2014 Canadian International Auto Show - Cruise Nationals - The Fun Begins!

[Dodge Don]

As some here may recall my car was selected for the annual Cruise Nationals competition back in 2011/2012. From 10 car shows the judges from the Canadian International Autoshow select the top 60 cars which then go head-to-head at a large car show in August....from that the judges select the top 10 which get displayed at the Canadian International Autoshow in front of 300,000+ visitors. The top 10 then get judged by automotive journalists and also voted on by the general public through online voting. My car was displayed at the 2012 Autoshow and ultimately won the Silver Medal (2nd Place). This was an amazing "once in a lifetime experience". The thread on it is below.
http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=876.0

Well my neighbour (2 doors down from me) had his 70 Challenger R/T Convertible selected this year and made the top 10! His car will be on display at the 2014 Autoshow in February. Looks like he has some stiff competition so if you are inclined to help out please cast a vote for his car. Go to the link below and click the "Voting is open" tab.

http://www.autoshow.ca/cias2014/cruise/

Appreciate any help you can give him.


And........the Canadian International Autoshow will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Cruise Nationals and has invited 15 of the previous champions from the last 10 years.....my car has been selected! So that "once in a lifetime" experience will turn out to be twice in a lifetime. A special exhibit of past champions will be displayed at the Autoshow in February on the same floor as the Cruise Nationals exhibit. I'm pretty thrilled. This means we can have the transport truck pick up both my car and my neighbours Challenger together. This is going to be fun!

[nvrbdn]

just voted. some nice stuff there 

[tan top]

 done 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Done! 

[firefighter3931]

Very cool.....just voted for the Challenger 

Congrats on your second invite Don 



Ron

[Dodge Don]

Thanks for helping out my neighbour with some votes guys!

http://www.autoshow.ca/cias2014/CIAS2014.php?jumpTo=home

And so it begins.....I'll update this thread as things progress. Last night the Auto Show staff held an orientation session for invited owners at a hotel in Toronto. Looks like we are going to have some fun.

The Canadian Auto Show will again be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre....600,000 square feet encompassing 6 floors across 2 connected buildings. We will be on Level 700 of the South Building and they are naming/promoting it as the "Classic Concourse". Our floor is one of the smaller floors and will hold 4 exhibits.....The Cruise Nationals 10th Anniversary "Past Champions" exhibit of 15 cars (my car is in that exhibit)....then there is the "Mopar Muscle" exhibit featuring 15 Mopar muscle cars including a Richard Petty 70 Superbird and a 68 Hemi Dart.....then there is this years Cruise Nationals exhibit of the top 10 finalists (my neighbours Challenger is in that exhibit)....then at the far end will be a "Sport Compact Evolution" display...didn't pay attention to that briefing but I think there is something like 10 - 15 tuners on display (not sure why they are with the classics but whatever).

The last time my car was there it was on same floor as the exotic supercars (which pulls in a ton of spectators) so I imagine the traffic will be lighter on our floor this year however they said they have a second Superbird which will be on display in the exotic exhibit area which will be promoting the Classic Concourse display on our floor so it may drive extra traffic our way....hard to miss a Superbird!

They had a floor plan on the wall for us to see where our cars will be...I'm pretty happy with my spot, good viewing angles with the space to the left of my car. Here is a picture I took...my car has the red arrow pointing to it.



I've contacted the transport company to begin booking an enclosed transport truck to pick up our cars. We move in on Saturday February 8th and move out on Monday February 24th. Apparently once the truck unloads our cars in the loading dock we'll drive through the convention centre to a freight elevator which will take our cars up to our floor.....this will be new...an elevator ride in my car.

On Thursday February 13th (the night before the show opens to the public) we are invited to a black tie VIP night (food/drinks/entertainment) where we can mingle with the auto execs and have free reign to sit in any car on display (excluding the private owned classics of course).

This year the Auto Show kicks off with Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne giving a keynote address and there was a rumour at the orientation meeting that Chrysler will be unveiling a new SRT "Cuda.

There are a couple of other Chargers on the floor plan....not sure if their owners are on this site or not.

Let the fun begin....

[War wagon]

Thanks for sharing some insider info about the show
I'm looking forward to it, always a great show

[Troy]

Troy

[Dodge Don]

We are all booked with the transport company. The enclosed tractor trailer will pick up our cars at 9am on Saturday February 8th. We meet the truck at the convention centre and unload and drive through the facility, take our assigned exhibit spots and spend the rest of the day detailing the cars.

Received my tickets to the formal reception at the Auto Show. It is a black tie affair held the night before the show opens to the public. I went last time and it was kind of stuffy, mostly auto executives and media types eating shrimp.  But I did meet Rob Ford that night (infamous Mayor of Toronto)...he gave me his business card.



The load up on Saturday should be interesting....we got hammered with snow big time.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

http://www.theobserver.ca/2014/02/04/restored-challenger-invited-to-toronto-auto-show

[Dodge Don]

http://www.theobserver.ca/2014/02/04/restored-challenger-invited-to-toronto-auto-show

Nice....I'll be sure to say hi to him 

Out of the 40 classics that will be on display 21 will be Mopars! That should drive the GM & Ford guys crazy 

[Aero426]

The Richard Petty #43 Superbird from the Petty Museum will be there.     First time it is has been out on tour in over a decade. 

(Oops, missed that in your post above)     Have fun

[RIDELIKEHELL]

http://www.theobserver.ca/2014/02/04/restored-challenger-invited-to-toronto-auto-show

Nice....I'll be sure to say hi to him 

Out of the 40 classics that will be on display 21 will be Mopars! That should drive the GM & Ford guys crazy 

I was interested in buying that car years back but he wanted over $80k for it.....Don't think he has seen my car as it was broken for all our local Sarnia area shows...not sure if he will know me as I talked to him when he was filling it up with 94 2 years ago..glad I kept the Charger resto going

[Dodge Don]

Cars picked up Saturday morning in the freezing cold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkJfBAznO7M

Full story here.
http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=3017.15

[Dodge Don]

Just heard from my neighbour, his 70 Challenger R/T convertible took second place (Silver Medal) in the Cruise Nationals competition.

[Dodge Don]

Some video for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_41akPUDLp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFTYUNYsh-w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5x1A-Zj6EQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S16LoQlZeb8



Keep in mind that there are over 1,000 cars on display at the Auto Show so the classics are a niche exhibit.

Pictures from the "past champions" exhibit

[Dodge Don]

The Mopar Muscle "Muscle Car Alley" exhibit right outside the entrance to our exhibit.

[JB400]

Nice collection of cars 


           

[bill440rt]

VERY awesome, Don! 
Truly an honor, and truly WELL deserved!! 

[ODZKing]

Very nice 

[Big Sugar]

Thats really cool Don , your in with a pretty nice gathering of Mopars ! Well deserved your Charger is stunning !
Are you at the event a few throughout  the two weeks its running !  Or just popping in when your in the mood .

Im planning a mid week visit, I'm not a fan of lineups or big crowds. I look forward to seeing your Charger there.

Ron

[Ghoste]

That 71 Super Bee with the sunroof is nice, it looks like a well optioned car.

[Dodge Don]

Thats really cool Don , your in with a pretty nice gathering of Mopars ! Well deserved your Charger is stunning !
Are you at the event a few throughout  the two weeks its running !  Or just popping in when your in the mood .

Im planning a mid week visit, I'm not a fan of lineups or big crowds. I look forward to seeing your Charger there.

Ron

I've been down sick so I only had about an hour to check it out on way home from work so I haven't really had much of a chance to hang out and enjoy it. I even missed the VIP Gala event. I'm still sick but I'm hoping to get down there sometime next week.

[Dodge Don]

That 71 Super Bee with the sunroof is nice, it looks like a well optioned car.

It is a 4 speed Hemi car 

[Dodge Don]

I just heard that during media day the Canadian International Auto Show announced that the Cruise Nationals program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, has been cancelled going forward. So I guess we got in for the last hurrah. Shame really given the support the Auto Show has provided to the classic car hobby and supporting local cruise events.