What's your favorite auto show?
Chris Paukert
Simple question: Do you have a favorite auto show? This could mean any of the shows on the international new car circuit (NAIAS, Paris, Frankfurt, L.A., etc.), or it could just be your town's show, SEMA, the Autorama, a tuner show, or what have you. What's your favorite, and why?
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Reilly Brennan
Being the home show and all, I loved Detroit all my life. That is, until I visited Los Angeles. It's just an incredible show (and the weather's nice) and it seems more of the important introductions are moving there. For pure ridiculousness, SEMA is always an interesting attraction.
Mena
I don't really have a favorite but since I live in SoCal, I usually go to the LA Auto Show.
Seyth Miersma
I really enjoyed the Tokyo show. It offers almost a huge variety of things to look at, and is the place to be for major launches (at least the Japanese ones). Easy to get around too.
Domestically I think SEMA could be the winner if I was going as a member of the public. There’s so much going on at all times; cars, games, tech stuff, rides, girls, whatever you’re looking for (well, class is in a bit of short supply). It’s a bear of an event if you’re working it though.
Seyth Miersma
News Writer
Winding Road // NextAutos
Dave B.
I haven't been, but Geneva or Turin. Those were the ones with the best magazine reports anyway.
Nate Luzod
AutoShanghai takes the cake. You just can't beat the utter chaos of two press conferences happening side by side, each trying to be louder than the other. The scrum of photographers climbing over each other, throwing elbows and pushing to get to the front is also hard to top.
They show a ton of vehicles we'd never even dream about here in the West. And do I even need to mention the hilarity of all the ripoff-brands? Priceless.
willem
By far, concours des elegances, especially that at Pebble Beach, are the most instructive--and truly elegant--conventions of automotive excellence and innovation.
Chris Paukert
I'm torn. as Nate point out, AutoShanghai by turns brilliant and baffling (often for the same reasons), and I like Tokyo for its steady mix of relevant product, technological innovations, and rampant whimsy. In the end, I think I like Geneva the best, even if getting accomodations there is absolute murder. I'm constantly fascinated by coachbuilders and design houses, and Geneva consistently offers the biggest splash in this regard. It also has a congenial, laid-back atmosphere that I like, and the physical layout of the show is managable. And then there's the small matter of the Alfa girls.
I wish I could say that a U.S. show tops my list, but really, the pervasive doom-and-gloom hanging over the industry takes some of the fun out of it, and it would really have to be Detroit's NAIAS or Los Angeles for me, and the former has horribly dated and cramped facilities (and bone-chilling cold) and Los Angeles isn't quite a tier-one international show to me yet. It's getting there, however.
Chris Paukert
Editor-In-Chief
Winding Road Magazine // NextAutos