The Complete History of the New York Auto Show

This is the complete edition of the RCR Stories on the history of the New York International Auto Show. Originally released in 2017, I've gone back and remade the video, recording new audio, and adding additional chapters to not only make a longer video, but a more comprehensive history of the New York Auto Show.

Follow the history of one of the most iconic auto shows in American automotive history, from its origins at the turn of the 20th Century and the rise of motorized transportation, through the glory years of import cars, American muscle, and performance car innovations. Follow the peak during the apex of social media, and the sad, tragic decline following the 2020 cancellation. It's an unforgettable story of a car show that is uniquely New York, honestly American, and internationally known.

How was the New York Auto Show started? What were some of the challenges it faced throughout its first century? And what is its outlook for the future? Join us on this engaging look into the New York International Auto Show, its incredible history, its sad decline, and its hopeful future. This is RCR Stories: The Rise and Fall of the New York Auto Show!

Chapters:
00:00 Prologue
04:14 The Origin of the Auto Show
20:51 Going International
31:10 Bigger Than Ever
35:04 Chaos at the Auto Show
44:58 The Sad Decline
55:50 Epilogue

For more RCR Car Stories:

The Complete History of the Corvette (Over 3 hours!):

The Complete "RCR Goes to the New York Auto Show" (13 Videos):

The Life and Death of Saab:

History of the Chrysler / Mercedes Merger:

Subscribe to Regular Car Reviews:

[skipbreakfast]

I've been to around 20 New York shows, and they used to have extravagant, dare I say Disney-like booths. The last few...felt like I was hanging around a used car dealership. No pizazz. No wow factor. Just a Christmas Tree Shop on the edge of bankruptcy vibes.

[MrBaskins]

i used to play the dead guy trunk test with an old friend every year. i'd hide in the trunk of any given model and wait until somebody went to go check the cargo space to casually walk out. not like a jump scare but like making the wrong turn in the twilight zone kinda reaction. booth staff were never amused but security never said a thing

[photonarbiter]

Man... this covered my exact sentiment about the NY Auto Show in the past few years. I remember going once as a kid in the 90s and being blown away, the mid 2010s was neat, but the post Covid events made me swear off of going back again. All of the Corvettes were locked when they had been previously accessible to anyone for example. I noticed that on the days I attended many objects were removed from the interiors of the cars, things like the shift knobs and temp adjusting dials were gone.

[Underskore]

There is one thing YouTube can't replace when it comes to cars. Cameras are terrible at picking up how the lines on a car are, how the colour changes the looks. Admittedly one doesn't need an auto show for that, they can always go to a dealer when it comes out. But I can see the appeal for those looking and being able to everything

[Valkyrie_Coach]

Intent or not, this was a fascinating review of just American automotive history.
And it’s not just the history, but also Roman’s ability to plate it in a way that always sounds like you’re having a conversation with a good friend on an engaging topic.

Thank you, Nick, for another excellent video. I look forward to “Stories” just as much as I do the base reviews. 🤙🍻

[FunkatronicDingus]

I definitely will miss the time when auto shows were good. I went to the Philly auto show in 2019 and 2020. Both shows were excellent, every manufacturer was there to show off everything they had.
After Covid, a few manufacturers pulled out, the basement became less focused on exhibition and novelty cars and more on just local car clubs showing off their cambred RX-7s.

[idkcool]

One thing I didn’t hear is that, this year there has been record auto maker profits and very little inventory. So why have a show with new cars if no one can even find and buy those cars? Maybe when inventory goes up and the competition is stiffer like in 2018/19, the show will be similar to those years.

[Steven-pj]

Your occasional extended monologues are always a special treat, so thanks. I have considered for many years that motor shows, international or otherwise, have become something of a disappointment. I can barely recall how long ago it has been since I felt any excitement at going to one more recently. Perhaps for the reasons you state, that the YouTube covers most of what I wish to know, and then some, once the review aspect is counted in? The singular aspect that is still missing in that experience is actually getting in and sitting down in your vehicle of choice. Though even that has been of such limited access that the truly special models are locked and often fenced off anyway. When was the last time you could get into an Aston Martin or Rolls-Royce anyway? Staring into a vehicle while cupping your hands around your face to cut the glare always made me feel like a voyeur or car thief.

[Jasontyo]

twenty four thousand dollars had the spending value of over 1M today. This was in a time when cars existed, not really all that long ago.

[forresttm]

Roman.
Thanks for doing this.

I went to car shows in the 90s with parents and remember them being full and awesome.

Went to the uk Farnborough car show last year.. was full of tuner companies and a few posh car makes..

Wasn't like it used to be.

[RosaFriend]

So many incredible moments and bits of humor. Your writing is incredible! I feel like so many events like this are disappearing in favor of online stuff, which while it gets the job done, feels so much less substantial. As someone who tends to be secluded, so much of what makes these events important is the fact that I can meet other people like me.
Here's hoping that meetups and smaller events give the enthusiast places to meet.

[gabbymadsen]

The decline of a lot of the mainstream shows (E3, ComiConn, NY & LA Auto Show, etc) feels like the downfall of the International Motorcycle Show back in the 2010s. And I think in the near future we'll have one in the US, one or two in Asia and one in the EU.

[zimboy]

Long form Roman videos are always a treat ❤ thank you for this 🙏🏾

[jergervasi]

EPIC video (in the true sense)! Thank you.
All trade shows in every industry declined. YouTube makes so much corporate investment and attention unnecessary. This has been coming for a decade, the pandemic just proved it to the accountants. For cars, the chip shortage and supply chain issues means auto dealers have very little to sell anyway. I went out to peruse some local lots last weekend, and they are still barren.

[onixfieroandscalemodelworks]

I went to the show every year. After the pandemic it was a shadow of it old self. I work in the auto industry and i know of the chaos it was in after the pandemic. The shows just were not a priority as the auto companies couldnt even find enough parts to build their cars. Even today the industry has yet ti fully recover. The auto show was a yearly ritual with me as i love seeing all the cars all the pomp and circumstances surroinding the celebration of the automobile. I would spend days at the show just admiring and learning about all the new cars, watching all the presentations. It was an amazing experience. I hope it returns to its glory and for the last 2 years its literally taken me hours not days to see the entire show. By the way when you talk about the 80s show i think you might want to check footage. When you mention the z car you show a 1990 and when you mention the fiero you show a ferrari 308/328. Which is kind of funny because thats the car the fiero was turned into by kit car makers and tou could even order one through certain pontiac dealers which was called a mera.

[AEFTS]

It's not just New York that's declined. As someone who atteneded the LA Auto Show yearly, I can say it has similarly become boring for similar reasons that you gave for the decline of New York's auto show.

[_RiseAgainst]

Alright Roman I got an hour drive let's do this!

[andrewfischer]

i am retired i had a blast working the car show set ups and tear downs once my brother was my partner the motor cycle show... went as a buyer to the licquor show that was a blast

[JankyAF]

Janky do Thanky, great video, as always.

[stevebier]

I’ve never missed a show, from 1983 until 2019.

After Covid, I never went back. Too few vendors.