Since about 1995, my metropolitan area has had a local car show. New cars, mind, not vintage ones. I usually go, simply because it’s something to do before spring arrives. Plus, I’m a car nut. Plus, I know a lot of the local dealers and salespeople.
From the early years right up to about 2018, they had brochures and provided bags to haul your brochure loot-one of my favorite parts of going to new car shows. In 2021 the event was cancelled, for, uh, shall we say medically magnified reasons? Anyway, it was back this year, and moved from the River Center in downtown Davenport to a new expo center at The Bend, a new development on the site of what once was the old JI Case combine factory, right along the Mississippi River.
The claim to fame of the Quad City area is that for most of the metropolitan area, the river runs west, rather than south. The Bend is so named because it’s the point at which the river resumes its north-south trajectory on its way up to Dubuque, Prairie du Chien and eventually Minnesota. Anyway, there’s the new expo center, a Hyatt hotel (with a pretty cool bar and lounge on the top floor), riverfront apartments and such.
Anyway, I usually get a free ticket either from Peter Clarke at Strieter Lincoln or Brian Cox at McLaughlin Volvo, and such was the case. And since I’m currently underemployed (if not unemployed), I decided to go on Friday morning to avoid the mobs that would be around on Saturday and Sunday.
Honestly I wasn’t super excited, as so many of the cars I like have been killed off, like the Continental, MKZ, XTS, CTS, Impala, Lacrosse, and more recently the Passat. I like sedans and station wagons much more than the current gotta-have-it SUVs and combovers.
I suspect they’re so popular because so many more people today are, ahem, large and unhealthy, and can’t shoehorn themselves into a standard-sized car anymore. But I digress.
But what the heck, it’s cars, it’s free, and my calendar was pretty wide open, so I headed over. I’ve heard from friends in St. Louis, Dallas and Chicago that those respective annual new-car shows have been getting pretty lame, with multiple marques simply not attending.
Almost all of the local dealers were represented, except for Strieter Lincoln (who had two new cars the last time I was there, so I can’t really blame them). Jaguar, Porsche, Infiniti and Acura were also not there, simply because the Acura dealer closed around 1999, Porsche in about 2018, and Jaguar around 2012. We’ve never had an Infiniti dealer. Even the Alfa dealer had a car.
Despite the market moving to combovers for dog moms et al, there were still some attractive vehicles. And with all the car shortages over the past year (and counting), it was kind of nice to see a couple hundred brand new cars just sitting around.
The Alfa Giulia is a pretty nice looking sedan, and I loved the cream leather interior with the wood accents. I fully expect it to be killed off in the U.S. market in a year or so. The Fatty McButterpants Stelvio combover is much more common on the roads than the elegant Guilia sedan.
And despite the questionable Bucky the Beaver grilles on the new BMWs, I liked this convertible on display, especially in that metallic olive green. I was chatting with one of the salesmen from Kimberly BMW and he said the color had been getting a lot of positive comments.
A preproduction electric F150 was also on display. I have zero interest in full electric vehicles (unless were talking golf carts and heading to the 19th hole for gin and tonics), but it was pretty weird seing an F150 with a front trunk and nothing inside, like a big-ass Porsche 911.
The 300 is still around, and still looks good, black wheels notwithstanding. I especially liked the metallic burgundy paint.
And the ‘tuxedo’ white leather interior with black dash, door caps and carpeting. It still looks good simply because it is an older design. Have you seen the ’22 Outbacks, with the square flares over the round wheel wells? Blecch!
I also saw my first Maverick, but it was locked up. I’m not a truck guy, but I can see the appeal of this. Modest size, four doors and open bed for hauling bikes, camping crap or what have you.
This one was a loaded up Lariat. I liked the caramel-colored leather.
Several Velies were also on display. If you didn’t know, Velies were made here in Moline, IL up to the 1929 model year. The factory still stood right on the Rock Island/Moline border until the early ’90s.
At which point John Deere Seeding tore it down for more lot storage. They kept the first floor brickwork and masonry as a fence, and added a plaque, so it’s not entirely gone.
Anyway, the show was pretty nice, though there were NO brochures, boo. But since I got in free I really can’t complain. The new location was very nice and brand spanking new. The River Center, the last couple of years, was starting to get a little threadbare looking. And there was a ton of parking, no worries about haphazardly finding a space downtown like in years past!
I didn’t know of Vella. Something was right about the financial system in the 1920s that a facility of that size could be financed for a small player. Nowadays the finance system would be proposing some sort of sale and leaseback of it to bleed off the life blood.
When I was growing up, our mall would have a new car week with all the new cars inside and each car having a stack of complimentary brochures. My father would point out how flimsy the imports were by showing relative thickness of doors. Then he would point out how badly painted the Fords were. It was super nice of him to take me after a long work day as he kept cars a long time and wasn’t as in to cars as I was.
I’m not sure how the dealer justified having the Maverick there, but the rest of the cars look like surplus inventory that nobody wants now that the pedocrats are achieving their dream of making energy a luxury good.
I suspect the Maverick was there to entice a sucker willing to pay 30% over sticker for it (plus mandatory TruCoat).
What is this I see, not a smoke gray, light gray, medium gray, Georgian Silver, dark gray car in sight… I see blue, plum, yellow green, blue green, white, bugandy, with red, off white, saddle interiors…. Gee Tom your local dealer have ordered some C O L O R S…. I am smitten by the almost Jennifer Blue Camero, bring on some colors… I knew Detroit could paint a car something other then Black, Gray, or Bright White but I thought they had forgotten how to chage the paint formula…. 🙂 🙂
Seriously, a lot of makes have given up on Local New Car Shows, Cadillac bailed on the Greater Washington DC Dealer New Car Show at the DC Convention Center four years ago which I think was their way of saying that they were no longer interested in the livery business. Even Rolls, Bentley, and the Italians have representation at the DC show but not Cadillac. Jeep always brings their Jeep adventure driving couse that takes up half of one floor of the Convention Center (the show is spread over two floors).
This year Cadillac did not even attend the Orlando New Car Dealer Show at the Convention Center in the Tourist Zone, but neither did Lincoln which I find really amazing as their target demographic (Snow Birds with serious disposable income) are present in serious numbers in Central Florida in the winter (think The Villages).
Looks like a great show, but I will bet that many of the cars you photographed were pre-sold considering how thin inventory is.
“What is this I see, not a smoke gray, light gray, medium gray, Georgian Silver, dark gray car in sight… I see blue, plum, yellow green, blue green, white, bugandy, with red, off white, saddle interiors….”
In other words, all of the cars that were painted to the lot.
It would be interesting to know what the attendance was/is at car shows this year. Lots of cabin fever after 2 years of flattening the curve, but also fairly widespread knowledge that inventories are low and prices are high, together with rapidly rising gas prices, so how many people want to go to a car show versus a “normal” year?
Besides the electric F-150, how many electric vehicles were on display at the show Tom? After all, I’m sure many of the tire kickers would be interested in following Mayor Pete’s advice in how to deal with $4+ gas by looking for a nice $50K+ coal powered electric vehicle.
Don’t assume attendance is down, perhaps just changed. Instead mothers take the daughters to see the exciting new Corolla Cross that will be perfect for the little girl after she gets knocked up and ensconced in her zoom call government WOC overcoming gravy train.
I don’t assume attendance was/is down, just curious on the trend although I would be surprised if mother’s and daughters are showing up in great numbers. Young people today are having less sex than any generation since at least before the invention of the birth control pill, perhaps in part because something like 20% of young women today claim to be transgender or lesbian, so as a result there are fewer reasons than ever to find a new vehicle for a legitimate or illegitimate grandchild.
Why do you hate women and LGBT people so much?
I’m about as annoyed by woke liberalism as anybody, but I’m still waiting for the unrelated topic where you can’t find a way to attach your grievances.
Seriously, do you have kids? A spouse? Any kind of relationship history? Because I don’t see how somebody could go on and on about this stuff without some skin in the game. “I’m lucky I got married when I did” or “I feel bad about what my kids/grandkids have to deal with” etc. Or at least an open disappointment over never finding a decent woman, or a fearfulness of bringing kids into this environment. But your posts are always so robotic and impersonal that it’s hard not to believe you’re just trolling.
I don’t hate women or LGBQT people, but that doesn’t mean that the feminizing of society has been without huge costs that are generally not acknowledged during these woke times. For example, transgender people are mentally ill, but our feminized society treats them like heroes and when you treat crazy people like heroes you get more of them, which is why clinical estimates of transgenderism have gone from .4% of the population to well over 10% of young people claiming to be transgender, with big pushes to allow them to permanently alter their bodies. Females are now prioritized in all aspects of education and high status professions, and yet they are more miserable than ever (and more childless than ever) because they still want to find a mate who is more educated and higher status than they are (plus over 6 feet tall), and nobody points out the mathematical incompatibility of female prioritization and female preferences. Pointing things like this is not hatred, it is simply fact – and yes I love my mother and my wife, and my nieces, and I work with women I respect every day, but that doesn’t mean I can’t observe what is happening and seeing that a lot of it isn’t good or healthy.
Stupid curiosity- what was the charge for parking?
The last time I went to the Chicago auto show (Feb 2019), parking was $25. My dad and I used to go nearly every year and every time we’d pull into the garage, we’d joke about the parking going up and sure enough, every year would be more expensive than the last.
Free parking. Very few places charge for parking here.
Chicago’s McCormick Place is a huge Democrat patronage fiefdom because of all the union workers. Next time you’re there, take a look at an electrical wall outlet. They are unique receptacles that only a union stooge can plug into, a normal plug won’t work. This is so vendors have to pay the union guys to plug things in, at a high fixed price. God help you if attempt to do anything in the hall without asking a union guy first. The big, fat union bosses actually ride around on 3-wheeled Cushman scooters policing things.
I really like that green on the BMW. They make cool cars, but I don’t like them enough to deal with the maintenance costs.
Just do what most BMW buyers do – lease for 3 years when the maintenance is included and then leave the problems to someone else (although I have two family members when out-of-warranty BMWs who have had virtually no problems or costs beyond basic servicing).
Dad’s buddy has had similar experience with her BMW Mini Cooper. It’s a nice little car. Big change from the v10 f250 she drove before that.
I like that blue Camaro LT1 convertible, I didn’t even know that combo was available, I thought the LT1 package was only for coupes since it was pitched as a “cheaper SS”.
The Alfa Googglia is also pretty good looking, that cream interior looks nice, I never really looked at one to closely.
If I wanted to see a locked Ford Maverick, I would sneak onto a Ford dealer lot after hours……come on, its not a Rolls. When i was a kid, they only locked cars at the auto show were Mercedes-Benzes and Jaguars, and even then, that’s changed, at the last big Miami Auto Show(pre-coof) Maseratis, Jags and even Mercedes’ were all unlocked so the poors could feel what sitting in an S600 was like…..and then steal the knobs from it…..
Yep, it was pretty silly. I’m guessing it was maybe a manufacturer’s display model or something, not inventory.
Still stupid.
Indeed.
You’d think that even if they could bring in a non-running display model or something, which would help drum up interest. But of course they’re sitting on a bunch of orders that they can’t fulfill right now, so Lord knows what they were thinking! 🤪
It is probably a sold Maverick that the new owner allowed to be shown with the reassurance that the general public wouldn’t get to violate its interior.
It took a 2nd viewing to get why I like that cream interior on the Googlia, its actually almost all cream! Its not just cream seats and door panel inserts with black carpets, door panels,dash and console, pretty nice.
My brother got a Giulia recently. It’s a beautiful car- blue with that same interior. He’s over the moon with it, at least for now. I had an Alfa years ago and seriously thought about the Giulia before I opted for the Mustang.
They are readily available for below MSRP around here, but I just don’t think there’ll be any support for them in the furure.
They’re beautiful cars, but reading the Giulia owners forum scared me off. Many great ownership and driving experiences, but also many new car dashboard check engine light stories. Just didn’t want to deal with it.
I think the Googlia is a 2021, that cream interior is no where to be found on their configurator for 2022 models, only saddle and red leather.
I just did a nationwide search for new 2021 Alfas on AutoTrader and there are 185 available – mostly Guilia’s with $5 to $7K discounts off sticker – who says you can’t find a bargain in the current tight market? On the other hand, if you really want selection, Autotrader says there are still 4425 brand new 2021 Ford EcoSports still available – get yours before they are gone forever!!!
My brother got his for 8500 off sticker. I thought about having my wife look at one, but she’s a confirmed CUV girl these days. Perhaps a Stelvia? Then I could have the worst of both worlds.
Toledo didn’t have their annual show this year, probably due to the vehicle supply issues, but also the fact that the downtown convention center is in the midst of a remodeling job, and back in February, the Omicron ‘Rona was still lurking about. 🦠
It’s supposed to be back next year.
For the first time in probably 40 years, I didn’t attend the Miami International Auto show this year, they were being mask Nazis with mandatory mask requirements and its really become a sad ass shadow of its former self, it wasn’t New York or Detroit in its heyday, but it was a hell of real auto show probably almost as big as LA’s even. Last time I went in 2019, you could see empty space in the Miami Beach Convention center that all used to be occupied by show space, it was sad, it was about 1/3 of the size it once was.
I’ve gone to the Philadelphia Auto Show a few times over the years. My buddy called with a free ticket this year, but I had less than zero interest in attending. Ford days at Carlisle, on the other hand? Those are my people.
These small local shows suck. Most brands (if they show up at all) only have a couple of cars to look at. They’ve gotten steadily worse over the years with the crossoverification of every make. CJ’s comment about the sales-proof inventory seems spot on, and these shows are typically staffed by pushy sales reps from local dealers.
I still go to the local Cincy/Dayton/Columbus shows, but they’re a total disappointment after going to the Chicago show growing up.
I have to admit, much as I hate to, that perhaps the vitriol aimed at the “combover” trend is not all warranted. The Mrs. and I are normally-proportioned humans (at least, what was considered “normal” in the days before fast food and Door Dash) with a couple of smaller humans who tag along with us regularly, and the crossover/ SUV is a vehicle that just makes sense. Everything is just easier about a vehicle with more headroom, slightly higher ground clearance, and a more upright driving position. Henry Ford once said (regarding the Mustang), “I build cars to sit in, not piss over”. Indeed, early automobiles were generally more formal affairs, upright and tall. One wonders if that whole ~1950-1990 period of low slung sedans and wagons wasn’t just a fluke, and what we’re seeing now is a more reversion to the norm of car proportions.
At least we have decent choices nowadays. In 1975 if you wanted something like a minivan or an SUV, what were your options? A truck-like Suburban? A giant Dodge van? A full-size Bronco? Or maybe a VW microbus, if you were particularly masochistic.
The irony of crossovers is that they’re a fun additional choice…
…as long as they are a choice. I owned a Freelander in 2001. It made a lot of sense. But to have that as the only option sucks.
That was Chrysler’s K.T. Keller who said that regarding his preference for cars with enough headroom for your hat.
Agreed, the crossover hatred is overblown. There’s plenty of practical reasons why consumers have flocked to them in droves. I even had a CR-V as a daily driver for a few years – it was boring, but better and more useful all-around than the Accord it replaced. And I had a 2nd fun car to compensate for the boredom.
Unfortunately, the number of fun new cars is dwindling, for the same reasons you can’t get a manual transmission or a real choice of colors. Choice is expensive, both for the manufacturers and the dealers who have to stock them. You’d think some auto executive would figure out a way to make the costs work and push greater choice as market differentiator – but that’s probably the sort of dynamic, outside-the-box thinking that will keep you from getting promoted in this (or any other) industry.
Apologies for the misquote, I thought I remembered reading that in Iaccoca’s biography. It sounds vaguely Fordian, and Lido did work for the big H prior to his gig at Mopar. Thanks for the correction.
By all means, the future of the automotive landscape does seem to be leading towards less choice. GM’s given up on cars except for a handful of holdouts, none of whose future is in any way certain. Ford just has the ‘stang in its car portfolio. The nails are in the coffin for the 3oo/Charger/Challenger, I’ve heard. The Koreans are about the only major players offering an entry into every market segment these days.
I picked up my new 3 the last year Mazda offered in with a stick in the base model hatch – 2018. That car was about 18 grand out the door. To get a hatch with a stick now is a $30k+ deal, only available on the top trim level.
Every time I see a CRV I expect to see Stewie Griffin following it with a tuba…
Not to mention, the demographic of new car buyers skews older every year. Vehicles that sit upright, are easy to get into and out of, and have room for the grandkids, are probably more in demand for that crowd.
Its a viscous cycle, though. Cars get more expensive, so only older people can afford new cars, and older people prefer cars that are more expensive. This is probably why so many of my friends came of driving age piloting giant old barges, used luxury cars from our grandparents’ generation.
Well, weight, ride height and aero all impact ride, acceleration, handling, braking and MPG by a non-zero amount. I suppose with at most 75 mph speed limits, what’s the point. Most CUVs have only slightly increased interior space or ground clearance than a similar footprint hatch or wagon. Take away the CAFE incentives or occasionally abused ‘light truck’ designation for a level playing field and the market may look at least a little differently. Throw in the gimped styling of passenger cars because of pedestrian safety rules. I’d want to believe that higher (or at least steadily improving YTY) overall fleet MPG might reduce the mad rush to EVs, but that’s a cult now.
A possible corollary: roads were generally well paved in that 1950-90 era. Dirt in much of the US before that and decaying into a moonscape now. The next trend: armor, bullet resistant glass and anti-carjacking flame jets, South Africa style.
SUVs are nicer when you get older because of the sit height. Bum left hip. Bum right knee. Easier to have something where my butt is almost even with the seat.
I wasn’t that bad 15 years ago. But, my father was declining with dementia. I had a car. I would have to take him to all kinds of doctor appointments. Trying to get him into the car was challenging. After he passed and I needed new wheels a couple of years later, I put style to the side. Now that I have my issues, I’m glad I’m in a SUV.