Press Day At The 2019 Chicago Auto Show!

The Chicago Auto Show is an institution. I attended my first in 1988. I was in third grade, and my parents took me up. It was a revelation for eight year old me. Cars, cars everywhere! Two floors of cars! And concepts, and free brochures! Good Lord, this must be what heaven is like!

1988 Volvo 780 coupe. Yes, that’s me.

Suffice it to say, I was hooked. And while we didn’t attend every single year, we went most years between the late ’80s and late ’90s. There was always something to see. And we’d wander around Chicago as well. It was fun, being in the big city for the weekend.

Ferrari 512TR, 1992 Chicago Auto Show

The most recent year I attended was 2015, when my brother and I took a weekday off from work and drove up for the day. Since then, the weather has conspired to be exceptionally nasty, so as to prevent my willingness to make the three hour drive.

Volvo 940 Turbo, 1992 Chicago Auto Show

But I do need to get back, because a friend of mine in Chicago, Jim Smith, always goes to press day. He’s been telling me for two years to come up for the day, but Mother Nature has had the final say. So far.

But never fear, for friends were there on Friday, Michael Risatti and Erik Pedersen, and Michael graciously allowed me to plunder his photographs to share with all you fine folks! So lets take a virtual tour.

2019 Silverado, made entirely out of Legos.

2019 Bullitt Mustang.

2019 Ford GT, in Gulf colors no less.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrofoglio. Say it three times fast!

Genesis G90 sedan, formerly the Equus.

Maseratis!

Rolls Royce Phantom. I gotta say, this is giving me a real 1980 Cadillac Seville Elegante vibe!

Bugatti Chiron. Nice to see one in a nice shade of navy blue, rather than Screaming Zonkers Yellow, or matte-finish black.

Acuras. They had an original NSX on display too, you can just see it above the race car on the left.

The Coach Door Lincoln Continental, a special run of 80 for the 80th anniversary of the Continental nameplate.

It sold out within 24 hours of the availability announcement, but will be more widely available next year.

In addition to the doors, it is also on a stretched wheelbase, and with an even more plush interior than the regular Continental models.

Chrysler had an original minivan on display.

According to Michael, this was a 1984 model and had only 12,000 original miles. I remember these so well from my elementary school days! They were everywhere.

The brand new Cadillac XT6, meant to compete with the also brand new Lincoln Aviator.

Cadillac XT5, in a nice shade of blue, with off-white leather. So much nicer than the de rigueur silver over black interior.

This V Series was Erik’s choice out of the show. The pearlescent bronze is nice!

Blue over off-white Escalade.

Cadillac also had this cool display of dealership promotional model cars. I have several of these myself, including the yellow ’70 Coupe de Ville. I also have ’73, ’74 and ’76 Eldorados, but in different colors than these models.

Last but most certainly not least, this pristine 1959 Eldorado Biarritz was on display.

There was no mistaking these for anything else on the road. Not when they were new, and not today. And the biggest fins in the business!

Definitely the showgirl of the Cadillac stand! And the red on red combo is impossible to ignore. Now that’s a Cadillac!

Once again, special thanks to Michael (pictured above, with his favorite car) for taking these great pictures! Hopefully, I’ll finally get back to the auto show in 2020. For those of you in Chicagoland, it runs through next weekend, so check it out if you get a chance!

5 Replies to “Press Day At The 2019 Chicago Auto Show!”

  1. stingray65

    The interesting thing about the photos is how much brands have changed. Unless they were totally blind, nobody confused a 1959 Cadillac for any other brand, but the same cannot be said about today’s Cadillac line. Those late 1980s Volvo’s also were easily identifiable by their boxy style, but today’s Volvo’s not so much.

    Reply
  2. George Denzinger

    I think the Lego Silvy is pretty cool, and count me in as one of the fans of the actual truck. I saw one in the metal over at Berger Chevy in Grand Rapids, they look far better in real life than they do in photos. But, I would have killed to have that many Legos as a kid…

    Out of all of the pix posted here I’d really love to have that Caravan, though. I don’t know if it’s just nostalgia for the one I used to borrow from my in laws back when my kids were infants/toddlers… Or is it the fact that while I really like my van, there are many times where it’s like driving a bus… Maybe a nicely restored first MCE SWB turbo minivan should be on my list for a hobby car?

    Reply
  3. Carmine

    Its interesting that Cadillac has so much “heritage” displays, for the last decade or so its like they were embarrassed about any of their past products, perhaps this signals a change for the better from the product, marketing and advertising aspect.

    Reply
  4. -Nate

    Thanx for the show report & pictures ! .

    It’s been years since I went to the car show .

    Hard to belive I once had a 1959 Caddy ragtop like this, fully optioned, it needed a radiator so i abandoned it and let L.A.P.D. tow it away….

    White with black leather interior, it was beautiful but just too damn BIG for me, back than (late 1970’s) it was near worthless in very good survivor shape, original paint and so on .

    -Nate

    Reply

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