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We talk a lot about traditions at GTM and going to the DC Auto Show for a select few of us has pre-dated even the club, it's always been "that thing to do on the weekend between the holidays and when the track season starts."
Last year was an exception because the DC Auto Show was scheduled in April, rather than overlapping with Rolex weekend as has been the case for many years. This week as we attempted to rally the troops into joining us to make the trip once more for our “Season Kick-off Event & Happy Hour” my heart sank when I saw this note come across my desk: “…I wanted to go with you guys and actually had planned on it until my parents told me that they were coming through on their way to visit my brother in FL so I’d need to be home that day. That’s when I made the call to go this past weekend. Took the kids to the auto show on Saturday.. as expected, only one BMW (The new Supra) and no MB/Audi/BMW/Porsche otherwise, except the private cars on display. Did have the new corvette, and the new LR Defender (couldn’t open the doors or sit in either, but could get pretty close to the Defender to lean on windows to look in). They also had the new “mustang” on display. Some other stuff too.. but mostly what you’d expect. Kids loved climbing all over everything and took the older one (due to height restrictions) in the jeep ride thing they had set up (jeep and jaguar each had something set up but the jag line was LONG).” – DMV member Rob L.
Hmm… Say it ain’t so Rob, say it ain’t so… and I don’t mean to call Rob out, but I was determined to see for myself what the show had to offer. #thanksfortheinspiration. Despite Rob’s somewhat melancholy overview – 3 things stuck out at me: Supra, Corvette and “new mustang.”
As soon as you came up the grand staircase of the Convention Center opening to the main area, it was like BAM! Corvette… around the corner BAM! Supra… walk a little ways back BAM! new GT500… sorry — got distracted, I mean, Mustang Mach-E. Talk about a home run. Not getting to see these cars up close this soon would have been a complete bummer. In comparison, last year we only got to see the Supra up on a pedestal, but this time we got to try out how it’s going to feel when we inevitably get to ride right-seat in one during the track season. Matt Y had no issues fitting, but anyone my height or taller may struggle with the quickly sloping roof line when they have a helmet on. The Corvette on the other hand is another story all together.
Unlike other C8 corvettes in the news, we can confirm this one did have all 4 wheels. Matt Y turns to me in his least sarcastic voice and says “It’s really good that they were able to keep so many of the NSX’s lines” – LOL! As you can see from the above left picture of the door, making the new C8s design functional means integrating certain shapes into all of it’s body panels. Being mid-engine, it’s a real challenge to get the air to go where the car needs it most, but unlike many other “sports car” offerings at the show, all of the vents, gills and grills were functional. The Mustang Mach-E much like the C8 doesn’t photograph well and looks better in person. But unlike the Vette, at least the rear section of the Mach-E wasn’t borrowed from another car (below). That being said, we’re still not entirely convinced that the rear-end of the C8 isn’t lifted directly from the Camaro, having seen it in person.
The Mach-E…when I first saw the pictures, I wanted to hate it. I wanted to hate it so badly. So many excuses: It’s just a re-badged Escape, it’s electric, it’s not a ‘proper mustang’, blah-blah-blah. Ford did something amazing. Ford made a car that has gotten my attention. Ford made a car that gives me the same “feels” I had when the VW Corrado launched. I can’t put my finger on it quite yet – maybe it’s the “Shooting Brake-esque-ish” design, maybe it’s just different enough that it’s cool, maybe its got that old-time Euro sports car appeal, either way it is definitely #thenewhotness. I can’t pass final judgement on it yet (because I still need to drive one); but I wanted to dislike this car so much… and… I just can’t. In my opinion, Ford has positioned this car to take on the likes of the Mercedes GLC Coupe and the BMW GT-series cars and that’s not a bad thing. A little part of me really wants a special “Shelby edition” of the Mach-E to come out with a V6-ecoboost and a 6-speed manual, but either way, I’ll definitely be making a point to go see/drive one when they hit the showrooms later this year. More confusing was the “2020 Ford Fusion” display… (sigh) anyone else hear that the Mondeo was dead?
Rob L was right again, the show was devoid of all the German brands outside of Volkswagen. Being a long time “VAG (Volkswagen-Audi Group) fanboi” it was disappointing that the MK8 GTI still isn’t available for US consumption, but even the current-gen GTI was tucked in the corner like a tornado-red-headed step child being over shadowed by the very mundane and pedestrian: Jetta, Passat and Tiguan offerings. So if you like “hot hatches” and especially prefer a manual transmission (and aren’t in the market for a GTI) you do have 2 options to consider.
Above left: the Honda Civic SI Type-R… which has 306 “earth dreams” horse powers, or the more modest Hyundai Veloster Turbo-N (above right) and its WRC-inspired livery. #thierryneuville. More importantly, I can definitely understand why BMW didn’t bring out any cars to display because…
…between the:2-series, 3-series, 4-series, 5-series, 7-series, 8-series… breathe… ///M2, ///M3, ///M4, ///M5, ///M6, ///M8… hold on, X1, X2, X3, X5, X6, X7… errr //X5M, the various “GT” Series… oh yea, and the Z4 and whatever other bespoke models they’ve cooked up – There isn’t enough room in the building to hold the entire BMW line up. #assforeveryseat #horseofadifferentcolor
With Mercedes and Audi out of the mix, that meant that the grand total of “extremely awesome all-around vehicles” (also known as “Wagons”) was down to 2. We’re not sure if Buick has pulled the Regal Tour-X from their line up, but with it not being present, that left the Subaru Outback and the Volvo V60.
The Volvo was everything you expected it to be if you’re a wagon-fan and with the addition of a plugin-hybrid option it made it that much more capable of “being all the things.” When you compare it’s MSRP against other offerings, we could more easily justify a brand new Dodge Ram 1500 or Ford F-150 and have money left over. And from personal experience, the Pacifica Hybrid, is better value for money. Sorry Volvo. #thejuiceaintworththesqueeze.
We also noted that Tesla has never had a booth at any of the local Auto Shows. Matt Y tends to believe that it has something to do with eligibility based on dealer network, etc. But in today’s automotive climate, it seemed odd not to have them there. But that didn’t stop Land Rover, Range Rover and Jaguar from putting on an elaborate display or Acura from bringing out one of their IMSA NSXs.
Speaking of which, our peoples choice award for best displays went to Alfa Romeo for their sleek design, and Lincoln for their ’60s-inspired chic. The cut-away view of the new Cadillac V6-turbo (below center) was fascinating.
To Rob’s point about “most of the show feeling like adealer display” you have to give the DC Auto Show credit for doing a good job at incorporating “Car Culture” into the event with displays from Local Car Clubs (in years past it was SCCA, this year PCA), Enthusiast Groups and Family Friendly interactive events. We noted that this year the show upped the Vendor count as well as the on-site food offerings. In the last two years, the show has added more “exotics” to the mix, which we classify into two groups: Super/Hyper Cars ie: McLaren, Ferrari, etc and then the highly modified – what we might call: #stancebro cars.
We also have to give the folks at Competizione & Sport Cars out of Gaithersburg, MD a *BIG* shout-out for putting together a “Ford vs Ferrari“ inspired collection of masterpieces, along with other fine Italian classics like the Countach, F40, etc. Absolutely Amazing!
“Overall.. cheap and decent (and great way to spend an afternoon with the kids!) but man.. makes me want to go to one of the larger/manufacturer shows instead of the dealership show… I love car shows like this even when they suck.. Cars I want but would never buy.. like a Wrangler.. I got to play around/climb around and debate with myself/make excuses as to why I could own one.. It did make me debate offloading the Miata and all it’s stuff for a GTI so that I could actually drive it while waiting for kids to get old enough for me to get back on track.. which is always interesting…” – DMV member Rob L.
The foreboding that came with Rob’s memo definitely gave me pause before the show, but in the end he’s right about everything he said and I’ll admit that this show doesn’t hold the same glitz and glam that LA, Detroit or NYC have, but it’s always been better than the Baltimore show! All-in-all it was a good time, and hope to see many of you next year.
