Beyond the Parking Lot

Here in the US as the weather gets nicer, in parking lots all over the Midwest, especially at burger joints and ice cream stands, you will come across a car show. These are gatherings of vintage or refurbished cars. Owners bring their cars to a specific location for others to oooh and awe over as they nosh on their red hots or swig their milk shakes. Most of the time there is retro music being played to draw the crowd in, and occasionally, you’ll see girls in poodle skirts and guys in leather jackets with their hair slicked back as if they just re-entered in doc’s DeLorean from the 1950s.

This type of car show is usually casual. There might be a schedule, or not. There might be a sign-up sheet or registration on a web page, or not. They might be just “drive-in” kind of events. These shows are often accompanied by lots of folks sitting in lawn chairs, coolers of cheap beer, tents with lights strung on them over picnic tables of potato salad, chips, and carrot sticks. They pop up in neighborhoods, in rural downtowns, and anywhere the local farmer can arrive in his overalls, driving his tractor to get there. It feels very Midwest America to me – a lot like the town I grew up in.

However, I know that there are car shows out there where the planners and car owners take things a lot more seriously.

I have been to some car shows where the owners are buffing their beauties with cloth diapers every fifteen seconds. As soon as someone’s breath reaches their mint metallic green Chevy, out comes the rag and wax. These car shows are indoors so the paint and interiors won’t fade and weather is not an issue. Cars in these shows would never be driven to the show floor, Lord have mercy. They’re trailered in, pushed around, and drained of their fluids to meet indoor safety standards. And, many of them are for sale. They have won ribbons and trophies which travel with them; displayed for any prospective buyers to behold. They are parked over mirrors so guests can see how clean the undercarriage is and hoods are popped open to display the chrome engine that was meticulously lowered into place. An attendee or a prospective buyer might even have to be qualified before being issued a badge of entry for a show of this nature.

But, what I discovered as I researched for this blog is that the US is not the only country who hosts car shows. They can actually be found in varying formats in places like the UK, across Europe, Australia, and in Asia. 

A quick internet search produced these shows as the favored ones:

• Goodwood Festival of Speed (West Sussex, United Kingdom)
• Retromobile (Paris, France)
• Summernats (Canberra, Australia)
• Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (China)
• Bangkok International Motor Show (Thailand)

Do you know what else I discovered? The event planning checklist for these events are exactly the same everywhere. The order in which tasks are accomplished might be different, but clearly a car show is a car show is a car show.

As with any event, you need a vision or to determine the goals and objectives. You’ll need a budget, a date, and a venue. There will need to be registration for the cars and most likely ticket sales for attendees. Definitely marketing and advertising are important if anyone is going to hear about the event. Food and beverages, bathrooms, parking, safety, and audio/visual support are on the list. I am certain there will need to be permits, risk assessments, some type of insurance, and site inspections. It also seems like there are awards and prizes for these events so judges and categories need to be established if they’re not already in place.

The specifics of these steps will obviously be nuanced based on the country in which you are planning a car show. I can’t imagine that the permitting process for an event in Columbus, Ohio, in the US, is going to be the same for obtaining a permit for the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. What this tells me is that research must be done ahead of time and all of this will need to be factored into your event planning timeline. If it takes six months to obtain a permit in China, then not only should it be one of the first things you do (if you can) it may determine how soon the car show can be scheduled.

Being from small-town USA outside of Chicago, my personal preference is the car show that pops up in a random parking lot on Thursday night at an ice cream shop. These are the cars that guys have worked on in their garages for years. They’re proud of their work and are finally taking their baby out for a spin. They’ll share war stories of getting their car in drivable condition, nobody’s in a rush, and there’s no agenda.

Being from outside of Chicago, I also am within driving distance (or preferably a 1-1/2 hour train ride) to the Chicago Auto Show which happens to be North America’s largest auto exposition. I have attended this show before. I can’t imagine the logistical coordination to get all of those cars into McCormick Place. If you haven’t been, this venue is enormous; the largest convention center in North America. For other event nerds such as myself, here are some flyby stats: it has 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, 600,000 square feet of meeting space, 50 foot ceilings, assembly seating for 18,000, and is connected to nearly 3,000 hotel rooms.¹

The next time you see a car show in the parking lot of your favorite non-dairy, gluten-free, low-fat, frozen yogurt, ice cream substitute joint, check it out. Who are we kidding, places like this won’t have a car show in their lot. You want a full-fat, tasty, creamy, dairy-filled, decadent, sweet, real ice cream shop. Here is where you’ll meet some great folks and see some cool cars.

Have you planned a car show, whether at home or abroad, casual or formal? Share something you learned with us here or send me an email.

Make sure you comment, like, and share this blog with everyone you know who drives a car!

Visit tracybaer.com for great planner resources!

1.Choose Chicago. McCormick Place Convention Center. 2026. https://www.choosechicago.com/meeting-planners/mccormick-place/mccormick-place-convention-center/

I don’t represent nor do I promote McCormick Place, I just think it’s a fascinating venue. Be aware, Illinois is a Union state.