Photography by Kieran Buttrick
Why is Petrolicious interested in events like this? It’s not just for the cars—after all, there’s a noticeable dearth here of the types usually found in our pages and films. Though the scales may be heavily slanted toward the modern edge, any group of machines that are best realizing the evolving form of the car will hardly make for a dull exhibition. It may seem like the future is beige and full of warning beeps, but holdouts like the Dodge Demon prove the remaining life force of fun still has a few things to address in its exit speech.
That said, for the stubbornly steadfast among us who are solely interested in vintage cars, the importance of shows like the New York International Auto Show should still heft some importance along with the tons and literal tons of metal and plastic and carbon to examine. Where that importance comes from may not always be from the actual vehicles of course, laudable as some of their satellite-driven carbon fiber skeletons housing multiple-turbo-charged motors may be. Instead, the real value comes not from being able to recall years later which cars were at which booths, nor from wistfully remembering how quickly the latest edition of whatever the current I-have-to-have-one-there-will-never-be-a-special-version-again car sold out.
As genuinely interesting as a place like this can be (when the latest makes this much a case for also being the greatest, there’s bound to be some neat kit to ogle), the primary importance is the capacity for shows like these to inspire the budding automotive or engineering enthusiast.
Few other places than an international auto show will have the kind of diversity of display that can pique so many different interests. There are a few vintage machines mixed in with the bleeding edge of modernity for one, there is the full presence of the spectrum capped by full-on racing cars on one end and the most mass-produced economy production cars on the other, and every purpose from hyper car to car-as-an-appliance is well represented here. If any dormant passion for the automobile resides among the attendees, there’s a floor full of inspiration to help coax it out.
Whether it’s the F40-style triple pipes exiting the rear of the new Civic Type R, the buttressed body of the futuristic Ford GT, or the plain lunacy of the latest Koenigsegg offering, there should be plenty to go around. See for yourself.
