from the car club section was a little display for the film Drifter by Sung Kang (Han from the Fast franchise) and Rutledge Wood (known best for Top Gear USA). As a huge fan of the old Top Gear USA, I desperately wanted to meet Rutledge, but the line was crazy long. Maybe next time!
The People Element
Chicago had a few genuine surprises this year. Honda didn’t bring nearly enough cars to fill up its display. That resulted in this sort of weird visual:
But that didn’t matter to most people because Honda did bring the Prelude, and everyone wanted to see it. Sheryl is probably one of the 12 ideal customers for a Prelude, and she confirms that she adores it. She loves the idea of a soft touring coupe with Honda reliability. Well, there you go!
Something I loved doing in this show was paying attention to what everyone else was doing. Some people brought their kids and examined which crossovers fit the best. Some people put their kids in driver seats so they could pretend to drive.
Then there were the more interesting characters among them. One guy clearly developed his own testing system and sat in every car in a specific way. He’d recline the seat back a little, max out the bass and treble on the car’s stereo, and then simulate driving down I-94 with one hand on the wheel and the tunes blasting. He seemed to have a thing for Hondas and Kias. As it turns out, the Prelude has a pretty decent stereo!
Sheryl was accidentally one of these people. We went to the auto show as a date, but she suddenly found herself window shopping. She was impressed with the Prelude and then walked over to BMW, Volkswagen, and Buick. BMW, like Toyota, didn’t bring anything that really moved her heart. She also got excited about the ID.Buzz until she saw its base prices. That’s fair. Buick stopped Sheryl in her tracks, which was a genuine surprise.
I found Sheryl falling deeply in love with an Envista. This thing is a fastback crossover that shares its bones with the Chevy Trax. It’s built by GM Korea like other affordable GM models, and I was shocked that you get quite a lot for the base price of $24,700, plus a destination charge of $1,795.
The downside is that the 1.2-liter three-cylinder under the hood is working hard to pump out 137 HP. Oh, and the engine has a wet timing belt. Still, Sheryl didn’t care. She adored the fastback look, calling it Buick’s Honda Crosstour. Yes, she’s perhaps one of two dozen people who adored the Crosstour, so that’s a compliment. The low price of the Envista means it’s also potentially affordable to finance. Nobody’s going to complain about her driving a brand-new Buick! But I admit, I’m not the biggest fan of that tiny engine.
Sheryl then sat in a WRX and a BRZ, figuring out that she really digs the BRZ. Oh yeah, I can see her rocking a BRZ one day.
Auto Shows Still Have A Place
We completed the auto show in a touch over two hours. While I miss spending an entire day in Chicago, we had a fantastic time. The biggest lesson I learned is that there’s still value in auto shows. Had we never gone to the show, Sheryl would have never figured out that she loves the Envista. I also got to show her what Tesla’s newest models look like in person, and we got to talk about what’s going on with Vinfast.
We had an experience that you just cannot get online. It’s different talking online about how a Vinfast will go 4 mph at all costs, and having that conversation while sitting in a Vinfast. You can’t get a feel for how you will fit in a car by looking at pictures online, and some dealerships have a pushy sales environment. But nobody bothered us as we played around with some Buicks and the Honda Prelude. That alone is worth the cost of admission.
It was also just a fun thing to do for a couple of hours on a cold Saturday. I’m not in the market to buy a new car, but I don’t care; it’s still fun to see cool cars in person. It’s so awesome to see kids become future car enthusiasts and to witness young couples shopping for their first new car together. There’s a human element that online car reveals completely erases. Hats off to the folks who craft these shows each and every year.
So, yes, car shows are getting smaller. Yes, more automakers are skipping shows. But you should still go to them. They’re still tons of fun. You never know when you’ll see a car that you didn’t know existed, or find out that you like a car that you didn’t think you would. If you’re interested in going, the Chicago Auto Show will be running daily until February 16. If enough people are interested, maybe we can have an Autopian meetup next weekend!
Topshot graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
The autopian should go, set up one of your hoopties and a frunk full of clams. Heck throw in a motorcycle and sidecar full of crawdads and y’all will be the talk of the automotive journalist “cool club”.
Trunk full of clams!?! Philistiene!
It’s a wheelbarrow full of shrimp or nothing 😉
There was a post on Reddit about a terrible looking $15 turkey sandwich at the show.
That’s sad. The convention center which hosts the Paris Motor Show (as well as Retromobile) has a surprisingly good and relatively cheap cafe. It’s a nice place to relax and get away from the crazy.
Several years ago I got hungry and bought a slice of pizza at the show for lunch. A slice that would’ve cost $4 elsewhere was $8. I don’t want to know what a slice would cost now. Since then, I put a few granola bars in my pockets and have a snack every few hours as I walk the show.
Have you and your wife shopped used Mavericks? They haven’t depreciated much from MSRP, but since the MSRP on new ones have gone up so much, some of the used ones are starting to look fairly-priced. I’m seeing CPO 2022 models with under 70k miles around $16-17k.
Regarding the Envista, I am driving one as a rental all week. The size is surprisingly good and I’m a tall big dude.
It’s a bit odd in some ways though. The right steering column windshield wiper type stick is the shifter (pull back move up for reverse. Pull back move down for drive. Push end in for park).
Then the center console opens upward like barn doors which seems smart and silly at the same time.
The side view mirrors are noticeably less wide than one might expect. I keep looking at them like there’s something missing, which is my own issue I guess.
I like the display as it crosses the dash up to the passenger airbag area, so through the width of the traditional radio area but not lower. That said the screen is not as responsive as it should be and the top row of letters has brighter little numbers that distract me and make me keep searching for letters that are right in front of my eyes.
Then there’s the “passenger airbag is off” orange letters shining bright near where the interior lights are which are a bit distracting and obnoxious.
Then, there’s the android auto which disconnects repeatedly and messages that pop up saying “this application requires a connected service subscription”. This one thing will keep me from even considering the vehicle! I will never-ever subscribe for the ability to pass through my phone function to a cars screen!
The front is roomy which is a plus, but it comes with making the back seat room snug, not Mustang snug, but snug.
The place to wireless charge a phone lets you charge top on left and bottom on right, completely flat. I guess it’s fine if you have the car screens taking care of visuals (assuming one subscribes) however I prefer my phone with the top toward the front, slightly tilted up in the back. Just makes more sense to me.
I know I whined a bunch, but I am actually enjoying it and it’s a good looking vehicle. IMO
I’d rent it again based on my 40 or so minutes in it thus far. That subscribe fhing keeps me from considering a purchase, if that time comes.
I appreciate the positive spin on these “international” car shows, but they’re a shell of their former selves. I attended the NYIAS practically every year from the mid-80’s through about 2017 (I remember bring scared to take the subway as a 9-year old around the time that Bernie Goetz shot a group of teenagers….little did I know that my dad had brought his smallest gun in a camera case, true story).
You could see the writing on the wall as the 2010’s moved along with all of the new releases taking place on social media and all the info appearing on car blogs of all sorts, not to mention the empty areas where manufacturers used to be. It was sad to walk around the Javits center and wonder: Hey, where’s Volvo? What happened to Mazda? And, of course, the prices kept going up…..
Here’s a thought: Why don’t manufacturers just bring a truckload or two of their models and place them on the floor? What a novel idea! Sure, the concept cars were cool, but I actually enjoyed sitting in and checking out the mundane, everyday cars all under one roof without a salesperson hounding you….you just had to battle little Timmy-touch-all-the-buttons who enjoyed sitting in the driver’s seat for 10 minutes even though he had just gotten past using pull-ups…end of rant!
I test drove an Envista with three adults in the car. It felt stronger than its numbers would indicate. I think a drive would impress you. Alas, I couldn’t get over the wet belt.
Just the possibility that the two of you are thinking about maybe buying one should have GM double checking the quality control on the Trax/Envista engine line…
I also love auto shows. MY Dad took my to NYC for the 1962 show and a neighbor for the 1972 show. I got to see cars like the Ferrari Modulo and 512S, and the Cannonball Daytona out front at the latter.
I went every year I lived in NYC, which was 24 years, and the last one I shopped for the car I’d buy when I retired shortly thereafter. I still have the 2015 Fit I bought in 2014 after falling for the one at the show.
I remember dad, my uncle and I would make the trip to the Sydney Motor Show every year. One year we were there with everyone to do some quick feel tests for cross shopping cars. I remember sitting in the VT Monaro concept and thinking it was just the coolest thing ever with a dark blue interior. Then a few years later having that one upped by the HRT427 concept.
It was also my first exposure to big American trucks because there was a brief period were Ford Australia officially imported first generation F250s. I remember being slightly terrified of it because my head only came up to the top of the grille.
My last car show was the Buffalo Car Show and it was shortly after Ford announced that they weren’t going to sell any cars anymore (except the Mustang). My friends and I got great delight, loudly announcing at each Ford car how this was a good car, shame they were discontinuing them. The booth employees were not impressed.
Took the family to the Detroit show for the first time this year. That was the weekend of the big snow. Turns out Detroit’s snow plow guys are on strike? What a mess. The show was a solid Meh, a bit better than Milwaukee’s but not by much. The highlights were the same blue Fiat in Mercedes’ picture above, and getting a haircut in a Sprinter van.
My exposure to this year’s Chicago Auto Show was someone posted the Ramcharger EREV on display had a $112K sticker price for a mid level trim and the reactions were exactly what you would expect.
Two of my coworkers have the current generation trax, one in white and the other in a fantastic fountain blue. Both just wanted a cheap transportation appliance and upgraded from vehicles getting mpg in the teens, and both like them a lot.
Begrudgingly went to the last LA Auto Show. There is no reduction in size, it occupies the exact same buildings, filled to the same capacity, as it did twenty years ago. What does stink is even though I was away since pre-Covid, nothing much really changed. The same boring suvs/cuvs/trucks and not much else interesting.
It is so funny to me how some of your pictures are taken from spots I was literally exactly standing in yesterday!
I go there every year with a couple of other shop teachers. We’ll be there tomorrow when it opens. Sadly, we will easily be done by lunch time, because there just isn’t that much to see. I think your size estimate is generous, and it’s closer to 1/4 of the size it used to be, once you eliminate all the test tracks.
I still manage to spend as much time at the show as I did when it took up both buildings, but I was able to spend way more time looking at stuff as there was so much less to see. Before, I’d spend too much time in one building and have to rush through the second.
Besides the EV, Bronco, and Jeep test tracks I have no interest in, the overlanding and Chi-Town Alley displays took up a lot of room. I skipped the overlanding area and only glanced at the Chi-Town Alley stuff.
I only spend 2-3 hours there.
One of the other shop teachers I went with, was invited to put his Tacoma in the overlanding area, but it’s his only vehicle. There was a cool 6×6 Suzuki Samurai there, and that was worth going through that area.
My wife also discovered that she really likes the Envista at an auto show a year or two back. We test drove it, liked it a lot, but ultimately decided it wasn’t quite right for us. Nicely done by Buick, you get a lot for your money with the Envista. The three banger was pretty weird though.
I went to NAIAS in 2023 and it was a sad shell of its former self. Considering that the industry has largely moved to SUV/CUV’s, there’s not many aspirational sedans to consider any longer.
With that type of vehicle, you might as well go to an agricultural equipment show. Just as exciting.
I think I’ve only been to one new car show, or was it two? I know one was in early 2014 when I was looking for something to replace the old xB. I wanted something a bit sporty.
There wasn’t much to choose from at the show. I was mostly interested in the Fiat 500 Abarth, which was there. I think the Camaro and Miata were the only other choices. I had hoped to see the MS3 at least, maybe Hyundai Genesis Coupe. (Ended up buying my ’13 Abarth when the local dealer contacted me from the show, and they had ’13’s for $6k off.)
Oh yea, I went in 2019 when I decided I was interested in the new Crosstrek. I wanted to see some similar choices. The Kona was the only thing close and it was just meh. (Ended up with a Crosstrek a few weeks later.)
I sat in a new Camaro at one of those, just because I had two 84’s back in the day. Ew, the outside view was nonexistent. Would have saved me a trip to the dealer.
Now I want a picture of the clean BMW 2002 TII.
Haven’t been to an auto show in decades. Could see it still being fun though!
With adjusted expectations.
I do not have a photo of the BMW because there was a crowd blocking it. But it is featured on the CAS website:
https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/attractions/chi-town-alley/
Thanks! Pretty! And out of my price range I’m sure. Sure wish I’d had the space to hang onto my 1972 2002 with the cracked head.
Oh yes! Also, I realize it’s ‘The Autopian’ not ‘The Dogtopian’, but dropping the line about adoptable dogs at the Subaru booth had me excited for doggos. While the Brat certainly has a kind of dog-like vibe to it (in a very charming way), my dog loving heart was a little sad.
The BMW did look quite nice. There was an Instagram handle on it, @ryderlamb_. He has a few pics of it on there.
For what it’s worth, I like the Envista too! The styling (idiotic taillight functionality aside) is really sharp and kinda screams “21st century grand tourer” to me. If Buick would do something silly like offer a performance-y version with an actual manual, I’d be there.
I like the Envista too, but the dopey taillights, 3-cyl engine, and questionable reliability ruin it for me. I wish Toyota would make something of similar and shape.
As for your comment about a performance version, while I sat in the Envista, I overheard 2 guys joking Buick should put a powerful engine in it and call it a Grand National to piss off enthusiasts.
I think eventually, GM could do worse than offering an electric “GNext” performance version of something.
Have been going for the last few years to the Chicago shows, and it is really noticeably smaller which makes it a bit less fun.
Another interesting shift at the show has been Tesla, which originally didn’t go -> then seemed to have spectacle when they first had a Cybertruck with a DJ playing in the bed and a long line to see it -> this year, where it looked like they realized they might need positive marketing, but to so many fewer interested people (including in their ‘taxi’ that seemed smaller than the new Honda Prelude…just how people like their taxis).
I used to go to the Chicago Car Show in the 1990s, when I was in my teens. I’d sit in the Supra and dream of owning one — it didn’t seem that impossible at the time. BMW 8-series, 3000GT VR4, sit right down in the driver’s seat and see how heavy the clutch was. I saw the Shelby Series 1 on display. Porsche had a purple 911 turbo on a rotating display. That show was huge, the energy was incredible. I know things change, but I will miss the era of the big car show.
I did the same, took the train to McCormick, and will always remember seeing the concept for what would become the SN95 Bullitt Mustang there!
As a kid I looked forward to the Auto Show more than Christmas. We lived downstate and my dad would pull us out of school right before lunch, midweek, so we wouldn’t have to fight the crowds.
They’d already started going downhill in quality, but the early-COVID 2020 show kind of broke my dad, him being a raging hypochondriac. I didn’t think one person could carry as many hand sanitizer wipes as he used after getting out of cars, and he’s never expressed the desire to go back since. 33 years in a row for us, including the years I flew back from the west coast to meet up with him for it.
The early-COVID show was kinda’ pre-Twilight Zone feeling, and a last gasp of what the Chicago show should look like for a long time. A buddy and I are planning to do the show tomorrow (road trip three hours in, find proper Chicago dining, a couple hours of show early evening, then boogie back home).
I attended most years from the mid/late ’80s through the early ’20s. I just can’t get into it in its modern form, knowing what it was for so long. In the heyday I would spend an entire day there, soaking it all in. Now it’s maybe an hour or two and I’m bored; definitely not worth the drive from West Michigan anymore. I lament what has been lost and cherish the memories of times past.
The sign on the door of the VinFast just screams “desperation”.
The cruel twist is that the lease is limited to 7,500 miles a year.
That sounds aspirational.
If “please clap” were a sales pitch.
I’ve got to dig out the old photo album to see if I still have the picture from the ’92 show, the only one I can recall since starting going in ’88 with a manufacturer-supported Ferrari exhibit, with 12-year old me standing in front of an F40.
When they consolidated the show into one hall of the new building, I thought they should have sent it back across the street to Lakefront Center. Splitting the venue between two rooms (upstairs and downstairs over there) always makes an event seem bigger.
Bingo. https://imgur.com/a/8nzmwkb
I remember seeing the F40 at the Cleveland show. That was mind blowing.
I’m glad they are still doing an auto show. The Columbus OH one was cancelled last year and has been again this year