Beginning in or around 2003, when I was the creative director at Car.com, my bosses and I began to dream of a better way to shop for cars and trucks. Even then the internet seemed to be aging, and the limits to what you could do online were limited. We dreamt up a way to display like-models across all brands in one location, one showroom, so that consumers could shop for cars the way they shop for anything else; in one location with ease and comfort.

Cut to 10 or so year later and we inched closer than we ever have to achieving this dream. With Car.Show™, we planned for over 2 years to make this a reality. Our concepts ranged from 200,000SF facilities with every make and model available all under one roof, to outdoor expositions, to pop-up concepts at malls and municipal parks and Saturday Farmers markets.

What we finally landed on moving forward with was a top ten showroom; curated, revolving (monthly or bimonthly) cars or trucks in 1 segment that you could touch, feel, smell and test drive, all in one location, all at the time of your choosing. Relax… and don’t feel pressured by salesman. Rather get information from staff that didn’t make money on commission. When you’re ready… we’d broker the deal on your behalf.

We didn’t care what car you bought or leased, just that you would use our service when you were ready to. We felt this was the best way forward, and put together this test showroom as a proof of concept… and I’m exceedingly proud of the result.

This concept was started with another brand, 1800CarShow, where we began with larger, big-box style concepts, and was piloted in Detroit’s Eastern Market.