A ride through history of the Detroit Auto Show
DETROIT, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — For centuries, the Detroit Auto Show has taken center stage, attracting a global audience while transforming technology over the years.
At the Historic Fort Wayne site in Detroit, the Detroit Historical Society preserves vintage vehicles from former auto shows and other special artifacts dating back decades.
"If you think of the turn of the century, automobiles were a curiosity. Something people didn't see all the time," said Dave Marchioni, Detroit Historical Society automotive and industrial curator.
What started as a private, small showcase of classic cars in Detroit has become an automotive sensation that manufacturers, suppliers, and enthusiasts know as the Detroit Auto Show.
"Arguable, but the first was in the late 1800s, 1887, and it was put on by a local gentleman who wanted to have something that would rival the Paris auto fair. Then after that, it became more prevalent here in Detroit, and then it really took off in 65 when they moved it to Cobo Hall, which is, of course, now Huntington Place," Marchioni said.
Marchioni says the auto show was initially intended for manufacturers to launch new technology under one roof. He says it's helped fuel Detroit's economy through the years.
"If you look at 15, 20 years ago, there would be 25 or 30 new model releases at our auto show that were groundbreaking. People would come from all over the world to see these new vehicle releases, and that's when you had cars dropping from the ceiling and busting through glass. It was really a spectacle," said Marchioni.
It's a production that the Detroit Historical Society takes part in preserving. At the Historic Fort Wayne site, 275,000 artifacts are carefully stored, including vintage show cars from the 1960s, such as the Ford Cobra.
"This was used as a show car. It toured the show circuit," said Marchioni.
The unique 1963 Ford Mustang II is also parked there.
"The horse that you see in the front is actually the first time the pony in the corral appears on the front of a Mustang, which is kind of a neat piece on this car," Marchioni stated.
Marchioni says that at one point, these vehicles and many more were the focus at previous auto shows in the motor city, and they only gained momentum to what they are today.
"I think the auto show's place both in the history of Detroit and the history of the automotive industry is pretty well cemented," said Marchioni.
The building at the Historic Fort Wayne site is not open to the general public, but if you're a member of the Detroit Historical Society, you can get a behind-the-scenes tour of these cars once a year at this facility.
