Feature: The history of the Detroit auto show

The concept for the Dodge Viper first appeared at the 1989 Detroit show, it's first year as an "international" event. By John LeBlanc DETROIT—It’s no coincidence the historical ups and downs of the auto show in Detroit coincide with the city’s association with the industry that defines the Motor City. Whichever face the annual Detroit event has shown to the world for more than 100 years — from austere to ostentatious — it’s also always been an indicator of the health of the American auto industry as a whole. Photo from 1926 Detroit auto show. The world’s first “auto show”, as we’d know it today, was held in Paris in 1888. And Chicago held its first automotive exhibition in 1901. Six years later, the first Detroit auto show was held as a relatively low-key affair at Beller’s Beer Garden at Riverside Park. Despite being at the epicentre of a burgeoning industry, led mainly by Henry Ford’s ever popular Model T, and the eventual hub of manufacturing activity that would finally distill to what would become known as the “Big Three” Detroit-based automakers—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—up until after World War II, the car show in Detroit was strictly a regional affair. Essentially a local trade show, focused on showcasing new cars only, the early Detroit auto shows were staid affairs compared to the showy and media-intense affair we have today. The idea of creating and displaying to the public conceptual cars didn’t really take hold until the 1950s. While mass media like television and the Internet were still decades away from being part of the auto show experience. And unlike the permanent home the Detroit show has enjoyed at its Cobo Hall waterfront downtown location it moved to in 1965, the event moved around to various locations, like the Wayne Gardens Pavilion and the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Because of the U.S. government’s banning of retail sales of cars and trucks during Word War II, and the subsequent lack of new car development right after the war, there were no Detroit shows from 1941to 1953. But the growing demand for new cars from a more prosperous American middle-class (and soon enough, their Baby Boomer offspring), and the need for automakers to differentiate between brands and create new types of cars, would change the nature of auto shows forever. Not only in Detroit, but the current nature of all modern auto shows can trace their roots back to General Motors’ groundbreaking—and wildly successful—post-war Motorama auto shows. Anyone who has been to a modern car show would recognize GM’s influence. Debuting as the Transpiration Unlimited Motorama in 1949 in only New York and Boston, GM’s travelling road show was created to tease customers with futuristic show cars, prototypes and concepts unveiled with live introductions. GM’s flashy showcases (that were put on until 1961) would rival contemporary Broadway productions for their extravagance. And the technique was transferred to annual events, like the Detroit show, in short order. Despite American automakers now sharing floor space with the new import brands (1957 saw the first cars of Volvo, BMW-Isetta, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Porsche appear at the Detroit), sales at Ford, GM and Chrysler continued at an unfettered pace throughout the 1960s, and, subsequently, these domestic brands continued to monopolize the Detroit show floor. Despite the impact of the 1973 Middle East oil crisis on domestic brand car sales, and the subsequent growth of smaller, more fuel-efficient import brands, the Detroit auto show continued to be a popular event during the 1970s and 1980s. But compared to the larger, so-called international shows in Frankfurt, Germany or Paris, France, the Motor City show was still seen as a minor event. But that was soon to change. In 1987, a group from the Detroit Auto Dealers Association learned that a planned doubling of the size of the Cobo Hall facility was in the works. And too coincide with the new larger venue, the DADA group decided to make the annual event not only the top U.S. auto show on the calendar, but also one of the top shows in the world. In addition to the local automotive and business industry writers, show organizers recognized that the key was to get the participation of the international media. Japan’s Toyota and Nissan were in the stages of launching their respective U.S.-exclusive Lexus and Infiniti premium brands in late 1988. A Detroit auto show debut would almost guarantee the attendance of the foreign media. After coming to an agreement that both new Japanese luxury brands would debut at the 1989 Detroit show, organizers were than able to get commitments from Hyundai, American Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Honda with its three-year-old Acura division to also make world debuts. As planned, in 1989, the Detroit auto show officially became the North American International Auto Show. While 5,000 to 6,000 media from around the world now attend annually, that year, organizers were thrilled that 850 journalists showed up, 60 of whom were international. The next quarter century would be considered the golden age of the Detroit show. The unabated growth of the American economy, the influx of brands from around the world into the booming North American car market, and the need by automakers to create new types of vehicles that never existed before (like personal trucks, minivans, SUVs, and crossovers), meant the show in Detroit became a hotbed of the latest and greatest, not only from the Big Three, but also from European and Japanese automakers. Presentations at the show became a game of one-upmanship between automakers, sparked in 1992 when then Chrysler President, Bob Lutz, “crashed” a Jeep Grand Cherokee into the front doors of Cobo Hall, shattering through fake plate glass as a way to introduce the vehicle. Based on attendance, the Detroit auto show peaked in 2003, when 810,699 members of the public walked thought the Cobo Hall doors, breaking the previous show’s high of 802,301, set in 2000. By 2005, though, dark clouds in the U.S. car industry were gathering that would take some of the shine off the event. The domestic automakers were suffering staggering losses, with masses of unsold vehicles piling up on lots throughout Detroit. The affect on the show floor was a dramatic drop in fanciful (and expensive) show and concept cars. With the dearth of any truly “conceptual” vehicles, the focus switched to cars that customers would be able to purchase sooner, rather than later. But the media kept on coming to Detroit. In contrast to the number of media that showed up in 1989, the 2006 show attracted 6,647 media from 62 countries on six continents. Despite the hangover from 2005’s constant announcements of declining market shares, impending layoffs and factory shutdowns from the domestic automakers, at the 2006 Detroit show, Chevrolet and Dodge, respectively, debuted resurrected models of its Camaro and Dodge muscle cars. 2006 may go down as the last Detroit show in some time where “fun” was a priority. Back-to-back hits to the North American car industry in the form of rising gas prices and the current economic recession (that saw both GM and Chrysler file for bankruptcy in 2009) has changed the nature of the once glitzy affair. Presentations are now sober affairs, with Hollywood stars and celebrities replaced by straitlaced auto executives sounding more like accountants than purveyors of dreams. Practical production cars have replaced dreamy concept and show cars. And with general decline of the Michigan area economy in general, many import automakers have recently either stopped attending the Detroit show, or have foregone making presentations during the media days. The result: as recently as 2008, it took three days to include all the media presentations; this year’s presentations were completed in one day only. Whether the Detroit show ever returns to the heights of its most popular 1990 to 2005 era, is yet to be seen. But as long as they keep making cars in Detroit, its safe to assume there will always be a Detroit auto show. With files from the archives of the North American International Auto Show.

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