In honor of the 126th-annual New York International Auto Show, we want to reminisce about the good old days. We want to know what cars our benevolent and doting audience will never forget seeing at an auto show. Earlier this year we asked you to share your favorite auto show moments, but we want specifics now, name a car and a place and share your anecdote with the class. There are no wrong answers.
Auto shows used to be the go-to place for anyone who loves cars; automakers would spend thousands of dollars planning elaborate launch activations for their new and upcoming models rather than launching their newest cars on livestreamed earnings calls. I feel fortunate that I got to experience the tail end of the heyday of the great auto shows, but any true young’uns feel free to read through these answers and live vicariously through the tales of your auto enthusiast elders.
I will never forget seeing the Volvo C30 at the LA Auto Show
As a car-obsessed kid growing up in the LA area, my mom knew I didn’t want to go to amusement parks; that’s where people with friends went. I, on the other hand, wanted to go to the Los Angeles Auto Show. I will never forget seeing the Volvo C30 for the first time on the carpeted floors of the Los Angeles Convention Center back when I was about 10 years old. It must’ve been the 2006 show, since I recall seeing the C30 and the hardtop convertible C70, and Volvo marketing how fun its new cars were.
The C30’s launch spec was a strange off-white pearl color with subtle dark brown contrasting paint lining the entire perimeter of the lower body. I still remember how clean and chic the design felt, how cool the glass hatch was, and how bold the dark almost eyeliner around the perimeter of its headlights. What a cool car. I also distinctly remember receiving a free CD at the Volvo booth that year, that was Volvo’s curated driving music. That CD introduced me to the absolute bop that is “Cry For You” by September, and I pray that I still have that CD somewhere in my childhood home. I’ll never forget seeing the Volvo C30 at the LA Auto Show. What car will you never forget seeing at an auto show?
