What we're missing with the cancelled Vancouver International Auto Show
Annual convention is about more than just cars; it's an event where family memories are made
In the grand scheme of things, a cancelled auto show — even two years in a row — isn't that monumental considering the health and welfare of our city, province, nation and world.
But as we've all come to appreciate during the last 12 months, it's the annual traditions and rites of passage that we've missed out on that really leave us wanting. And, if you are one of the thousands who each spring make the annual trek down to the Vancouver International Auto Show, in recent years at the downtown Convention Centre and before that at B.C. Place, we know you, like us, have the sense that something is missing as the cherry blossoms come to bloom.
For the uninformed, an auto show might seem like just a big car dealership showroom — sans the salespeople, piped in Muzak and stale coffee — but for those who love cars, old and new and quirky and nerdy, an auto show is one of the highlights of the year. And if you've ever walked the multi-levels of the convention centre during auto show days, you also know that auto show are family events, with children being led around by parents, who themselves most likely were led around by their parents a generation ago. Kids and grandparents, older dads with middle age sons, toddlers with mums, there is no real “typical” auto show goer.
Not surprisingly, memories from past auto shows abound, and new ones are made at each new show.
All of which makes this year's cancellation of the Vancouver International Auto Show, and last year's centennial show, a disappointment for so many. However, it makes the prospect of next year's show, which will be positioned as the 100th year anniversary by show hosts, the New Car Dealers of B.C., all the sweeter.
While it can certainly not replace, by any measure, the show, over the next three pages we look at some of the vehicles from Jeep, Kia and Ford that would have been drawing a crowd at the convention centre.