Tomorrow morning my alarm will chime earlier than usual. I'm not getting up for work, but rather rising before the sun for a full day of automotive elation. Tomorrow, I will be attending the New York International Auto Show during a media day. Think less people, more pictures.
Look ma, no crowds!
The last time I was afforded such a luxury was way back in 2006 when I worked on contract for ForbesAutos.com. Forbes Autos has since been absorbed back into the company that launched it as a solo project, but I will never forget the opportunities I was exposed to there. Primarily the mundane task of data entry, interviewing Stephan Winkelmann (his favorite car as a child, surprise, the Miura), and of course, attending an NYIAS Media Day.
Although I enjoy taking candid photos at car events, I'm not going to miss any GT-R Buddha recreations this year.
The best thing about Media Day for me was not the free posters, nor the overhyped reveal of the next big cookie cutter crossover, but it was the lack of the general public. I don't have to wait 15 minutes to take a picture that I'm not satisfied with anyway. I can have a seat in a white leather Recaro before 1 million New York blue jeans turn it an unhealthy shade of Levi. I don't have to listen to an uninterested father try to explain why manual gearboxes are a thing of the past to his contradictorily passionate son. I can just float along the lazy carpet and take my pictures in peace.
So long sea of people, hello clutter-free backgrounds.
Tomorrow your news feed will be blowing up with Bearded Mug Media iPhone pictures of cars I enjoy more than you. I will start strong on my Instagram account, but come mid-morning will completely forget about it. My Twitter will be dormant though. The only way a company can successfully live tweet an event is if they hire someone whose only job it is to live tweet during said event. I've got better things to do.
Airred-out Audi.
So before I doze off into dreamland, let me leave you with this. I've been attending the auto show since before the days I ordered informational brochures from a toll-free number acquired from manufacturers' Prodigy Internet "web pages." My 12-year-old voice did its best to enunciate "ah yes, can you please send me information on your entire model line? I'm still deciding between the Z3 and the 7-Series." In fact, my first tickets were freebies sent to me from Buick so I could see their new-for-1995 Riviera in person. From then on, it's been an annual tradition since and I hope that tomorrow's Media Day is the start of a new, less crowded tradition.
The new Ford GT looked stunning in the Gulf livery.