A lot has changed in my life over the past 17 years. Schools, jobs, girlfriends—they’ve all come and gone. The same is true of my father’s life, minus the girlfriends (as far as I know).
But we both love cars. That hasn’t changed. And in 17 years, without fail, we’ve never missed TheDallas/Ft. Worth Auto Show.
If you're in the market for a car, or just want to see the coolest options from all the major automakers, there's no better place to do it than an auto show. It's a no-pressure environment where you can poke, prod, and slide into the driver's seat of cars in every price range. And if you've always wanted to take a selfie with a Bentley, you can do that, too.
Here are five things you'll get out of going to an auto show:
Your first step onto the show flow might be a little overwhelming. You’ll see rows of cars grouped by brand, with a few “special features” mounted on revolving podiums. Every 20-minutes or so, an impeccably dressed brand expert steps up and begins a live presentation of the brand’s latest offerings.
You won’t be able to sit in the featured vehicles, but everything parked on the floor is fair game. So put the kids in the driver’s seat of that AMG Mercedes and fire up the camera.
Don't be afraid to ask questions about anything, from trim levels to pricing; those impeccably dressed people are not salesmen, and they're well versed in their brand's product lineup.
At most auto shows, select manufacturers have vehicles on-site to test drive. In the video above, I took the 2018 Toyota Camry for a spin at the Fort Worth Auto Show.
In many cases, auto show test drives are conducted on purpose-built courses—I've personally seen Jeep exhibitions with drivers ascending a steep grade, or trucks hauling a loaded trailer. Here, the test drive is more immersive than a spin around the block, and a lot more fun.
The bigger the show, the more vehicles available to test drive. And again, there's no pressure to sign paperwork.
Some of the road's coolest rides began life as "concept cars." Built as one-off prototypes, concept cars are designed without regard for practicality or realism. They're meant for auto shows, where they present show-goers with a vision of the future. If a concept car’s radical design attracts interest at the show, it could end up on a dealer’s lot someday.
A recent example: the Chevy Camaro. After the Camaro stopped production in 2002, Chevrolet brought a redesigned concept to auto shows in 2006 (where my father and I caught it at the DFW Auto Show). Its new design, a throwback to the original 1969 Camaro, was an instant hit; by the time the '06 Camaro landed a starring role as "Bumblebee" in the Transformers movies, Chevy factories were already gearing up for mass production.
Concept cars may be cool, but everyone loves a classic.
While most auto shows are devoted to new cars, many have an antique- and classic-cars section. Most of these old ponies are owned by local collectors, so you probably won’t be able to touch them. But they’re still fun to admire.
The auto show may be the only place your 12-year-old can safely race a Ford Mustang, or plow through sand dunes in a hopped-up pickup truck—through the magic of virtual reality.
To be clear, we’re not talking about those dizzying headsets you plug your phone into; you’ll sit in a life-size driver’s seat, fitted with hydraulic pumps to jostle you around and oversized screens for a visceral experience.
Certainly, auto shows appeal to car nuts like my father and I. But if you're at the start of your new car journey, consider auto shows the ultimate way to window show—with a few thousand new friends. If you're just looking for somewhere new to take the kids, it's a fun place to spend a Saturday.
Who knows? You might even start your own tradition.
