Silly me! I should have checked the dates. David was out of town all last week. The show is notorious for being PACKED on weekends--and weekend prices are pretty hefty. Which is how I found myself taking Rio to a car show yesterday.
After looking at our schedules, an ticket prices, we decided to go on Friday afternoon--leaving directly from school. Afternoon tickets can be bought any time after 3:00 pm and cost significantly less than day tickets. And 3-4 hours sounded like enough time to see the things Rio was mot interested in.
Yesterday I picked Rio up after his last class, which ended at 3:00, and we continued straight on to Frankfurt. 45 minutes later I was following signs for parking in the Rebstock Parking garage for the Frankfurt Messe, where IAA is held. There is supposed to be an outdoor parking area, that costs 10 euro, or a garage for 12 euro. I have no problems parking outside, and like to save money, but for 2 euro, I was not going to stress about finding any particular place.
I followed the signs to the first parking area, which was the garage, and bopped right on in. I don't really know, but I would swear that garage was bigger than the one at the airport! It was GIGANTIC. After spiraling up several levels, I chose a row to try finding a space in, and lucked out that there was an available space right at the end, with a large, no parking area right next to it. It made getting in (and later out) VERY easy.
Leaving the car, I was busy trying to remember what level and section we were on, when Rio pointed out that there were little maps of the garage, with our current location marked, by the stairwell! Well done Frankfurt, well done!
So, armed with our map, we started following the signs to the shuttle buses. We walked, and walked, and walked some more though one big, open parking section after another. Eventually we got to the central section and took an escalator down to the shuttle bus level. This is where we picked up our first "swag" of the afternoon--Opel was very wisely handing out bottles of water to everyone heading up or down. Score one for Opel!
We were happy to notice that there was a steady stream of people walking INTO the garage and precious few of us leaving it. The bus, which pulled up almost instantly, was similarly packed to the gills when it arrived, but half got off at our stop, and only 4 of us got on. We stopped at 3 other parking areas before arriving at the main entrance to the show. It was while on this bus ride that I realized I had left my camera in the car. Doh! By the time we arrived, there were only 6 of us on the bus.
Buying tickets went quickly and easily. The tickets were not much more than the parking fee--totally 12.50 for one adult and one "child" (under 18) at the afternoon rate.
Rio had downloaded the IAA ap onto his phone and determined we should start with building 6, near the back, and work our way forwards into 5, and 3 and then past the test track. This would let him check out almost all of the luxury car brands (we had planned to pop into the Audi building as well, but there was a HUGE line for that, so he ended up missing the Audis).
Anyway, it was a god kilometer or more to work our way back to building 6. This photo of the outdoor walking area, taken from the Wikipedia page, is from the 2007 auto show--but the crowd level in the photo is very close to what we had as we headed in (it was crowded but not uncomfortable--though we both were glad to not have been there earlier, given how many people were streaming out and it was still so busy).
The big draw in Building 6, for Rio, were the Maserati and Ferrari displays.
(photo from autogespot.com)
(photo from autolog.nl)
Rio was really excited about this Ferrari:
(photo from egarage.com)
(photo from autogespot.com)
There was an Alfa Romeo that I thought was one of the prettiest cars at the show. The 4-C:
(photo from newgadgets.de)
Of course, there were plenty of lower end cars as well. The very high end cars were not available for the general public to sit in, but there were lots of slightly less expensive ones to try out. And just looking at all the pretty ones up close was fun. I was surprised to be totally enjoying myself actually looking at the cars, and it was very fun to see Rio happily geeking out over the various cars.
After a brief walk outside, we popped into hall 5. Our main goal was the Tesla exhibit at the far end of the hall--but we might as well walk through and see the Volvos and Infinitis, and better yet the Aston Martins and Jaguars, as well as the Land Rovers and a few companies who "trick out" the high en cars into even more high end specialty things, like this display by Mansory:
(photo by egarage.com)
We eventually made it down to the Tesla display. They are pretty cars--and I had really hoped to sit in one and see if I thought David would have enough leg room in their vehicles. The good news was that Tesla did have their vehicles out for all to try. The bad news is that they only had two cars on display and there was quite a line. So, we skipped trying them out.
Back outside, we walked around for a bit and looked at some of the many foods an drinks available, enjoyed the nice fountain and some fresh air, and then stumbled across the pop up camper from Mercedes on display. It is the size of a minivan, but a reasonably usable camper space inside. It was pretty cool and fun to sit in and check out all of the features.
Up next, was the VW building. As you can probably imagine, this is the BIG building, being that we were in Germany. Rio surprised me by heading right to the Skoda display. Skoda is pretty much the opposite of the luxury vehicles he had been looking at. But, as he explained, it is the "teenager car" so much more likely to be somethign he might drive in the next 5-10 years than the others.
Of all the areas that we went by, Skoda had by far the most workers there--all dressed in various lime green and white outfits that were super easy to spot. No one was pushy, but they were very friendly and willing to answer questions, etc. Rio and I sat in just about all their cars, checking out the features, the leg room, etc. We also had free lime green slushies and car shaped gummies. I think Skoda knows their target audience well!
Nearby, we moved into my dream car--I got to sit in a Porche 911. Rio's phone battery gave out taking that photo, so alas I have no proof. I can only say that I BELONG in that car!
After I drooled over the Porches for a bit, we moved onto the Bentleys, Lamborghinis and the Bugatti.
(photo from egarage.com)
(photo from autogespot.us)
(photo from egarage.com)
We wandered past the VWs, trying out the R series along the way, and back out into the open air. We looked over at the Audi building, but it had a huge line just to get in, and while we were both enjoying ourselves, we were reaching a saturation point and about done with being in rooms filled with cars. We sat and had a crepe to hold us over until dinner and then started slowly working our way out, taking a different route and stopping at the test track area along the way.
I really wish I could figure out what words to google to get photos of this track! People could sign up (and probably pay) to drive a car around this track. I was amazed at what they were letting ordinary people drive on (some with kids in the car!)--it really seems like the kind of thing that would never get past the liability lawyers in the US. The cars were being taken up and down VERY steep, and rather narrow grades--one dropped a tire off of the side of the track, leaving it spinning in dairymaid about 15 feet up, as they tried to come down), rounded extremely banked curves, drove down steps, etc. It was fascinating to watch.
Finally, we stopped by the Bosch Emergency Breaking System display. People were lined up for the chance to drive the car--you drive it straight at an obstacle, without breaking, and the car stops automatically. Pretty cool stuff. It feels more and mire like a sci-fi cartoon every time I drive a newer car.
Overall, Rio and I had a fabulous time. It was well worth the cost of entry and parking and three hours proved to be just about the perfect amount of time to see plenty and not feel rushed but not become too overwhelmed either.
If you love cars, or even just sort of like them, and happen to be near Frankfurt any time the show is happening (always in September and always on odd years) I recommend stopping by. I know Rio and I plan to go back in 2015.
--Hadley
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