1998 Auto Show Could Draw Largest Crowds In History, As Thousands Expected At Fairgrounds To View Most Comprehensive Lineup Ever Addition Of Land Rover To New Car Dealers Roster Brings New Line Of Products To Show

Put a Plymouth Prowler, a 1998 Chevrolet Corvette and the company that practically invented the sport-utility vehicle together at same auto show and what do you get?

The biggest show in the history of the Spokane International Auto Show.

That’s how Chud Wendle sees it. Wendle is president of Wendle Ford and president of the Spokane New Car Dealers Association, and he believes more people than ever will attend this year’s International Auto Show.

“There are a couple of big things happening,” said Wendle. “First, 1988 represents the largest representation of new-car dealers: we’ll have 35 dealers in the show. The difference is that Land Rover is joining the association and will be represented at the show.”

In addition to the best-ever lineup of dealerships, the 1998 show also boasts two of the biggest draws in the automotive kingdom - the sensational Plymouth Prowler and the all-new Chevrolet Corvette, the ‘Vette some people say is the best ever.

“It was Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, and it just won Car of the Show at the Detroit Auto Show,” Wendle said.

There are exciting new entries from many of the major manufacturers: Dodge will show its new Durango sport-ute, and Lincoln counters with its full-size Navigator.

Nissan’s new small truck has a new name - the Frontier - and GMC will show off its Envoy, an uplevel SUV based on the Jimmy. Cadillac’s dramatically revised Seville STS will turn more than a few heads and Isuzu has a made-over Rodeo.

Jeep’s Grand Cherokee family has a new member, the wild and woolly 5.9 Limited - even if you never put the pedal to the metal in this baby, just the sound alone of the big V-8 will drive you crazy.

Speaking of big, there will be plenty of that at the Ford booth, where the new F Super Duty trucks will be on display for the first time. There will be a 250 Super Cab and a 350 Crew Cab Dually, the first 4X4 dually Ford has ever offered.

The heavy-duty Fords get two new powerplants this year, a new Power Stroke diesel and a new V-10.

“People are looking forward to seeing them,” Wendle said. “I know the farmers are really excited.”

New features, such as third and fourth doors on pickups and minivan fourth doors continue to attract buyers to showrooms, he said, but in addition to building the kinds of cars people want to buy manufacturers are working hard to improve the quality of every car, truck and SUV they sell.

“The quality of the vehicles each year just goes up and up, and the first place that shows up is in the service department: warranty repairs are dropping at an all-time rate.”

Manufacturers also are “making a valiant effort to hold the line on price,” he said.

“They’re not decontenting them to keep the price down, and in many cases they’ve added content with increasing prices - even on the all-new models.”

Wendle said that financing options look especially favorable this year.

“The other thing we’re seeing this year is that, not only the captive financing sources of the manufacturers, but the local banks as well are stepping up with some incredibly low interest rates.”

Leasing continues to represent a powerful alternative for buyers hoping to get the most car possible for their monthly transportation dollar, but now the banks are leading the way with aggressive leases.

“Leasing is as strong as ever,” said Wendle, “but rather than the manufacturers, the banks are really stepping up with terrific leases.”

This week, as they emerge from the doldrums of the post-Christmas winter weeks, both manufacturers and dealers are looking forward to getting a jump on the spring selling season at the auto show, Wendle said.

“The number of rebates and incentives from the manufacturers are at an all-time high during this time of the year.”