I generally try to avoid large, crowded areas. Not because on any kind of phobia, but because I have been there, done that in my life. When you get old and grumpy like me, your tolerance for being herded like cattle diminishes with time. Consequently I am not much of a concert goer, professional sporting event attendee, or amusement park patron. The LA Auto Show is as big and crowded an event as I would normally hope to avoid, but circumstances this year compel me to go today.
It is not that I need to go to the auto show to see all the new and exotic cars. Living on the affluent West Side of Los Angeles I see every car on the market (exotics included) and some that are not on the market yet. Ferrari's and Lambo's are yawn inducers and classics are an every day occurrences. Thinly disguised factory prototypes are tested on LA streets and brand new models are thick on the roads. I am ready to declare the Pontiac Solstice the official car of West LA, because they seem to be on every side street these days.
I am going to the auto show because my dearly beloved fiancée is shopping for a car to replace her G35 Coupe whose lease will expire soon. Some of you may remember that my fiancée is a lead-footed car enthusiast. I have unleashed a Pandora's Box of racing desire in that woman when I introduced her to Autocross racing and now she is looking for something "hot" to replace the G35.
She has always wanted a 911 Porsche; her 924 Turbo was one of her favorite cars and she wants to relive the Porsche experience. But a 911 may be a bit pricey so she has her eye on a M3 BMW. As much as I respect the BMW, I think she will get more car for her lease dollar with a Mercedes CLK500. Anyway, this will be a chance for her to kick some tires for comparison sake without having to brave a gauntlet of car salesmen on the dealer’s lot. Oh and yes, she wants to see the new Bugatti, which is advertised as the fastest, and the most expensive car on the market today.
The other compelling reason to schlep downtown to the massive LA convention center is to show my Welsh brother in-law what an American auto show can be. The Grateful Dead's fans used to say that, "There is nothing in the world like a Dead concert," and the same can be said for an American auto show. Part circus, part salesroom, and part life affirming survival experience, an American auto show on the massive scale of the LA Auto Show is significant milestone in anyone’s life time. The crowd, the cars, the models in spectacularly revealing costumes decorating the manufacturers displays are all worth seeing even if one has no interest in cars.
The Welsh brother in-law is a man of the world, he has traveled extensively, seen the wonders of modern and ancient civilizations but I am willing to bet that he has never seen anything quite like LA Auto Show. The LA Convention Center building is a wonder unto itself, its lobby is often used in movies to represent what living and working habitats of the future will look like. And the main halls are large enough to swallow a fleet of 747’s with plenty of room left over for a parade of elephants to comfortably swing their trunks. The massive scale of the building’s interior is humbling as an empty structure, but to fill it with new car sales hubris is truly a staggering accomplishment in human achievement.
We are also taking my 16 year old son, the ’90 Prelude Driver and my fiancée’s 16 year old son, the ’78 Camaro Driver. The boys are LA Auto show veterans, they have been before and know what to expect. The Camaro Driver is very impressed with the exotic cars and has expressed an interest in seeing all of the cars that claim to exceed 200 mile per hour. The Prelude Driver has a passing interest in cars, but he has a dedicated interest in eating. He sees the Auto Show in the same light as sporting events, concerts or an evening at the cinema: a chance to sample a wide variety of concession stand food.
I expect an afternoon crawling through the crowds, the visual and aural assault on my senses by the manufacturers displays and the hole left in my pocket by paying for the privilege of the sensory overload I may suffer. I will let you know how it goes.