American auto shows were once grand spectacles of concept and production cars, but they have turned into shows that barely fill the convention centers. I used to make it a habit to attend the LA Auto Show every year for instance. Now, unless I go for work, I don’t even really bother. It’s a sad state of affairs and a recent MotorWeek video highlighting an auto show from the 1990s is a reminder of just how far these mighty shows have fallen.
This installment of MotorWeek’s excellent retro videos posted to YouTube highlights the 1998 North American International Auto Show. Held in Detroit, the show was massive back then. John Davis mentions that in the decades prior, European and Japanese shows were considered more prestigious than shows like Detroit and LA. Things changed in the late 1990s and the 1998 NAIAS was a prime example of how the show clamored its way back to the top to become one of the worlds best. And it’s easy to see why.
The 1998 show had some massive debuts. There were over three dozen production or concept debuts from most of the world’s major automakers. Daimler Chrysler showed more than a few concepts that were rumored to have production intent, like the Plymouth Pronto Spyder concept; aplastic bodied two seat roadster powered by a supercharged 2.4-liter I4 with a steering wheel made from tortoise shell wood and Swiss Watch inspired gauges.
Jeep showed a crossover coupe concept wearing the old Jeepster name from the brand’s Willys days. It had an adjustable suspension and a 4.7-liter V8.
The final Chrysler concept was the V10-powered Chronos, which Davis mentions was being considered by Chrysler for production as the brand’s flagship. Why, Chrysler, why didn’t you guys build this!?
Other big debuts included VW’s New Beetle which shook up the world with its retro design vibes, the Oldsmobile Alero and redesigned Pontiac Grand Am, the Subaru Legacy which was known as the Subaru Sport Utility Sedan for some reason, Chrysler’s LHS and 300M and a new yellow color for the retro inspired Plymouth Prowler.
GM brought out actual cowboys and big ass horses for the debut of its GMT800 platformed Chevy Silverado. Ford’s debut of its 10th generation of its F-Series pickups coincided with the 50th anniversary of the model and to celebrate Ford made a massive cake the size of a building that looked to have the trucks inside of it. The ’98 show also saw the debut of what would be the final generation of the Mercury Cougar, this time around reborn as a sleek sport coupe for younger buyers.
Honda got in on the big debuts with a lightly disguised prototypes of the second gen Honda Odyssey and second-gen Acura TL called TL-X. Mitsubishi showed a concept called SST that would turn out to be the third-gen Eclipse, Toyota debuted its Camry Solara coupe and Lexus debuted the LX470 and the first gen RX, which would turn out to be a massive hit. There were even early concepts that highlighted fuel efficiency. GM showed two EV1 concepts powered by hybrid and fuel cell engines, Ford had a concept based on the Contour called the P2000 that was powered by a diesel engine that apparently got 63 mpg and Dodge based concept on its Intrepid called the Intrepid ESX2 that used a hybrid diesel powertrain.
Damn how times have changed. As recently as 2022, the Detroit show – if you could even call it that – was a ghost town with small displays, awkward empty areas and big debuts that didn’t even take place at the show; Ford debut of the seventh gen Mustang took place at a hotel down the street. Now, with the Detroit show going back to its original time slot in January – its been taking place in September for only a few years now – we could only hope that maybe something, anything, could make the show what it once was. Maybe a few of you automakers could try and, you know, help make the show more interesting at the very least.
