Roadguy wanted to offer his alert readers an early look at …

… so he called up the Auto Show folks and asked whether he might swing by before today’s opening. Sure, they said, so yesterday I wandered over to the Minneapolis Convention Center, and I was instantly reminded of the sensory overload that this annual event provides. There are cool old cars:

…spendy new cars:

…super-fuel-efficient vehicles:

…and the other kind:

There are festively oversized highway signs…

… and Hummers pretending to do tricks:

(Brackets are affixed to the wheels. Maybe the traction really is that good, but I bet the lawyers weren’t convinced.)

Other modes of transportation are present, usually in the context of being hauled around, such as…

…and…

One might wonder, “Isn’t it a bad idea to be driving cars around inside a building?” But the workers had put plastic on the carpeting, and the wide-open garage-type doors…

…kept asphyxiations to a minimum. (Although the new-car smell nearly knocked Roadguy over when he first walked in.)

There are numerous non-car-shopping diversions, like contests…

…and…

…plus a driving simulator:

…and sportscasters with houseplants:

Meanwhile, don’t forget to head out of the main room and visit the upper level’s varied attractions:

Now, you might wonder, “Why would anyone pay to attend an event that’s basically all advertising?” (Roadguy asked himself that very question the other night at a Timberwolves game.) But if you like cars and trucks, and particularly if you’re planning to buy a new vehicle, the Auto Show offers a way to get an up-close look at a wide range of the latest offerings without having to schlep all over town. You might make up the $9 admission in gas savings alone, and carpeting is way better than March slush.

So if you have any Auto Show recommendations, favorites or stories, please share them in the comments section below.

(Auto Show hours and general information are here; a Strib story on the show, from Saturday’s paper, is here.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 6:05 am and is filed under Good to know, Scenes and stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.