Michigan International Auto Show

Features & Attractions

PLEASE NOTE:

The following information is from the 2013 Michigan International Auto Show.  The 2014 Show information will be coming soon.

Million Dollar Motorway

The most admired feature of the 2012 Show is back by popular demand.  Only vehicles with retail prices over $100,000 qualify to be displayed in our Million Dollar Motorway.  ...our total?  ...well over $1 Million!

Vehicles expected to be on display in the Million Dollar Motorway include:

2014 Aston Martin Vanquish                                        Maserati Gran Turismo

Aston Martin DB9                                                            Audi R8

Aston Martin Rapide                                                       Mercedes Benz C550C4

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder                     Mercedes Benz SL 550

Rolls Royce Ghost                                                           BMW Grand Coupe

Bentley GTC Convertible                                                Corvette ZR1 Coupe

Bentley Mulsanne                                                            Ferrari California Convertible

Fisker Karma                                                                    Ferrari FF

Auto Show Supercars

They're back!  The supercars on display will have at least $20,000 worth of added options and accessories.

Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

 

This Camaro is loaded with a 6.2 L Supercharged V8 Engine, Brembo Brake System, 580 Horse Power, 556 Lb.-Ft. of Torque, and a 6-Speed Manual Transmission with a Short-Throw Shifter.  It can go 0 to 60 in 4.0 seconds manually / 3.9 seconds automatically, with a top speed of 180 manual / 184 automatic!

 

SRT8

 Finished in Stinger Yellow with a Black Satin Stripe, this Dodge Challenger has a smooth 6.4L V8 Engine, matched by a 6-Speed Manual Transmission.  Plus a 470 Horse Power HEMI!

 

Mustang GT Coupe Premium

Finished in Grabber Blue, this 2013 Mustang has a 5.0L 4V TI-VCT V8 Engine and a 6-Speed Automatic Transmission!

Fast and Furious Cars

See these special race cars at the Show this year!  Also, meet the SCCA's Great Lakes STO 2010 & 2011 National Champion Danny Kellermeyer on Sunday in the Sports Car Club of America booth.

 

2013 T1 Corvette

 

Painted anniversary silver!

 

Ford Racing BOSS 302S

 

This Ford has 440 Horse Power, a 5.0L Ford Racing Motorsport Engine, a 6-Speed Transmission with Dual Disc Clutch, a 6-Point Roll Cage, and is vehicle #8 out of 50 to be made ever!

Meet Danny Kellermeyer

Danny will be at the Show on Sunday ONLY at the Sports Car Club of America booth!

A General Motors Institute graduate, Danny served 32 years with GM in the field engineering group before retiring in 1999 at the age of 52.  He as the SCCA's Great Lakes STO National Champion in 2010 and 2011, as well as SCCA's Central Division ITE Champion in 1995-96.  He has won ten Waterford Hills Road Racing Championship Titles and five SCCA Touring Challenge for Corvettes.  He was named "Driver of the Year" at WHRRI for 1990 and 2008.  In 1993 Danny was a driver in the Rolex 24 Daytona Race and was Crew Chief in five other Rolex races.

Danny will continue to exceed his milestone of over 46,000 racing miles, while racing his Matick Chevrolet Corvette in the new SCCA Majors Series!


Comic Bots

The famous Comic Bots will be wandering the aisles throughout the Show!  They have appeared on countless shows and events worldwide including America's Got Talent, Showtime at the Appolo, the Grand Old Opry, celebrity private parties, opening for major musicians, and hosting events throughout the world!

Michigan Public Radio

Michigan Public Radio will be at the Show on Saturday morning featuring Car Talk.  Stop by to get your photo taken with a cut-out of the famous hosts Click & Clack!

Gilmore Car Museum Display

Each year the Gilmore Car Museum of near by Hickory Corners presents an outstanding exhibit of historic automobiles during the show.  This year is no exception and the museum, considered one of the top five car museums in the nation, has selected a little something for everyone to enjoy.

Sponsored by Michigan Radio

1915 Rauch Lang Electric - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

With the auto industry looking at alternatives to gas powered vehicles you might think electric autos were a new innovation.  Actually, the technology is well over a century old.  In 1903, the Cleveland firm of Rauch-Lang began selling electric cars. 

Electric cars became very popular, especially among women.  In fact, Mrs. Henry (Clara) Ford drove a Detroit Electric and Mrs. Thomas (Mina) Edison drove a Baker Electric.  Rauch-Lang was just one of the nearly 400 companies producing electric cars through the 1920s.  However, just as electrical service was beginning to reach rural America, the electric automobile was fading into history.


1915 Ford Model T Roadster - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

The images from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s are haunting - long lines at soup kitchens, farms buried by dirt and gaunt faces peering out from dilapidated autos piled high with their only possessions.

An all-new exhibit at the Gilmore Car Museum takes you beyond filmmaker Ken Burns' recent PBS documentary, The Dust Bowl, with a new and revealing exhibit of the autos from the era.  This Model T Ford is just such a vehicle.

As an example of what numerous American's experienced, this rugged and reliable though inexpensive automobile is well-worn.  Bedding and furniture, as well as pots and pans, are tied to the fenders and running boards - all that the family could carry on their westward migration in hopes of finding work and leaving the Depression and Dust Bowl behind.  The Model T was the vehicle of choice for many "drought refugees" and became not only their means of travel but often their only place of shelter.


1916 Packard V-12 Racer - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

The name Packard is instantly associated with luxury motorcars rather than by racing.  Yet, in the early years of the automobile many companies used racing as a way to exhibit their car's endurance as well as to further promote the brand.  This vehicle was one of two factory experimental V-12 racers that saw success on US tracks through the mid-1920s.  After that the car was shipped to Argentina where it continued to race and break records until 1929.  Seeing little value in an old race car it was simply stored away, not to be rediscovered until 1990.  After it had been meticulously restored it was featured at many notable auto shows such as the famed Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance and displayed at the National Packard Museum before its recent donation to the Gilmore Car Museum.

1917 Mercer - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

With 2012 marking the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition coming to Grand Rapids, the Gilmore Car Museum presents an automotive connection to the disaster. 

Washington A. Roebling II, whose family built the Brooklyn Bridge, formed the Mercer Automobile Company in 1909.  The car found early success on the racetrack and soon became popular with the young and wealthy.  Disaster struck in April 1912 when 31-year-old Roebling and his sales manager both perished in the sinking of the Titanic.  The Roebling family kept the firm going until it was sold in 1918 and by 1925 Mercer had gone bankrupt.

This rare 1917 Mercer was once owned by A.C. Baker, who was born and raised on the farm near Richland that now makes up the Gilmore Car Museum.


1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

In an attempt to replace Packard as America's premier motor car, Cadillac introduced its V-16 models in January of 1930, followed by the V-12 in September.  Serving as the top of their line without concern of the cost, these models were unrivaled in power, smoothness, and luxury, thus adding an extra measure of prestige over the firm's less expensive models.  The new model sparked the multi-cylinder race among fellow luxury automakers Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Lincoln, and Marmon.  Ironically, due to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, the debut of the larger engines came at a time when the fine car market was struggling the most.  Cars such as this are currently displayed in the Gilmore Car Museum's new Dust Bowl / Great Depression exhibit juxtaposed with vehicles such as the Model T.

1920 Cleveland Motorcycle - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

The Cleveland Motorcycle was built in Cleveland, OH from 1915 until 1929 and was one of many short-lived American motorcycle manufacturers.  The Cleveland quickly gained a reputation for their sound design and the number of original and innovative features including a clutchless gear change and a worm primary drive. 

Despite the high quality of its products and its strong reputation it was the Wall Street crash of 1929 that forced the company out of business.


1930 Model A Ford Roadster- Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

When Henry Ford introduced the new Model A Ford in December 1927, he was following the overwhelming success of the Model T, which had been produced with few changes since it debuted in 1908.  Over 15 million of the strudy, utilitarian, and low-priced Model Ts had been sold. 

The all-new Model A Ford was greeted with such tremendous public enthusiasm that it became an instant success and nearly five million were sold during its four year production.  In fact, over 400,000 Model A Fords had been "sold sight unseen" before the car had even been unveiled to the public.

The newly-completed Model A Ford Museum, on the campus of the Gilmore Car Museum, is the largest public museum dedicated to the Model A in the world.

1952 Hudson Convertible - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

The Gilmore Car Museum is pleased to present a special exhibit, "The Fabulous Hudsons," in the museum's main gallery through May 1, 2013.  This remarkable 1952 Hudson convertible is just one of 13 cars in that display, all part of the renowned Hostetler Collection from Middlebury, IN.

This car features the famous "step-down" floor and is equipped with one of the most memorable six-cylinder engines in racing history - the Twin-H 262 cu. in. Super-Six flathead.

The all-new Hudson Hornet achieved instant domination in stock car racing, including the NASCAR Grand National circuit from 1951 through 1954 in the hands of drivers such as Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas and Dick Rathmann.  Hudson Hornets won 27 of 34 races in 1952 and 22 of 37 races in 1953.

It is the "Fabulous Hudson" that inspired the Doc Hudson character in the 2006 Disney animated film Cars.


1958 Corvette - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

Introduced in 1953, the Corvette celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2013.  Based on the 1952 General Motors "Motorama" concept car - a 6-cylinder fiberglass bodied convertible sports car - went in to production virtually unchanged.  300 Crovettes sold that first year and with aggressive competition from Ford's T-Bird and the Mercedes 300SL, Chevrolet introduced its redesigned Corvette in 1956.  This all-new body style sported roll-up side windows for the first time and removable hardtop.  For 1957 the Corvette offered a fuel-injected V-8 engine capable of going from 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and boasted a top speed of 132 mph.  The 1958 models introduced quad headlights, a bit more chrome trim and an updated interior.  The Corvette soon became known as the fastest production car in the US and became very competitive in both sales and on the racing circuit.

1970 Challenger Hemi - Gilmore Car Museum Vehicle

The Challenger, introduced in 1970, was Dodge's answer to the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.  Challenger and Plymouth's Baracuda were both built on the new E-body platform.  Chrysler designed the E-body to utilize any of their engines, from a Slant-Six to the massive Hemi.

This Challenger is an R/T, which stood for Road and Track, the high performance version R/T Challengers came standard with a 335 hp. 383 cu. in. engine.  This car is equipped with the most powerful of the three optional engines available, the 425 hp, 426 Hemi engine, with dual four-barrel carburetors.  Ordering the Hemi meant that one must also order the R/T package as well, which included a Rallye package of 15" wheels, heavy duty suspension and rear axle, heavy-duty brakes, dual exhaust and larger raised white letter tires.


MasterCraft VR Express Simulator

Sometimes we are called to a higher order - FUN!  In our book, nothing yells fun like a motion simulator.  Enjoy the experience of this ride featuring a winding, high-speed slot car race while you're at the Show!

Brought to the Show by Summit Marine and Action Water Sports.

 

Racing Through Education

The Holland Police Department's Racing Through Education Program will have their Driving Simulator at the Show.  There are 250 driving scenarios within the simulator such as night driving, braking and safety distances, reaction time, country and city driving, driving attitudes, focusing and dividing attention, defensive driving and free driving.  Their goal is to bring awareness of the dangers of distraction driving, such as cell phone use and texting while driving, to drivers of all ages (14 and older).