Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Arizona International Auto Show

Thanksgiving Weekend seems like an odd time to have an Auto Show, but it sounded like a better “Black Friday” option for us than fighting crowds at Walmart! 

Phoenix Convention Center

 

So, after Tom finished up his camphost training session in the morning, we headed down to the Phoenix Convention Center.  With Friday being a government holiday, we lucked out and were able to park on the street for free, rather than paying $12 for the structure!

We knew that this show wasn’t going to be anywhere near the size or elaborate extravaganza that the Detroit International Auto Show is, but one thing that they did have that we did not have in Detroit was test drives!

 

Ready for a test drive!

As we walked toward the entrance to the show, the Lincoln display drew us in with the offer of a free gift if we took a test drive.  We opted to drive the MKZ Hybrid, and since I was the only one over 18 who had brought her license, I was the designated driver.

We drove around the block, and were pretty impressed with the performance of the hybrid.  I’m not sure it would work for fulltimers, though – not too many charging stations in campgrounds!  We could have driven as many cars as we wanted – Lincolns, Fords, Chevys, VWs, and others – and all of their representatives were trying to lure us in, but the boys just wanted to get inside.  So, we took our fruit-infusing Lincoln water bottles, and headed into the convention center.

As we walked in, it was obvious that our expectations were correct – that this show is significantly smaller and simpler than the Detroit show.

Day 333_Arizona Autoshow

We could see all the way across the room!

It wasn’t crowded at all, though, and that was nice.  We didn’t have to wait to get into any car, and there was plenty of room to walk around and take pictures.  Even with much less to look at, we ended up spending a good 3-1/2 hours walking around!

There's a Jeep!

While Tom and I checked out the off-road Jeeps, the boys got in line for the race simulators.  They have all the racing games for the XBox, so they are pretty good at these!

Race Simulator

Nicolas was a natural

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few specialty vehicles at the beginning of the display, including these great-looking Mustangs,

Mustangs for Christmas?

an old firetruck,

American LeFrance

and a couple of Airstream Class B motorhomes.

Mercedes Airstream Class B

They were nice-looking and pretty well equipped . . . I wouldn’t mind travelling in one, but I don’t think I could live in one fulltime.

From there we moved on to the production vehicles . . . Bryce liked the Fiat,          DSC_0225

Bryce likes the Fiat

and the VW Bug.

DSC_0233

Baby Blue Beetle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little cars were kindof cute, but they are going really retro on the interiors, with the same pastel colors as the exteriors!

How 'bout that interior?

Me, I tend to prefer the brighter colors . . . like “plum crazy”

Dodge Challenger

and “green envy”.

Green with envy!!

Similar to the Detroit Auto Show, the Ford display covered the most floor space, and we spent plenty of time there . . . there was even a Mustang pool table.          DSC_0244

It was really cool looking, and would be a nice addition to a rec room . . . if we had one!

Raptor

Bryce checked out all the vehicles, looking for his favorites . . .

DSC_0251

will it be a truck, or a Mustang?

Shelby

Bryce and I stuck together most of the evening, but Tom and Nicolas wandered off on their own . . . we occasionally crossed paths . . .

Nicolas' Turn

That’s Nicolas’ kind of car!

Mini Cooper is always a favorite of ours . . . but you have to be pretty well off to have a car just for the month of December (at least that’s the only time I would drive this green and red car!)

Christmas Mini Cooper

Nicolas says he’s man enough to drive a car with pink accents!

Man enough to drive a pink car!

Tom and I even found a cute little convertible . . . maybe we can flat tow that behind a motorhome!

Is it flat-towable?

Or maybe this convertible?

Manly Miata

In the Mazda display, Nicolas found another race simulator to try  . . . and he scored even higher on this one!

Conquering the simulator

He ended up in 4th place on this one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Auto Show visit would be complete without the hamsters . . .

Hampster-mobile!

or the dream cars!

Big Dreams!

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By the time we (finally!!!) finished walking around, it was 8pm, and I was definitely ready to go home . . . “but it’s open for another hour!” says Nicolas . . . “No way!” says Mom!

On the way home, we stopped for a frozen yogurt treat at Zoyo Neighborhood Yogurt . . . YUM . . . a great way to top off the evening!

2 comments:

  1. Didn't get to go to the show this year, so thanks for sharing your pictures, they were great. And actually you could use the Lincoln MKZ in your campground, because no charging station is necessary, runs on gas and electric, which keeps it fully charged.

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  2. Much better choice for Black Friday;o)) Looks like a great time for all of you!!

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