[mobike008]

March 23rd, 2024

I got to know a few weeks prior that Vancouver’s Auto Show is coming back after several years. I think the previous one was prior to Covid times. While the auto show itself didn’t make me too excited as it’s never on the world map for auto-shows even though Vancouver is a rich city with lot of high-end cars driven by Chinese or Indian which is the primary high income population of Vancouver, Canada.

Our agenda was simple, I like to drive to Vancouver which is 2-hours away purely for the reason that Indian food scene out there is simply phenomenal and being a North Indian, I got bored with the South Indian and red chilly infused food that is sold in entire USA.

Agenda was simple for our day-trip :

1. Drive to Vancouver, Canada for the Auto show and spend a few hours browsing the latest car offerings.

2. Make pit stops for lunch and dinner at our favorite Canadian Punjabi/Indian Chinese Joints including a lot of take-aways of sweets as well (mandatory as Holi was next day)

Initial plan was to stay overnight at the Hyatt Vancouver in Downtown and make a trip to Whistler but, just a few days before cancelled the reservation as the weather was pretty bad- Heavy Rains, Overcast throughout. You know, the quintessential PNW weather.

Bought the tickets a couple of weeks in advance and it costed $25 CAD (US$18) per head.

Venue : Vancouver Convention Center in Downtown Vancouver which is by the Ocean. A beautiful location for sure and Vancouver reminds me so much of Seattle as they are almost like two peas in a pod with Seattle being a much larger city.

On the D-Day we left home around 9:30am and drove through some crazy rains lashing heavily till we crossed the border about 1.5 hours later. Post the border crossing the rains stopped but, weather was still cold, damp, grey and cloudy.

Post our brunch and shopping stops in Surrey, we drove towards Vancouver around 2:00pm and by god, everyone seemed to be going there and traffic reminded me of India. It took us nearly 1.5 hours to cover 20kms to Vancouver. Finally, reached our parking garage which was walking distance to Convention center. We spent an enjoyable 3-4 hours at the Auto Show walking around and met BHPian Rahul who was also visiting with his family and friends from Seattle.

Post the auto show, we headed back towards Surrey and after a pit stop for dinner at our favorite Punjabi restaurant, we were back home around midnight

Breakfast enroute while Tesla is on Auto-pilot.

.

Pouring rain most of the day.



Border crossing into Canada.



Brunch pit-stop.



Enroute Vancouver.



Vancouver Convention Center in Downtown Vancouver. Location for Auto-show.

[mobike008]

We reached the Auto Show around 3:00pm and like most auto-shows the cars are displayed in a large convention center hall. It was the same case here.

Honestly speaking, Vancouver auto-show was not impressive as I felt it was just an opportunity for regular folks (Cadillac, Ford, General Motors etc) to showcase their newest gas car or EV offerings. There was nothing too exciting that made me feel this show was anything special.

I'm highlighting some of the things that we saw that comes to mind.

1. Cadillac showcased their Escalade EV. It was a massive sized EV and looked absolutely gorgeous. I think this will be priced from $120K ++

2. Corvette Z06 (Yellow) stole the gas car show as it was drawing too many visitors. Kids wanted to sit in it and take pictures.

3. GMC Truck and Overlander offerings was superb. Some of those giant trucks need to be seen to understand their size. Some of them you may need a ladder to climb in.

4. Vinfast (Vietnames) had their stall as they are launching in North America in next few months. They seem to have only SUV's and based on size are aptly named V6, V7 and V8. I sat in one of their premium offerings. In short, horribly quality and doesn't feel premium at all. And, they have the gall to ask $80K for it. I don't think they will do well with that pricing.

5. Maserati, Porsche, Ford Vancouver dealerships had their stalls.

6. This was interesting. Vancouver Police Department had their fleet on display (Charger, Explorer and BMW motorcycle). They were letting everyone sit in their fleet and get an experience of how you would feel if you are arrested and taken to jail in those vehicles. lol!

7. BMW and Mercedes were conspicuous by their absence.

8. Toyota had some nice new offerings in display- E. g : The all new landcrusier

9. Grenadier is such a lovely 4x4 vehicle. Solid from outside and luxurious from inside. Btw, I'm told this has a B58 engine from BMW doing the duty.

10. They had some exotics (Lambos, Ferraris, McLaren's ) in display just to up the oomph of the auto show.

11. Absolutely loved the Nissan GTR stall. A few generations on display.

12. Finally, last but, not the least. Tesla Cybertruck was the absolute show stealer as there was a 30 mins queue to experience the Cybertruck as everyone wanted to sit inside the truck and get a selfie. I saw this truck in person for the first time. Even by US standards, this is ridiculously massive. I mean, the first reaction when you see it is "SHOCK" as it's super-long and super-wide with that unique shape. It will take a long time for people to get used to the body material and shape.

M340i souped up to make it look like an M3/M4 just outside the convention center.



Taking the escalator to go to the display hall.



Pink Maserati greets us as we enter the convention center. lol!



Ferrari.













Hummer.



Buick Arena.











Vancouver Police Department Area.





Bronco Raptor following the F150 concept for performance. $106 MSRP. Wonder who will buy at this price.









Vinstar V7











Love these offerings from Cadillac. The answer from Cadillac to M from BMW.

[mobike008]

More cars that were on display at Vancouver Auto Show.

Cadillac 1000 E4. The new EV Escalade. This was massive and gorgeous.



















Loved the Z06. This car won some lap record as mentioned on side of the car.



Electric Hummer.



Massive GMC trucks.

















All-New Land Cruiser. Looks like it got smaller.





Vinfast Stall. Unimpressive offerings. I would not even touch these cars with a barge pole.







I sat in their top end model. Horrible quality. $80K for this seems very steep.



Same car which I sat in. Looks good from outside.



Tesla Cybertruck. This stole the Vancouver Auto Show.

[mobike008]

More cars that were on display at Vancouver Auto Show.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Cheers
Mobike008





Electric Hummer.



Silverado.











These 3 GMC musketeers were drawing a lot of crowd. Massive trucks.



Met "Giancarlo Espisoto" look alike. If you are a BREAKING BAD fan you will know who he is. He seemed happy with the compliment. He was manning the Chevy Stall.



New Traverse looks bigger and impressive.



Bulls.





Mclaren Boys.



The old GTR gang.



Grenadier. This was an impressive vehicle.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[SithDefender]

So many great cars, it's heaven for auto enthusiasts!

That shocking pink Maserati is a great ice-breaker ! Similarly that diminutive green Mini with the Union Jack roof still looks desirable.

Is Buick still popular abroad? I thought they were diminished along with Pontiac, Saab & Opel.

That red Ford Bronco looks butch, but yes that is a very steep price to ask indeed. The Ineos Grenadier is one hell of a vehicle.

The black Cadillac Escalade is eye candy. Do you have more interior pics of that one ?

Nice to see Gustavo Fring there! Where is Hector Salamanca

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by SithDefender

So many great cars, it's heaven for auto enthusiasts!

That shocking pink Maserati is a great ice-breaker ! Similarly that diminutive green Mini with the Union Jack roof still looks desirable.

Hmm. It’s nice to see all the new offerings under one roof.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

Is Buick still popular abroad? I thought they were diminished along with Pontiac, Saab & Opel.

Buick is still sold in the US market but, it’s not a popular brand and is one of the lowest selling product from General Motors.

Pontiac is discontinued by GM more than a decade ago.

Saab and Opel are European brands.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

That red Ford Bronco looks butch, but yes that is a very steep price to ask indeed. The Ineos Grenadier is one hell of a vehicle.

I’m not a 4x4 person but, I love two vehicles, The Land Rover Defender and now this- Ineos Grenadier.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

The black Cadillac Escalade is eye candy. Do you have more interior pics of that one ?

That is wine color Escalade. Sorry, I didn’t take any pictures when I sat in it.

It’s an epitome of full sized SUV luxury and sells more than it’s competitor- Navigator.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

Nice to see Gustavo Fring there! Where is Hector Salamanca

More than Hector, I would have loved to bump into the mad brothers- Tuco or Lalo Salamanca.

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I’m not a 4x4 person but, I love two vehicles, The Land Rover Defender and now this- Ineos Grenadier.

The Defender is simply the best IMHO, in fact even my handle name reflects that!

Originally Posted by mobike008

More than Hector, I would have loved to bump into the mad brothers- Tuco or Lalo Salamanca.

Man, Lalo was such a charismatic villain! He was intelligent, scheming and downright scary. I can't say the same about Tuco, who seemed to be a textbook villain who was unpredictable and freaking out all the while. Damn I miss that universe already !

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by SithDefender

The Defender is simply the best IMHO, in fact even my handle name reflects that!

Oh! I didn't realize your handle represents Defender.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

Man, Lalo was such a charismatic villain! He was intelligent, scheming and downright scary. I can't say the same about Tuco, who seemed to be a textbook villain who was unpredictable and freaking out all the while. Damn I miss that universe already !

Agree. I was a fan of Tuco till I saw Lalo's performance. Now it's a toss between the two as Tuco is by no means a regular villain. He was probably one of the best villains on screen in a long time with his crazy demeanor.

I was particularly bowled over by this scene/acting of Tuco.

https://youtu.be/njtfNPB-YKg?si=Zuonk_jxbBdqp4Vn

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I was particularly bowled over by this scene/acting of Tuco.

Damn what a scene! Heisenberg and Pinkman's expression literally says it all.

[coolmind]

Great cars! Loved each one of them.
Thanks for sharing.
Any details of battery capacity, mileage details of electric hummers shared by them please.