By Robert Tate, Award-Winning Automotive Historian and Researcher
Images Courtesy of the Henry Ford Media Center Archives, Scott Leazenby, the Robert Tate Collection, and the Ford Heritage Vault
Published 12.18.2024
50th Anniversary Detroit Auto Show program, 1965 (Robert Tate Collection)
The popular Detroit Auto-Show at Huntington Place returns to the month of January for 2025 to highlight the Motor City and introduce the latest and best the industry has to offer to the public. After dealing with the pandemic and experimenting with moving the event to September, this was a great idea to bring the show back to the month of January.
The 1960 Detroit Auto Show, Cobo Hall (Detroit News)
This story features a series of great images from past Detroit Auto Shows at Cobo Hall. For many years, the show featured some of the best automotive designers and engineers in the world with displays of their innovative products, making the Detroit Auto Show one of the world’s best. Every winter in Detroit, tens of thousands of auto enthusiasts, automotive journalists and spectators descended on Cobo, which became known as the TCF Center in 2019 and later Huntington Place (the current name) in 2021.
The Chevy Corvette Mako Shark on display at Cobo Hall (GM Media Archives)
On Saturday October 15, 1960, the doors opened at Cobo Hall for its first event, the 43rd National Auto Industry Dinner. The guest speaker was President Dwight Eisenhower. Guests at the dinner were greeted with great sounds from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The auto shows in those days offered many exciting promotions, including special days for specific groups to see the show like “Detroit City and County Employees Day,” “Sports Celebrities Day” and “Ladies Day.
An Oldsmobile Tornado on display (GM Media Archives)
One of the most memorable and spectacular parts of the 1960 show was the 300,000 square foot automotive display known as “Wheels of Freedom,” which highlighted the new 1961 automobiles on a rolling traveling conveyor.
A 1960s Ford Mustang show car on display at Cobo (Henry Ford Media Archives)
Automotive historians have said that, over the years, annual auto shows have been the place where automakers invite the public to gather and celebrate exciting innovations in the industry. The 1960 Detroit Auto Show drew big crowds that surrounded the new 1961 automobiles in the main exhibit hall.
A past display floor at the Detroit Auto Show (Detroit News)
In 1967, Detroit Auto Show officials released balloons containing Auto Show tickets for the upcoming Auto Show on October 30, 1967.
In 1989, Detroit decided to expand its show and gave it a new name to reflect its size and scope -- the North American International Auto Show.
The 1987 Oldsmobile Aerotech experimental show car (GM Media Archives)
This Friday, January 10th, the rebranded Detroit Auto Show will once again open its doors for the Charity Preview, then to the public on the following Saturday. As always, the show is for auto enthusiasts and entire families to wonder and get excited about all the new designs and engineering trends that will shape our automotive future. I will be there.
The 2016 Buick Avista show car (GM Media Archives)
Bibliography
Leazenby, Scott. “1987 Detroit Auto Show at Cobo Hall.” Drive and Review-Automotive Discussion, Car Reviews.
“The Detroit Auto Show Through the Years.” Michigan History, December 26, 2015.
50th Annual Automobile Show program, 1965 Golden Anniversary.