Auto Shows

2006 Chicago Auto Show

By Allyson Harwood, Todd Lassa & Brandy Schaffels
Photography by Brandy Schaffels & Julia LaPalme

Something big is blowing into the Windy City: the 2006 Chicago Auto Show! America's longest-running auto show enters its 98th season this week, filling the ginorrmous, 1.2-million-square-foot McCormick place with 20 concept vehicle reveals, and 18 world automobile introductions, not to mention more than a thousand other production vehicles spread across the dealer displays.

The Chicago Auto Show loves to boast about its size, and why not? The essential numbers give proof: McCormick Place, home to the 2006 Chicago Auto Show, is swathed in 133,333 square yards of carpet, enough to carpet 571 average American homes. It takes 68 three-man crews to handle the first-night's freight, and then 168 hours to assemble it all. Over the 10-day run of the show, visitors will experience the full spectrum of design concepts and production vehicles from 18 manufacturers in a convenient way to shop for or dream about their next car purchase. The show opens to the public on Friday, February 10, from 10am to 10pm daily (except for February 19, when it closes at 8pm).