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The Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and it is ready to kick off for the 99th time. The show, located at McCormick Place, is open to the public starting Friday, February 9 through Sunday, February 18. The hours are 10am-10pm each day except on the final day when the show ends at 8pm.
The event boasts nearly 1,000 domestic and imported vehicles. Chicagoist accepted General Motors’ invite to catch a sneak peak of this year’s show. One of the things we love most about the auto show is checking out the concept cars. Most of the major manufacturers had one on hand. The wildest concept car of this year’s show is the Ford Airstream concept which melds futuristic car design with the fifties mobile home look. We were also impressed by the Chevy Volt concept car and will share more about that tomorrow. We uploaded several photos from this year’s show and tagged the concept cars separately so you can check them out.
After checking out the concept cars our next favorite thing is to check out cars we could never afford on our meager Chicagoist salary. We went straight to the Bentley exhibit where the nice folks let us sit in the convertible version of the Bentley Continental GT with a price tag just over $150,000. We also ogled several Maseratis.
After that we jumped back into reality and checked out some more practical cars of which there are plenty, most of which you are free to hop into and check out. We enjoyed being among the first to see the new Pontiac G8 (left) which was revealed for the first time here in Chicago. General Manager Pontiac/Buick/GMC John Larson commented that this was a performance-based sedan capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in under six seconds.
Tickets to the 2007 Chicago Auto Show are $10 for adults (13-61), seniors (61 and older) and children between the ages of 7-12 get a discounted rate of $5. Children under the age of 7 are free when accompanied by a paying parent. Tickets can be bought directly from the Auto Show website. Discounted tickets are available on certain days, check out the Weekday Discount Tickets page for more details.
Since the show is so large we highly recommend you check out a map of the show floor before heading out to the show so you can make sure not to miss some of your favorite cars. We uploaded our favorite photos from the show to Flickr.
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That Ford Airstream is cooooool looking!
Why is it that we could put people on the moon almost 40 years ago, but the auto industry can't figure out how to make an electric car, even though they already invented it in 1904.
How many more people must die for oil and to make some old guy rich?
thanks chicagoist for the link to the half-price tickets page. while alot of auto dealers and makers advertise that they have 'free' tickets, there is no place i dread more to step foot into than an auto dealership.
Making an electric propelled car is easy. Storing electricity on a car is hard. Very hard. There are those laws of physics that can't be violated, no matter how much technology you have. Until a miracle breakthrough in batteries is developed, its not going get much better. And its not for a lack of trying, either. Advanced batteries would revolutionize portable electronics even further.
I hold out hope for the new generation of plug-in hybrids, where unlike the Prius, the gasoline engine is only used for backup propulsion when the batteries die. That way, if you're just driving around the city on a full charge, the engine never turns on. But, hit the highway, and you're driving a regular car.
Jeremy - You are exactly right about the battery being the hardest part. I just published a post specifically about the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid. According to GM the biggest challenge is getting a battery that will last, provide the neccessary storage and have the ability to not overheat.
With our recent technology, I guess GM can sort something out to make their batteries more effecient, durable, long life, and store enough electricity to power up all the GM parts without causing an overheat that would caused the plug-in car to break down. Sooner or later we can ride this kind of cars that would changed the automotive world.