Philadelphia Auto Show

[Bubba1]

Just did my annual trek to the Philly convention Center or the Philly auto show. Philly is considered a B show, not a major A one like the NAIAS or New York. But if one is shopping for a new car, it's a good venue to narrow down the choices. Not much in the way of concept cars. traditionally if there are any concepts, it's the previous year concepts. My wife came along for the first time in many years. She's interested in replacing her ol' TSX with a small non-hybrid crossover/SUV transportation appliance, so that's the type of vehicle we focused on before sneaking out and heading to South Philly for Pat's Cheezesteaks (mmmmmm-burrrrp). Her finalists before any test drives? 1. Subie Crosstek, 2. Honda HR-V 3. Toyota Rav-4 4. Mazda CX-5. She liked the Rogue a lot, but I removed it from consideration due to it's still-too-fragile CVT. I've already driven a CX-5 and Rav-4 but I'll keep an open mind when the test driving begins. The show itself has kinda shrunk in size. They still have that Jeep indoor test track, where they putt-putt you over a 5 minute obstacle course, with you as a prisoner.. I mean.... passenger receiving a non-stop sales schpiel on how great the Jeep is off road, despite virtually no new Jeep buyers ever take theirs off road. They also require your email address/cell phone/home address up front to ride, so you also get the honor of getting spammed in every conceivable way with even more sales pitches. Fuggetaboutit. The Simeone Foundation (local "preserved"race car museum) once again displayed some really nice vehicles, but sadly the show also invited some local car clubs to display member cars. Think a bunch of fox body or newer modified mustangs (no drivers, so it was safe), Camaros, a few 80's era Lincolns, etc. in other words, the kinda stuff you'd see at a local cruise night for free. One personal memory rush moment was in The Subaru section. They had a clean white Subie 360 on display. An infamously dreadful little car. In 1967 or 68, my father took me to the NY international auto show, (at the then NY Coliseum) I fondly remember brushing lightly against the driver side headlight assembly of a brand new white 360 while a salesman tried to butter up my dad. Suddenly, the entire headlight assembly literally fell off the dang car. I received a lotta applause/laughter as I awkwardly tried to put the headlight assembly back on. That seemed to be an omen on how well that car did in the US market (not well).

Overall, not a bad show, but only worth the money if you're actively looking for a new car. And I'd strongly recommend using mass transit. You'll experience sticker shock when you learn how much it is to park.