Auto show opens April 4; Honda Ridgeline adds Trailsport
Twelve days till opening of the 2024 Denver
Auto Show for viewing of the new models at the Colorado Convention Center; among the many attractions will be Honda’s addition of the Trailsport offroad trim to its Ridgeline midsize pickup.
It’s not an “all-out effort” at offroading – mainly all-terrain tires, tuned suspension and underbody protection – for Honda doesn’t want to risk “roughing up” what, perhaps, is the best on-road comfort of all compact pickups.
The 2024 auto show will open at noon Thursday, April 4, and continue through Sunday,
April 7.
“We’ll fill our 300,000-squarefoot exhibition space at the convention center with more manufacturer participation than a year ago,” said Matthew Groves, CEO and president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). He succeeded Tim Jackson as head of CADA shortly before last year’s show. Eric Beutz is auto show chairman for the association.
Large displays up front at the entrance to the show will be from Chevrolet and Toyota. Smaller space at the front row will be filled by Subaru, which is back at the event after sitting out last year.
At the opposite end of the floor from Subaru will be an electric-vehicle ride course. An opening-day highlight will be the annual Colorado Automotive Hall of Fame and Denver Auto Show Opening Gala. The Fame dinner is at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 4, with gala opening of the car show at 7 p.m. “Inducted into the hall of fame at this year’s fete will be six nominees – three living dealers, two posthumous dealers and an industry-affiliated associate,” Groves said. This will bring to 72 the number of inductees over the past four years. Car/truck/suv/electric of the Year, as voted upon by members of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press, will be announced on Thursday, April 4. Winners last year were the Ford Maverick compact pickup as Truck of the Year for the second year in a row, Nissan Z as car of year, Mazda CX-50 as SUV of year and Kia EV6 as electric of year.
Denver was one of earliest of U.S. cities to stage an auto show in 1902. Shows were scheduled sporadically, though, never being strung together over a long series annually until 1978, when Bill Barrow, then head of the CADA, staged a large attraction at Currigan Exhibition Hall. It was the site of the show for 12 years, until the new convention center was opened.
As for the new Ridgeline Trailsport, I spent some time with it recently – driving north off U.S. 34 on the road toward Masonville, then to the west into Sunrise Canyon on its narrow, paved road with lots of curves. The Ridgeline shines, smooth as can be, as a highway handler.
Honda is still using the awkward push-button shifter to go with its 280-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engine and 9-speed automatic transmission, still has the handy deep well beneath the floor at the rear of the pickup bed. Its tailgate drops open like most others, though can also swing open to the side.
The Ridgeline Trailsport carried a sticker price of $46,830, including adaptive cruise, lane-keeping assist and collision-mitigation braking . It is built at Honda’s Lincoln, Ala., auto plant. Contact Bud Wells at budwellscars@comcast.net