| Auto Show History |
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The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2006 marks the show's 18th year as an international event and the 90th auto show in Detroit. Each year more than 40 auto manufacturers display more than 700 shiny cars and trucks, and offer the worldwide premieres of many dazzling concept and production vehicles. But that's a long way from the show's humble beginnings. . . . The Early YearsThe first Detroit Auto Show was held at Beller's Beer Garden in 1907, featuring 33 vehicles offered by 17 exhibitors. A group of sixteen auto dealers sponsoring that original show eventually became the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA), and the DADA continues to own and operate the North American International Auto Show. As America's love affair with the automobile steadily increased, so did the scale and influence of the Detroit Auto Show. The show's growth is best measured by the size of the buildings it has called home: from the Wayne Gardens in 1910 (the largest available space in the city at that time) to Morgan and Wright's Building in 1921 and 1922, the event and the venue was continually outdoing itself. Growing International InterestBy 1957 the show moved to the Detroit Artillery Armory. The international significance of the Detroit Auto Show began to take shape when vehicles manufactured by foreign auto companies began appearing on the show floor. The 1957 show included vehicles from Volvo, Isetta, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Porsche. The Detroit Auto Show moved to the Cobo Conference & Exhibition Center in 1965, the current home of the NAIAS. Cobo Center features one of the largest single-floor exhibition spaces in the world and is capable of hosting a 600,000 square-foot show in a single hall. With the two- and three-level displays that manufacturers are constructing for recent shows, the total exhibit space for NAIAS 2003 was more than 1 million square feet.The First NAIASThe Detroit Auto Show was renamed the North American International Auto Show in 1989. The first NAIAS received considerable worldwide recognition, particularly because both Toyota and Nissan chose the NAIAS as the stage for the worldwide introduction of the new Lexus and Infiniti luxury divisions. Automakers from around the globe make the NAIAS the premier stage in the U.S. market for major unveilings. Since it became an international event, auto manufacturers have chosen the NAIAS to introduce almost 700 new concept and production vehicles.A Truly International ShowThe North American International Auto Show continues to evolve as an event of international standing and significance in the worldwide automotive industry. One measure of the show's stature is the number of international media in attendance, which has grown steadily each year and last year represented 31 percent of the 6,897 journalists who attended.The NAIAS is the only auto show in the United States sanctioned by the Organisation Internationale Des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) annually. It is also the longest running auto show in the United States. Don't miss MSN Autos' coverage of the NAIAS 2006—the venue for a firsthand look at dozens of new vehicles with international significance during the Press Days preceding the public show dates. MSN Autos has provided live coverage since 1997 and is the Official Web Site of the NAIAS 2006 for the 9th year in a row. This year, MSN Autos will once again feature up-to-the-minute reports from almost every press conference, complete with high-speed streaming video, 360-degree videos, photo galleries and all the details from the latest unveilings.MSN Autos would like to thank Bob Szurdarek, author of The First Century of the Detroit Auto Show, for his assistance with this article. His book can be ordered from SAE. |
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Consumers have always used the Detroit Auto Show to inspect every square inch of the vehicles on display, as seen in this photo of the Willys stand at the 1954 show.
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What a thrill back in 1954, seated behind the wheel of a shiny, new Studebaker Starliner coupe. The stylish Starliner was designed mainly by Robert Bourke.
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Early Detroit shows were characterized by a decidedly patriotic theme. Note the two Wheeler automobiles on display in the center of the photo.
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The Oldsmobile stand at the Detroit show, circa 1930s. Note the powertrain display in the background. (Copyright 1978 GM Corp. Used with Permission of GM Media Archives. All rights reserved.)
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What a difference a few decades make! This is Cobo Center just before the NAIAS 2002 opened its doors to the public, when nearly 760,000 people attended the show.
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A truly international show, the NAIAS draws more than 6,500 foreign journalists and is the only U.S. auto show sanctioned by the Organisation Internationale Des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) annually.
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