No, that doesn’t make me a car girl. I have a very girly love of cars. I like how shiny they are. I like the new car smell. I love when they’re cute AND affordable! And I like when they just flat out look cool.
So with that in mind, it won’t surprise you when I say D and I grabbed my dad and made our way to the Cleveland Auto Show on Sunday. (H got some Grandma time.) We walked around, looked at cars, sat in cars, looked at prices, looked at features, etc, etc. I checked the trunk of every SUV we saw, to see if they had a picnic table back there. (Whatever possessed Honda to put a picnic table in the trunk of the 2003 model year CR-V, I don’t know, but I miss it.)
Anyways. I made some interesting observations while strolling amongst the cars.
1. Lots of people bring small kids - I couldn’t believe all the little kids. I mean LITTLE. Like, toddlers. I know kids 6 and under were free, but still. We left H at home. She’d have been bored anyways. At 7 months, cars and crowds don’t interest her. Patty the Pig on the Sprout Sharing Show interests her.
2. No Big Displays – Usually the various auto makers spend alot of money to errect these huge displays to wall off their section of the expo floor. Not so this time. Well, Nissan had some weird tent thing around their area. But that was it. When you entered the floor, you could see all around the expo. No huge displays. Ironically, for someone like me who really can’t tell a make/model of car on site (except for Saturns and Honda CR-V’s, but those I’ve owned)….the lack of displays made it a bit difficult to tell when we moved from car maker to car maker. You really just had the carpet color changing.
3. No concept cars – Usually they have these big, futuristic cars up on displays, rotating around, showing you the car of the future. I know sometimes those cars become reality in a couple years. But not so this time. No, instead they seemed to be focusing more on practicality. I wonder…is that because maybe this evil recession is forcing Americans to be more practical? (Don’t tell recently laid-off me the recession is over.)
4. Beautiful People Sell Cars – At least at the Auto Shows they do. Dang, they had women in black dresses and spiked heals spouting off the wonders of these new cars. My question…do these chicks really know this stuff, or is it a script? I’m sure the actual spiel is a script, but since they invite the public to ask them questions after, do they REALLY know cars? I suppose it’s possible.
5. I Miss My Honda – I came to that realization as I was sitting in the new model CR-V. I loved my CR-V. Not only was it paid off…which I could really go for RIGHT NOW….but, I just loved that car. I loved it from the moment I bought it. It never gave me an ounce of trouble. It was a very good, sturdy, car that handled the snow beautifully and I think looked snazzy while doing it. And now someone else owns it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Subaru now too. But I REALLY miss my Honda.
6. I am an Evil Person – Someone left their smart phone on the center console of a Subaru I sat in, and I left it there. My dad said….as we were driving home…that I probably should have taken it to the sales desk in the Subaru section and turned it in. Yeah, thanks for telling me now. I don’t think of these things. At the time I was like “Wow, that person should have been more careful. Hope they come back for their phone.”
Anyways…so there you have it. Our trip to the Auto Show. With car pictures. I know…I’m such a geek.
Herbie!!!