The Chicago Auto Show began life at the turn of the last century, and has run almost every year since, though it took off most of the decade surrounding World War II. The show has seen some things — including a car made of gold, mermaids and a live cougar. It has survived any number of traumas — including a fire at its old venue, the grimly fuel-efficient Carter years and the Edsel.
While it has never been known for its high-profile product launches in the way shows in Detroit or New York have, the Chicago Auto Show is consistently the best-attended show in the country.
1901
The first show is held at the Coliseum, a facility on the near South Side that history has not remembered fondly. Parts of its structure were once a Civil War prison. The arena, which hosted political conventions, the Blackhawks and even Jimi Hendrix, closed in the early 1970s.
1917
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A Studebaker with gold-finished pieces valued at $25,000 (more than $541,000 in today’s dollars) is displayed.
1950
The show didn’t run for most of the Forties due to World War II. When it returned in 1950, it was the first American post-war auto show.
1954
Continuing a long tradition of celebrity guests, Ronald Reagan, then a television actor, makes an appearance.
1958
Ford introduces the Edsel.
1961
The show begins its run at the original, freshly opened McCormick Place after years at the International Amphitheatre on the South Side.
1967
The original McCormick Place is destroyed by a fire on Jan. 16, 1967 — just weeks before the Chicago Auto Show was set to begin there. The show — featuring models dressed as mermaids to showcase the Plymouth Barracuda — returned to the International Amphitheatre, where it would stay until a rebuilt McCormick Place opened in 1971.
1972
A 10-foot-long full-scale mockup of the lunar rover, with two space suit-wearing mannequins, makes a guest appearance.
1974
Lincoln-Mercury brings a live cougar named Chauncey and a cub named Christopher to promote its product line, a tradition the automaker would continue.
1986
Oprah Winfrey, not yet famous enough to turn these things down, signs autographs at the Dodge display.
Sources: baiduhai archives and reporting; Library of Congress
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