Chicago

As I mentioned on Friday, last week I had the opportunity to attend the Chicago Auto Show as a guest of General Motors.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d never been to an auto show- a fact that blows my husband’s mind, as a Detroit native- and my husband just kept telling me it would be really cool. I shrugged my shoulders, as the daughter of a pilot I grew up attending air shows and to this day they bore the socks off of me, a little bit of “hmm my neck hurts from all this upward peering” and a little bit of “I’ve seen this act before….” so I just couldn’t believe an auto show full of vehicles that are not moving would be interesting.

But ever since I married into a General Motors family I’ve promised myself to keep an open mind about the iconic American brand. Last September I had the opportunity to drive the Chevy Equinox to review it and I was…pleasantly surprised. Even after that though I wasn’t 100% convinced I could love GM cars only and forever. Occasionally I’d hop into a friend’s new Volkswagon or see a photo of my Dad’s new Volvo and wistfully think “that is a pretty piece of machinery right there”.  So while I’d been thoroughly impressed with the GM car I’d driven, I wasn’t convinced I could love the entire line up.

This is where you shake your head and yell at the screen that you know EXACTLY WHAT IS COMING. My foreshadowing, it isn’t subtle.

I can’t exactly explain it, but at the auto show, where every car brand in the world was present with their most top of the line automobiles, I found myself…most comfortable…at the GM display. When all was said and done, with all the LED headlights and souped up engines and extra features and parking assists and blinking lights and safety ratings and a lot of “can you fit a golf bag in the trunk of this coupe?” I went back to the GM display and smiled. These were the cars that I found myself dropping my jaw at, where I lingered over a design feature or soft leather. This is where I found so much enthusiasm in every single employee that was there, that I couldn’t help but be excited with them. THE 2013 ACADIA HAS WHAT? MORE LEG ROOM IN THE THIRD SEAT? SIGN ME UP FOR SOME MORE LEG ROOM! HOLD ON, I NEED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MORE LEG ROOM!

The love for design, the pride in the interiors, the explanation of new safety features was done by people who truly cared. GM wants my drive up the Northwoods to be comfortable. They want your kids to be safe in their car seats but have a place for their sippy cup. They want all of our commutes to as painless as possible. They showed off a new crown jewel with a lot of shy smiles, the Cadillac ATS, and all I could think the entire time was my husband would love this car so much. Truth be told, I think I would too.

When my visit was all said and done I said thank you and made my way home I was thinking about all the cars and the features and things that are important to buyers- mileage, interior space, cupholders, captain’s chairs, value- and I thought about what was important to me. Reliability. Safety. Gas mileage. Space for all of our stuff when we go sailing, on vacation, to the grocery store. The ability to fit in our tiny parking garage and parallel park on a busy Chicago street. Sure, I’d like a cupholder or two. I’d like my backseat passengers to have room for their legs. One day I’d like to fit a car seat for a wee one in the back. (No time soon). All of the things that are important to me seemed important to GM. What wasn’t important to them? That I write anything about my visit. They were not there to impress you or my parents or even my husband. GM took the time to impress me and didn’t ask for a blog post, a review, tweets with hashtags or a vlog discussing what I saw. They were there, with a group of owners and bloggers and Twitter personalities and the only people in the room that mattered was us. It wasn’t about what we promised them, but it was about what they are promising as a brand and as a company.

Consider me sold.

I’m proud to be a member of the General Motors family.

From what I hear, the membership is for a lifetime, no dues required.

 I was given one press pass for admission to the Chicago Auto Show on a media day, and a tour of the auto show floor by a GM employee. I have not been compensated for my time or post, nor did GM ask me to post my opinions. My opinions have been and always will be entirely my own and I am not paid to publish positive comments.