Pages

I love it all: embroidery, canvaswork, quilting, crochet. So much to do, so little time.





Wednesday, February 15, 2012

North America's Largest Auto Show

Hey Blog Buddies,

I've been diligently stitching away on one of my WIPs with not much progress to show, so thought I'd share my day with you.  Here is where DH and I went:

As you may be able to read on the banner,
"North America's Largest Auto Show" is
their description, not mine.  But I'll go along with it.
It sure takes up a large chunk
of McCormick Place.

We're not really in the market for a new car.
But the old flivver (Pontiac SUV)
has almost 100,000 miles on her,
so we thought we'd just look around
to see what's out there.

This was DH's dream:

A Porsch 911 Carrera ($125,000)
Beautiful, isn't it?
...moving right along...

Ford cut one of their vehicles in half:

Those crash test dummies need some clothes!!

We decided to take an actual test drive
in a Chevy Volt hybrid.
It's a little different than a test drive
at your local dealership.
They don't run a credit check on you,
or try to sell you the car.
However.
Everyone who took the test drive
had to take a Breatholyzer test first.
I'm happy to announce that
this was the first and only time
 that I've ever taken one!
(We both passed, in case you're wondering.)
Makes me wonder if this is the
wave of the future for test drives
at a dealership?


Anyhoo, this is the Volt.
It's a miracle that I got a photo
without dozens of bodies surrounding the car.
Probably because it was a weekday.
The car was cute, fun to drive
and had decent pick-up.
But the battery lasts for only
35-50 miles, then the gas engine kicks in.
It's practical (and economical) only
if you do a lot of short trips--
not so much for longer trips.

And then there's the sticker shock:

There was a charming elderly gentlemen
who I waited for for over three minutes,
but he would not move his head (as you can see).
Maybe he went catatonic when he saw the price?
You can get sizeable energy rebates on
both your Federal and Illinois income taxes,
but still.

Yes, it's $40,000, stripped.
Again, moving right along...

A lot of folks have a favorite make of car,
and mine is Buick.
(We had a very, very bad experience
with a Toyota--a total lemon--in the 70's which
has permanently scared us off the
popular Japanese makes.)
My dad had a great Buick Special
for many years when I was growing up.
That dates me, I know.
And I had a reliable Skylark as an adult.
So the Encore caught my eye:


It's quite small for a Buick.
They're describing it as a mini-Enclave.
It won't be out until 2013.
They only had one model on a turntable.
You couldn't touch it or sit in it.
I asked about price and was told mid- to high-20's.
I'll be waiting.
Hopefully, our Pontiac will keep chugging along.


What is your favorite make of car?

Thanks for going to the Auto Show with me!

4 comments:

cucki said...

wow very nice show...
i love audi and jeep :)

geeky Heather said...

Oooo, I love going to auto shows, especially to see the concept cars! I love our Prius, which we've had for almost four months now. If money were no object I'd have a Corvette! I used to have a Pontiac Sunfire, which a truck hit and totaled, and I still whimper when I see one. That was the BEST car.

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

looks like you had fun :D I love going to auto shows there is always so much to see.

Meari said...

Heyyy, I took my BF to the show last year for Valentine's Day. It was pretty cool seeing all the cars.