Philly Auto Show roars back into town with more than 700 vehicles

The Philadelphia International Auto Show opens to an elite crowd with the Black Tie Tailgate tonight and to the public Saturday.

Auto show director Mike Gempp says you can see cars currently on showroom floors and those that won’t be available for a while.

“We have over 700 vehicles on the floor represented from 40 different manufacturers plus all of our classic supercar and Dub areas as well,” he said. “Almost 11 football fields is what we occupy here at the Pennsylvania convention center.”

Gempp says key highlights of this year’s Philadelphia Auto Show include enhanced super cars and exotic vehicles on display. Those are often high-performance or ultra-luxury vehicles costing $100,000 or more. Four different collections of classic cars, as well as electric and plug-in cars are there, too.

Kevin Mazzacola of the Automobile Dealers Association which sponsors the event, says the show influences a two to three billion dollars in regional vehicle sales.

“They either confirm what they think they are buying because they do a lot of research on the internet, or they see something new that wasn’t on their radar wasn’t on their shopping list because it was right across the aisle,” he said.

There are lots of cars from movies and TV.  The Hollywood Cars display includes the Mystery Machine from “Scooby Doo,” Tow Mater from the Disney move “Cars,” K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider,” the “A-Team” Van and cars from the “Fast and the Furious” and “XXX” series.  The Nissan display has a vehicle from the new Star Wars movie.

Jeep has an interactive display where people can actually ride in their vehicle over an obstacle course.