driventoshift

[driventoshift]

The Importance Of Auto Shows Today

With the focus of car manufacturers on lucrative social media marketing campaigns on Instagram or Facebook, and sponsorships on things such as Motor Trend head-to-head videos, it’s no wonder why some may think that the idea of an auto show is a dead concept.

Back in the day, before I was definitely born, the auto show was all civilians had if they wanted to go and see the latest and greatest from automobile manufacturers. Sure, of course there were dealerships, but much like today, dealerships want to move people in and out like cattle to the slaughter, as manufacturers want dealers to put up high volume numbers plain and simple. 

The only way for someone to see something such as the new C7 Corvette ZR1 and not get pressured to buy it or move along, or have their credit checked via a face scanner as they walk into the dealership, back in the day was to either have a rich uncle or coworker who bought one, or at the auto show that rolled into town.

Perspective

Since I’m managing this blog, I’m sure a lot of you can guess that I’m a hardcore car enthusiast to actually dedicate time and passion to writing stories on car-related items. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s true, and I also happen to work at a car dealership. No, I’m not a salesman, so I’m not here to sell you anything, but I can speak firsthand on what it’s like to be an enthusiast who gets to see both sides of the coin when it comes to new cars at the public level.

As soon as you park your car at most dealerships, you’ll have a swarm of salespeople waiting to pin you down like vultures at the door to the place if you decide not to look around the front lot first. Even if you somehow manage to avoid the vultures outside, you still have the remaining vultures inside asking you, “Have you been helped?”, “Is there something specific you’re looking for today?”, and the list goes on and on. After that, it will be an even tougher challenge to try and look over a new M3 or Corvette without getting watched in particular. 

However, auto shows are a completely different animal, and it’s for the benefit of the general public. That’s not to say car manufacturers won’t use auto shows to debut cool new models. I attended the Los Angeles Auto Show this past December to go see the new C7 ZR1 Corvette in person, where they debuted the convertible variant (the coupe was debut in Dubai earlier that month). Nonetheless, auto shows are for the public. 

If you’ve never been to an auto show, it is essentially a smorgasbord of cars. With delectable samples from a variety of car companies, and even aftermarket companies. You can choose to ignore what you want, pick out favorites, and best of all, go in-depth with those said favorites of yours.

Now for cars that aren’t in production yet (like the C7 ZR1) or those that are million dollar hypercars (such as the AMG Project One shown above), you probably won’t even get to see inside, let alone open the doors. But, for cars that are already in public or from lower brand companies, everything is fair game.

You can open the doors, feel the dashboard and radio controls, put your butt into those seats and see if the seating position is right for you, try out the shifter, check out the hood and trunk, and maybe if you’re lucky enough, get to try out the radio and sunroof. You get to fully immerse yourself in any car you want. I personally took the liberty of sitting a bit too long in a BMW M2, my current dream car, as well as the new Shelby GT350R. I don’t have any photos of the lovely M2, a bit of oversight on my car as I was so shocked that I was getting to sit in my dream car. Being a car guy I should see more M2s in my life than the average human, yet the one at the auto show was about the third or fourth I have ever seen and the only one I have ever gotten to sit in. 

The best thing of all about the show? You have zero pressure to buy those cars right then and there. Sure, the lovely models in polo and dress shirts can help you schedule a test drive at the auto show or put you in contact with a local dealership near you, but for the most part, the auto show is for you, the consumer. 

So sure, while you can see these cars flooding your Instagram and Facebook feeds, you won’t be able to sit in these cars, or touch them. If you don’t have the fortunate luck like I do to be located in sunny, Southern California, you may never even see these cars in-person in your lifetime. 

For me, I had not been to my local auto show in at least a decade, so it was definitely a breath of fresh air not having to see new cars in a crowded parking lot at a Cars N’ Coffee, or getting attacked by vultures at a dealership, or seeing some photograph I have to decipher from a journalist on Instagram with zero photo skills whatsoever on my small, cracked phone screen. 

In a world where the automotive industry tends to stray away from making things easier on the consumer with cars that fall apart at eighty thousand miles, or unfavorable financing plans, or just poorly designed cars, automotive shows are the one place where the consumer wins, at least for a week or two. You can go full in-depth with the cars from touching every last bit of the exterior and interior, to even going on a test drive in real-like traffic conditions outside a convention center in nearly every car you see on the show floor. So go out and enjoy what’s there to sample!

My particular picks from the show? So I decided to be realistic with my browsing at the show and intentionally avoided brands like Maserati and Alfa Romeo. From that you can tell I’m looking to purchase a brand new car in 2018 and I set my sights on the Subaru BRZ tS and Toyota 86. That’s my current number one pick of the cars I have in my price range, and to be honest, I probably will be ending up in a new BRZ sometime this year.

Granted, the Subaru BRZ tS is a special edition, but for the most part, that and the Toyota 86 I sat in, are literally the same car. I even lost my phone in this particular BRZ, so I assume it is a sign from the heavens I need to get myself one or that I’m destined to own one.

I absolutely loved the “zenki” BRZ/FR-S/86, so it’s no surprise I like the facelift models just as much since barely anything as changed. These cars just feel right to me. I’ve never been much of a sedan guy, such as the Subaru WRX STi, but, the Civic Type R is a different story.

My budget is probably closer to thirty thousand, rather than the Civic Type R’s MSRP of thirty-five thousand and change. That’s before you even get to the markups dealers will charge for it, especially in California where I’m from. This car is so distant from the base model Civic you can buy today and light years ahead of my nearly ancient Integra. Everything in this car felt right from a driver’s standpoint getting to sit in it. From the way the seats hug you and hold you in, to the placement and throw of the shifter, to the way the steering wheel felt in your hands. It all just felt right. I still call it the “Hype R” for various reasons, but I now understand why the hype a little bit better. I still can’t get over the hideous rear end of the car, but at least I don’t have to look at it, just my foes at the track.

What other picks do I have you ask?

Well, I told you my budget. I’m a car enthusiast. The only feasible choices left are from Dodge and Ford as I feel the Mazda MX-5 is a bit too overpriced and as much as I’d like a Camaro SS, that’s completely out of my budget. So, the R/T model Dodges and the Ford Mustang GT are what is in my sights. Before you ask, yes, I did sit in a Subaru WRX and have driven both that and the STi model before and love them, yet I don’t feel they are truly for me.

I love the cars Dodge has in their lineup with the Challenger and the Charger. They’re both great looking cars, and even one of my best friends has a Challenger R/T in her garage. Unfortunately, just one thing bothers me about these cars and it is the dashboard.

I know, I know, I’m one to speak owning a C5 Corvette, arguably one of the more laughable sports car interiors ever, but I just can’t get over the dashboard. The whole interior of the car reminds me too much of a truck, especially the swooping dash in the Challenger and Charger models. It doesn’t feel like a car to me when I’m in them. It feels like a Ram truck more than anything. Other than that, I would love to own myself a purple Hellcat Charger one day or at the very least a V8 Challenger. It is just that all your time of car ownership is spent inside the car. Perhaps I can look past that knowing the power of these beasts, but for now I have to cross them off my shopping list sadly.

Luckily, the Ford booth was right next door. So I walked over to their side absolutely stoked to see a yellow Ford GT hanging on a wall, but more importantly, seeing multiple Mustangs for viewing.

I think the Ford Shelby GT350R is an absolutely dream of a car. I can’t think of anything negative about said car even though I have not driven one. The exterior looks are to die for, the powertrain backs up those killer looks, and the interior is from this century and tailored to the car. 

The Mustang GT is along those same lines. I can’t wait for 2018 for when Ford makes the Mustang even more of a performance contender with little upgrades and packages here and there flowing down to even the more basic model GTs.

Now, for a classic photo dump of cool stuff. Things such as the new Acura NSX, a not-your-grandmother’s Buick, and some more lovely ZR1 photos will exist here.

Even outside the convention center can be a great place for car spotting.

[driventoshift]

Racing into 2018 like...

[driventoshift]

Gentlemen, start your engines...

Welcome to Driven to Shift!

What is Driven to Shift exactly?

Driven to Shift is meant to be a photojournalistic exercise performed by the creator of (I’ll be referring to it as DTS for short eventually) DTS, Adam, the one writing this. Now that’s out of the way, I can finally speak in first-person haha. This blog is about me, and not about me at the same time. Obviously, it will be written from my perspective and experiences of the (usually SoCal) car scene, but it’ll be all about the cars. Maybe one day I’ll do a background story on who I am if people actually want it. 

I’ve always been a fan of websites and photojournalism photography blogs surrounding car culture, and most people who know me know I rant and rave about hopefully becoming a Speedhunters photographer in the future. Like I said in the last paragraph, this is more of an exercise more than anything. I’ve always wanted to have a full-fledged and properly written out blog to call my own and I’m finally going to sit down and do it. I’m going to be using tumblr as my platform as it is the platform I’m the most familiar with, and I already know the limitations of what I can and can’t do on tumblr in terms of blogs and photography compared to my completely unknown knowledge of other platforms such as wordpress, etc. 

While this is a test of my (potential) journalism skills, this is also meant to be a time capsule of some sort, as this blog or whatever you want to call it, will show the progression of my builds, events I’ve attended, as well as hopefully many other moments filled with heartbreak and/or joy.  

This website is also meant to supplement my future YouTube endeavors and Instagram will have a shortform version of what I post here, and clips of what appears on YouTube. 

Okay, enough about that poor background attempt. Since this is a car blog, what do you drive???

What do I drive? Something more than you can afford, pal.

Haha, I’m just kidding. If you couldn’t tell, my main vehicle of attack is my 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 in gorgeous Millennium Yellow. Fun fact, the introductory photo isn’t even actually my car but a photo I shot of another Millennium Yellow C5 Z06 at a track day I hung out that I was actually going to race in, until my Corvette broke down months before said track day sadly. 

Before you ask, I’ll get to my “mods” in a later story, but for the most part, my Corvette is 97% stock as I write this post. I want to enjoy this car thoroughly before I go absolutely bonkers even though I will stay somewhat conservative in modifying my car. The mods I have planned out will be tasteful and will turn this into a completely enjoyable machine.

Now, what else is in my stable of machinery? Well, I guess the next vehicle in my lineup would be my 1995 Acura Integra LS. Don’t get too excited though, it is sadly autotragic (yes, I know......I know). With my Corvette broken down and it being my only car (technically) I had a few weeks to find a car to use to get around. Luckily though, my (now) sister-in-law had this Integra and her family was just going to send it to the junkyard as she’s now in full-time wife mode as my brother serves in the U.S. Navy and therefore she can use his car. So, several hundred dollars later, I own a Honda with 105,000 miles (about 107k at the time of writing this), a salvage title, no manual transmission, no A/C, at least one previous ricer owner, and various creaks and rattles of the suspension that would put most horror movie houses to shame. After owning this car for a few months I can see why it was as cheap as it was and why my sister-in-law was so willing to practically throw it away. That’s okay though, other than it being a complete deathtrap with no fun factor thanks to the transmission, I’m having fun owning and working on this car. As much as I used to fit the stereotype of USDM car guy hating on imports, I’ve always liked the EG/EK Civics, Integras, RSXs, S2ks, NSXs, and of course any type R variant. I’m still thinking about how long I want to keep this car. 2018 will be an interesting year in my garage and driveway for sure. It’ll be a lot like the trade deadline season for professional sports, cutting things loose and adding others to the stable. Whether the “teggy”, as my friends and I affectionately call it, stays or not, is to be seen. If it wants to stay in my stable, it needs to get a manual swap at some point down the road. Who knows, we’ll see.

Speaking of imports, my other car is a 2008 BMW 528i. There’s not much to this car other than the fact that it is a perfect cruiser and I love taking it on roadtrips. Especially now that I have that Integra that scares me if I try to drive it farther than the five minute drive to work and back every day. Sadly not a M-sport, not a manual, and obviously not a E60 M5. That’s okay though, this car has been absolutely lovely to me and my family. And since I WILL legitimately die trying to take my Integra to canyon roads such as the famous GMR and my favorite, Angeles Crest Highway, the BMW gets to pick up the slack for canyon duties whenever my “banana” is broken. Surprisingly, I’ve taken it on more canyon roads than the Corvette. Its always funny seeing the faces of people I pass going the opposite way in the canyons staring at this seemingly asshole guy in a bland, leasemobile BMW and keeping pace with all my car friends with actual, working sports cars. 

Alright folks, I’m going to cut it short here. There’s so much to write about and I have to remember to pace myself as if I’m in the 24 hours of Le Mans or the Rolex 24 hrs of Daytona. Slow, steady and consistent will hopefully show me the results that I want.

I hope you all enjoy this show which I call my life revolving around cars. If you’re on tumblr reading this, please go ahead and hit that “FOLLOW” button in the top right corner. Stay tuned for future posts and copious amounts of car porn. 

If you’re reading this without a tumblr account, consider making one perhaps? There’s a lot of great content on this website including cars. But if you don’t want to follow that’s fine too. 

Feel free to follow my Instagram: @driventoshift. Whether there will be content on the other outlets to see is in question, but everything will get caught up shortly. 

Thanks for reading, now go out and drive to shift!