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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Car show draws the curious, serious

The heartbeat of the International Auto Show is the thump, thumping of slamming car doors.

Dull thuds boomed through the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center on Friday as hundreds of would- or could-be buyers sank into driver’s seats, scanned the gauges, surveyed the interior space and stepped back on the temporary showroom floor.

Thump!

“Too low for me,” said a man pulling himself out of a Honda Civic hybrid.

“I like the mileage on that,” remarked another, looking at an estimated 40 mpg city, 46 highway.

There was no mileage estimate on the Ford concept truck, the Superchief, named after the famed train. Armed with a V-10 engine, the Superchief runs on gasoline, a gasoline/ethanol mix, or hydrogen. The interior features wood-plank flooring.

As one passer-by said, “This thing is just dripping testosterone.”

More modest trucks attracted their share of admiration, as did the sports cars.

Chuck and Cheryl Chongaway, of Hayden, said they were just looking, but they admitted that two years ago looking turned into buying a Camaro Z28.

“It was kind of an impulse buy,” Chuck said.

Although the couple said a blueberry blue Porsche Cayman had caught their eye, as had a Mercedes SUV, Cheryl had a clear favorite.

“I still like the Boxster better,” she said.

Visitors don’t have to just look. Many models were parked behind the exhibit hall for test drives.

The partly sunny afternoon invited a spin and, as one salesperson suggested, had apparently brought out many who just needed a cure for cabin fever.

Gerald Miller moved to Sandpoint from Southern California last fall. The winter has been an adjustment. “My car has never been this dirty,” he said.

Miller and son-in-law Noland Johnson peered into a flamboyantly painted “Downtown” Scion, clearly an automotive party animal.

The tailgate opens to reveal a flat-screen video display and speakers that look capable of sound that might derail the Superchief.

Johnson said he purchased a Chevrolet three-quarter-ton pickup for his business just before the end of 2007; he and Miller were not in a buying mood.

“There are some things I like but nothing I can afford,” Miller said.

If there was any grit on the dozens of cars on display, it did not show.

Even the canary yellow Suzuki Dune was spotless, and as far from “buggy” as the space shuttle is from a stagecoach.

The wild and the mild were side-by-side, and all had their admirers.

“Saturn Outlook is my favorite, by far,” Jenny George said as she slammed the door on a competing model.

She and her husband, Chris, said they were at the show for entertainment – and for checking out mid-size SUVs.

At least one attendee had something else in mind.

“Grandma, where’s the popcorn?” he asked.

Hint: Look behind the Jaguars.