The New England International Auto Show is by far the most impressive large-scale automotive exhibition that comes to Boston each year. For the first time, the show, which was open all of last week, was housed in South Boston's new Convention and Exhibition Center. The gigantic room (picture a dome over all the Mods and the Mod Lot and you would have an approximate size comparison) hosts over 40 car companies, each with as many as 10 different models on the floor. The layout is organized so that each car company has a designated area of the room to work with. In addition, there was a Mack Truck demonstration, some NASCAR-esque displays, and a few other special exhibits. It was easy to overlook these other exhibits, since the overwhelming majority of automobiles at the show (about 98 percent) were new models currently for sale at dealerships, models coming out for the 2008 or 2009 model years, and prototypes that may or may not undergo production a few years down the line. Each company's exhibit included prime examples of their entire lineup so that potential customers could sit in, play with, and otherwise scrutinize the cars. Full posters and color brochures were also available at every location.
Basically, you could do all but drive the cars on display, provided the car was unlocked (most were), and was not sitting atop a platform adorned with a 30-year-old, scantily clad female eloquently reciting a memorized list of facts about the model she has been assigned (an attention-getting sales tactic that was present across the board, so it must work).
Who attends the Auto Show? At just $12 a pop for an all-day pass; anyone and everyone. There are auto aficionados like me who go merely to be in the midst of such a vast number of automobiles, and to spend considerable time checking out the latest from Maserati, Mercedes, Audi, and the like. However, I do not always succumb to the snobbery of such luxury brands; although I marveled at the pacific blue Bentley Azure convertible priced at a shocking $349,000, I was put off by the fact that the Bentleys were roped off and guarded, in an effort to exclude all but the most special of customers. I think I would have needed to be at least 40 years old and dressed in a suave suit to have even attempted a shot at conversation with the Bentley reps. I couldn't help but see this aspect of the show as a microcosm of American society: The wealthy who could "talk the talk" got to sit in the Bentleys.
2008 Woodie Awards
