PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

It's probably been since sometime in the 1990s since I last went to the new car auto show. I remember enjoying all the brochures and info they handed out, pretty sure I still have some from the Viper and Trans-Am stashed away in the closet.

 

So, I went to the Philly Auto Show for the first time in either 1991 or 1992, I am 99% sure I went in 1993, I am not sure about 1994, and I know I went in 1995; I do not think I went in 1996...

By 1997, we were living in Northern California, and my dad took me to the San Francisco Auto Show in both 1997 and 1998. It was at the San Francisco Auto Show in probably 1997 where I was introduced to the Pontiac Rageous, one of my favorite concept cars of all time!

 

I have a picture of the preproduction Viper at the 1992 Philly show, unfortunately taken with a film camera and in an unknown location!

 

I can remember looking at a silver 1998 GMC Sonoma regular cab 2WD at the San Francisco Auto Show with my dad and being absolutely in love with that truck!

 

We moved to Virginia Beach in 1998 and lived there until 2000; The auto show there was much smaller than many of the "big city" auto shows I went to when we lived elsewhere (Philly, San Francisco, Seattle, DC), but it was still impressive! I was unsure as to where the Virginia Beach show was (either Norfolk or Virginia Beach), but I asked my dad and he said it was either at the Virginia Beach Convention Center or the Hampton Coliseum. The Hampton Coliseum is where my parents took me to at least "Monster Jam" even in 1999, and where my dad took me to the car show where I met Bo Duke himself (John Schneider) in January 2000; I knew for a fact that the new car show wasn't at the coliseum, so that leaves the Virginia Beach Convention Center...

 

I remember seeing that car back then too!

 

@shakerhood
@Taco critter

It was at either the 1999 or 2000 Virginia Beach show (pretty sure it was 2000) where I had a memorable encounter with my Learning Disability Resource teacher...

The teacher was a beautiful and kind black woman named Mrs. Daniels; She drove a white 1988 Mercedes 300E, and she will forever be one of my favorite teachers of all time!

So, I was with my dad in the Mercedes section of the Virginia Beach show, and I was waiting to get in the backseat of a Mercedes ML-class SUV (don't remember if it was an ML320 or ML430); There was a black kid maybe a little younger than me in the backseat, and he was taking his sweet time...

I asked the kid to please hurry up or something like that, and then all of a sudden I heard a familiar female voice from the front seat say "Charlie?"

Turns out Mrs. Daniels was sitting in the driver's seat of the ML, and the kid I'd just tried to rush along was her son! I thought I was going to die of embarrassment! I got a bit of a lecture about being more patient and waiting my turn, but it was a happy reunion and knowing how thoroughly obsessed I was with cars, Mrs. Daniels knew I meant no harm and ultimately let it slide...

Mrs. Daniels was one of the kindest teachers I ever had, and it was easy to tell that she was passionate about her work; She loved kids and always went above and beyond to help us. One time when my mom needed a ride home due to a flat tire, Mrs. Daniels drove her home in the aforementioned white 1988 Mercedes.

Mrs. Daniels also gave me a toy semi truck as a reward for good grades in late 1998 or early 1999! What a sweetheart that woman was!

 

I've got some pictures of me at cars shows from the late 1990s and early 2000s, all the way up to last year...

Will post soon!

 

2000 to 2002 we lived in Oak Harbor, Washington while my dad stationed at NAS Whidbey Island. The closest auto show was in Seattle, which was about two hours away. Getting out there was quite a spectacle; Those were the only two auto shows we went to where my mom went along, because it was such a long drive and she would drive on the way home to give my dad a break...

We had the 2000 GMC Safari conversion van; I'd bring a couple of my favorite videos to watch in the van (one on the way there and one on the way back), and we'd drive out to Seattle for the day...

Seattle was always a good show! In late 2001, I remember sitting in a brand new bright yellow 2002 GMC Sierra SL regular cab short bed 4x4 with the 4.8L V8 and crank windows, and falling in love with that truck; It had A/C, cruise control, CD player, etc, and I wanted that truck!

 

From July 2002 to July 2005, we lived in the DC suburb of Centreville, Virginia. The DC auto show was held right around Christmas and went into January; At the 2002-2003 DC show (I think), I got into an altercation with a woman because I thought she'd cut in front of me while I was waiting in line to sit behind the wheel of a red 2003 BMW M3 coupe...

I should actually say that she got into a confrontation with me! So, there was a long line for this M3, and I'd been waiting patiently to sit in the car. All of a sudden, this woman in her 20s or 30s came out of nowhere and got right in front of me; My immediately response was a rather hostile "HEY!!!" or something along those lines...

This woman lost it and absolutely went batshit crazy, saying that she was only talking to her husband (who was sitting in the M3 at the time), and then going into a tirade about how anyone under legal driving age should not be allowed to sit in the cars (I was not even 14 at the time). The psycho lady and her significant other left, and I got to the sit in the M3 without incident; My dad witnessed the whole thing from a distance and took my side...

 

In late 2003, we went to the 2004 auto show and made the mistake of bringing a good chunk of the family who were visiting for Christmas...

We were constantly getting separated, and we ended up having to leave a bit earlier than I would have liked because some of our relatives got bored. My dad surprised me a week later, after our family members had gone home, and took me to the car show a second time so we could enjoy it as father and son!

 

I went to the Philly Auto Show, for the first time in about a decade, in January 2006. My uncle and two cousins came with my dad and me, and that is the only time since the 1990s we ever drove into Philly instead of taking the SEPTA train. We took my mom's 2004 Honda Odyssey and parked in one of those pay-by-the-hour lots. We ended up leaving early because my one cousin complained of not feeling good; 2006 was the last time we brought anyone to the car show with us for MANY YEARS!

 

In 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 it was just my dad and me...

In 2011, we brought my friend Ryan along; In 2012, I'm pretty sure it was just my dad and me; In 2013, my best friend John came along; In 2014, we brought my other best friend Mike along; In 2015, it was just my dad and me; In 2016, my cousin came along; 2017 through 2019 it was just my dad and me; This year, my cousin accompanied us again...

And that was just the Philly Auto Show!

 

In 2013, we not only did the Philly Auto Show in January, but the New York Auto Show in April! In 2013, Mike came with my dad and me if I remember correctly, and then we met my other friend John and a bunch of our friends a short time later; This was Mike's very first time in NYC! I believe that I went to NYC for the very first time in either 1994 or 1995...

In 2014, my dad and I went to the New York Auto Show just me and him; 2014 was the last year we went to the show in NYC...

 

@shakerhood

At the 2012 Philly Auto Show, I started chatting with a guy at the exotic car display, and he let me past the velvet rope where I got to sit in a Porsche 959!

 

Also, 2012 was the very first year I went to the Philly Auto Show as a licensed driver! At the 2011 show, I was still about four months away from finally getting my license...

 

Sorry to get off-topic, but my friend's girlfriend's dad has a helicopter; I believe it is a Robinson, but I don't remember (this photo was taken in July 2011, less than two months after I'd gotten my driver's license)...

 

Crazy cunt!

 

Exactly.