Coronavirus Delays New York Auto Show And RM Sotheby’s Auction

On the heels of the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show, which was canned earlier this month owing to fears of the coronavirus, the New York International Auto Show has also been postponed for the same reason.

“We are taking this extraordinary step to help protect our attendees, exhibitors and all participants from the coronavirus,” explains Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association that oversees the show. Doors were scheduled to open 10 April at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, but the event will now be held from 28 August to 6 September – barring any other unforeseen problems with the virus of course.

New York is just the latest of many other large gatherings around the world being postponed or cancelled outright by the pandemic. It’s a list that also includes the upcoming RM Sotheby’s Essen auction in Germany, which was originally set to run 26-27 March. As we reported in February, that auction was to include the private collection of 100 cars owned by Marcel Petitjean, a former race car driver, and includes a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster, with estimates of up to $1.2 million, and a 1964 Porsche 904 GTS, estimated at around $1 million, among many other rare and desirable automobiles. RM Sotheby’s Essen has now been postponed to sometime in mid to late June.

The next large auto show is the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which is set to be held in June for the first time in decades.

*Our thanks to Javits Center and Kieran Buttrick for shots of the New York Motor Show.