St. Louis Auto Show

The St. Louis Auto Show is an auto show held annually in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] The first St. Louis Auto Show was held in 1907 at Forest Park Highlands; it was first held indoors at the Willys-Overland Building on Locust Street in 1917.[2][3] Since resumption of the show in 1983,[4] it has been held annually at the America's Center convention center and, since its construction in 1996, at the adjacent Edward Jones Dome.[1][5]

In the most recent show, which took place in January 2012, its exhibits featured more than 25 automobile and motorcycle brands,[6] including Acura, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Harley Davidson, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.[7] The show also featured a collection of supercars sponsored by St. Louis Motorsports, Inc., including cars manufactured by Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, and Rolls-Royce.[7][8] The 2012 show also included three "ride-and-drive" experiences in which attendees were able to drive new vehicles, an environmentally friendly automobile section, and the Camp Jeep experience, in which attendees were able to participate in indoor, off-road driving.[8]

Historically, the show has included a variety of concept cars; in 1990, the show featured the 12-cylinder Cadillac Solitaire and the pivoting-canopied Plymouth Slingshot.[4] During the 1991 show, organizers brought three Deloreans used in the filming of Back to the Future and a pre-production model of the Dodge Viper.[9][10] For 1996, the show included models of the Cadillac Catera, the Plymouth Prowler, and the Lamborghini Diablo.[5] Also in 1996, the auto show became the first convention to use the Edward Jones Dome for convention space.[5] The 2001 show featured a pre-production model of the Ford Thunderbird and the GMC Envoy, while the 2005 show included the Jeep Hurricane concept car.[11][12]