The 2014 San Francisco International Auto Show review

The 57th Annual San Francisco International Auto Show presented by AutoTrader.com is being held this week at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Now exhibiting over an eight day period from Saturday November 22nd to Saturday, November 29th, it is a good thing because it fills both the North and South Halls and there is a lot of fascinating vehicles to view, sit in and see in person.

Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children under 12. This is an absolute bargain considering the scope and scale of the second largest show on the West Coast. The hours are 10am-10pm except the 29th, it closes at 9pm. Besides 36 manufacturers represented, there are also specialty displays whose sum easily justify the admission fee by themselves. These include Alternative Fuel vehicles, the Academy of Art University Classic Car Collection, the SF Auto Salon with a wide variety of
modified domestics and imports, the Ferrari Club of America, hot rods from Dominator Hot Rods, and a variety of race cars for the track and dragstrip in the Gasoline Alley section.

There are also Ride and Drive opportunities from several manufacturers, Alternative Fuel vehicles and alternative fuel technology display from PG&E. There are also several automobile memorabilia displays and items for sale, although the Maserati wall display with the artwork from decades past was also very cool. There are several driving simulators but Ford had the most extensive one that has to be seen to be believed.

Be sure to give yourself at least four hours if you’re really interested in seeing all the cars and trucks up close, or with the expanded schedule, plan on attending twice. The SF Auto Salon has cars with mild to wild modifications. Everything from Pro Touring domestics, ridiculous broken-looking “stance” imports, BMWs, Lexus, Supras, Evos, late 60s muscle cars, etc. Plan on spending a lot of time in that room alone. The race car section unfortunately didn’t allow as close access as the Auto Salon section, but they were still quite interesting. Just make sure your zoom function works well.

Oddly the Mercedes Benz display was the least impressive (or easily missed if we saw the wrong one), and the cover car for the show, the 2015 Corvette Z06, wasn’t even present, nor was the Camaro Z/28 although for some reason a regular Camaro SS was sectioned off from being touched. There was a ZL1 and an SS sedan as well. There were two Dodge Challenger R/Ts, but the Hellcat was
conspicuously missing as well. Lexus did have an RC-F though. Tesla again wasn’t present but considering the accessibility of their showrooms and presence in the Bay Area, it’s understandable. Porsche did not have a 918, and although there was a sinister Ferrari 599 GTO, an Enzo and McLaren 650S, do not expect to see a 458, LaFerrari or McLaren P1.

A couple of tips for attendees: For those who want to avoid convention center food, if even offered, the Metreon building around the corner on 4th street has multiple cuisines available and are quite used to handling convention center crowds. The Mediterranean restaurant at the corner of Howard and 4th also is good for a quick meal. There are a couple of other places within walking distance. If
you decide to park at the Moscone Center garage on 3rd street, once you get on 3rd, get into the right lane right away, as it is easy to miss.

Overall this is an excellent show, well worth attending and now running a proper length of time for many to enjoy, and if you’re an enthusiast, for more than one visit.

Picture album:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SanJoseCarsExaminer/photos/?tab=album&album_id=586503771454338