Yesterday I attended the Chicago Auto Show. The first Chicago Auto Show was held in 1901. The Chicago Auto Show is the largest in North America and it has been held more times than any other auto expo in the entire continent of North America. This year Chicago celebrated it's 100th Auto Show at McCormick Place located at Lake Shore Drive and 23rd Street. I had never attended an event at McCormick Place and was amazed to see how grandiose the inside of the building was. The Chicago Auto Show utilized 1.3 million square feet of the McCormick Place complex which is a little under half the amount of exhibition hall space offered there. Within the show there were a number of world and North American introductions with a complete range of domestic and imported passenger cars and trucks; sport utility vehicles, experimental and concept cars. Esteban's parents were in town this weekend and his father's love for cars is what brought us to the Auto Show. Most impressive were the antique and collector cars which were given a rather small amount of space. Nonetheless some of my favorites included the Lotus Esprit sportscar driven in the film Pretty Woman and the Mercedes Benz G-Class. I must admit many of the cars on preview were a bit offensive, especially the lack of environmental care/conciousness in the MUMBO JUMBO SIZED vehicles. The U.S. Army had a booth of it's own where individuals could hop into helicopters, watch a soldier operate a tank, and participate in indoor rock climbing. The show was filled with surprises.
An image of the U.S. Army helicopter on display at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show
Similar to the FORD EXPLORER AMERICA, this vehicle was disappointing to have seen. The anti-ozone machine is more like it. 
One of my favorite moments included the young and dashing Indian man who hopped on to a Harley Davidson, pretending to do a sharp turn for the photographers around him.I was also surprised to see NBC news doing a short 1 min. shot of children enjoying there time spent at the Auto Show. Esteban, Ximena, George, and myself somehow got caught in the back corner of the intense filming which took nearly 20 minutes to film, this was probably because the children were exhausted and not quite THRILLED to be there. Nonetheless the scene was bright and exciting to observe.
News stars.We spent approximately five hours at the Auto Show and by the time it was over we all needed a moment of rest. The day was pleasant and it was interesting to have been exposed to a world of machines. Later everyone!
