By Alex Lloyd Gross
Some of the coolest displays are available to be looked and,played with and examined at this years at the Auto Show. It runs through next weekend and discount tickets are available for free at most dealerships. Once inside you will be able to see the newest model cars that you cannot afford and some that you may be able to. From Bentley to Kia, they are all there. For most of the vehicles, you can open the doors and sit inside.
If you have been coming to the auto show for several years, you will notice the sticker price on new cars has gone up exponentially, even in the past 10 years. Back in the late 1990’s $62,000 was enough to put you in a Corvette and an SUV was about $24,000. Now that 62k will get you and SUV and the Vette is close to $100,000. There are classic cars to look but are not for sale.
With sounds of people coming in, dealers have to pull out all the stops to keep people interested and at their booth. Proving that sheeple will do anything if they see anyone else doing it was the Jeep display, where you are a PASSENGER in a vehicle driven over obstacles at about 5MPH. Yawn. Want excitement? Go to the Dodge display, where you get behind the wheel of a Viper and “race’ on a screen. The gas pedal works, and so does the steering. It’s awesome. For children,. they can play on construction equipment at the Diggerland” display.
Downstairs is the DUB display, where suped up vehicles are shown. People that can modify you car are there and they will put a sound system in so loud you will get sick from the bass and deaf from the volume. Gone was the loud DJ who was there a few years ago that drowned out nearby displays. Back upstairs, you can see the Fiat that the Pope used when he was in town. It got auctioned off for $82,000. Other brands have a free test drive. It’s a short stint through the streets of center city.