Somebody here said that some of these exotics are privately owned so theyare just for show, not there because of the manufacturer or dealer or whatever.

No car dealer, manufacturer, nor salesman makes a nickel off of my admission - just the event planner and the city for the rental of the convention center.

As you mentioned these shows are not for car enthusiast but for soccer momswho are looking for benign cars which I assume you can check out and sit in and they do not care for the exotics. So why would they even have exotics there?

I understand the general concept of a car show which is purely a marketingvehicle but not the need for some regular production cars to be corralled off .

You can go to an RV show and get on any million Dollar RV, you can go to anagricultural show and climb all over the latest million Dollar combine. You cango to a million Dollar open house and sit on their toilet.

These cars are not that special, nor expensive that they need to be shieldedfrom the public so what is the point of them being there? "Regular"car shoppers don't care for them and enthusiast who would cannot sit in them or even get close.

All I did was express amazement that they are treated like some Faberge eggwhen they are clearly not as the dealerships in the DC metro area are full ofthem.
The only reason this may seem normal is because motorheads pay and go tothese shows and "expect" to be kept away from the display whenclearly every other show with expensive goods is happy to have them crawl overtheir offerings.

Chris I am not trying to be a dich or argumentative. As I said I have notbeen to a car show in easily 10 years probably more. I could care less, Iprobably will not go to one ever again either. I just saw the pictures and was amazedat the number of corrals.
Special build cars cool, a race car fine, a one of a kindI get it - keep the people out ...
Porsches, Corvettes, Lambos, Ferraris and other current production cars- WHAT THE HELL?? Some 25,000 Gallardos were built .... really, not thatspecial ...

I defintely prefer your pics from car meets and drives over going to a show ...

 

No offense but your view is very close minded. The cars might not be special to you but to kids and enthusiasts they are. Many people don't ever see Lamborghinis or Ferraris. For example, here in MD I'd say I see less than 5 Lambos and Ferraris a year. Having them all in one place for a small fee is a pretty good deal to take my son to. I can also go to a C&C but either way I wouldn't expect an owner to allow me or my son in his/her car. Car interiors are fragile and it's not just walk in and walk out. You have to contort yourself to get in and leather tears and scratches easily.

With that said, car shows aren't for you since you'd rather go to a dealership. They aren't for me either unless a Pagani or something very special is there

 

Salesman and dealerships don't directly make money off your admission, but when you come to buy a car they do. Plus, I used to sell cars (back in 2004) and my dealership paid me to work at the show and talk about the cars/trucks/SUVs and guess what...I had a stack of business cards in my pocket, just in case.

As Ross mentioned, the exotics are just for the appeal of the show, to draw in the dreamers who might not ever get a chance to see a car like that. For the owner...it can be bragging rights (because we all know exotic car owners have small dicks, right? ), or maybe a sponsor/exhibitor asked them (or paid them) to be there.

As an enthusiast, I don't think the Baltimore Auto Show is all that great, and as a matter of fact, the last time I went a few years ago was only because I had a media pass. The New York Auto Show, however, is amazing, and definitely worth taking a day trip to see. They have a variety of concept cars, one-off builds, a whole bunch more exotics, etc. I went to that on media day a few years ago and it was incredible. Getting free food and alcohol from a bunch of the manufacturers display areas...what an experience.

 

I go the the NY auto show every year and it is awesome. I'm headed there this year for the first few days its open (Easter weekend), if anyone wants to meet up.

 

I know mine is chris…

hadn't been in years, but when my son was in the market for his first car a few years ago made shopping very easy as to your point tonk. ended up with the mazda 3 hatchback--great car.