OK, so you’re considering heading to the 2025 Chicago World of Wheels show in Rosemont this weekend, and you don’t know the difference between, say, a straight-6 and a V6 engine.
Seriously, you don’t?
Not to worry. The car guys and gals inside the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center will be more than happy to explain it to you — and much, much more. Just don’t touch one of their gleaming automobiles (without permission) and best not to utter the words “electric car” out loud (even though there are a few on display). You’ll be met with a hard thumbs down or silence.
“I didn’t like it. It was like (being a passenger in) an airplane. With the electric, you don’t get the adrenaline, you don’t get the thrill. With this, you feel everything,” said Cliff Thornton, watching over his son’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS, an automobile that Thornton and his son, Michael, spent five years restoring.
There’s a little something for everyone among the 700 or so automobiles on display — each one glistening like bright wet nail polish. There’s a street legal replica of the Batmobile from the original 1960s “Batman” TV series. Flames shoot out of the car’s rear turbine and it comes equipped with “twin parachutes” at the back. And there’s Barbie’s pink Cadillac convertible, a parade car previously used at Walt Disney World. And, of course, there are plenty of muscle cars.
Also on display (the Rosemont show is also featuring several judged competitions this weekend), are two of the top show cars in the country, including the Meyers Fenderless ’36, built in Illinois.
This is the 62nd incarnation of the Chicago show (the first was held in Navy Pier in 1962), which made its home subsequently at McCorrmick Place before moving to the Rosemont site in 2010.
Stroll among the cars for a couple of hours and you’ll hear stories of fathers teaching their sons and daughters how to handle a torque wrench, a pair of pliers — bonding in a way that might not have happened but for the steel shell that needed love and attention. You’ll also hear how much cash these folks are prepared to spend to transform a rust bucket into a dream ride. One exhibitor even said he spent his house down payment to finish fixing up his car.
Chuck Speake, 78, of Glen Ellyn, bought his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe for about $8,500 in 2002. He estimates that he’s since spent $90,000 on the car — and he’s still working on it. That might explain why he can be a bit a touchy when passersby occasionally get too close.
“I was at a show where a woman opened the door and let the kids get in,” Speake said. “I would have let them get in if they’d asked.”
Not every car on display is “muscular.” Bill Stuart’s is downright puny.
Stuart, 79, of Willowbrook, is the owner of 1957 BMW Isetta, a micro car that saved the German auto maker from bankruptcy. It’s about 7-1/2 feet long and 5 feet wide. The entire front of the car opens up to let the driver and one passenger inside. Stuart is six feet tall and weighs 250 pounds, but says he can fit in quite comfortably, even with a comparably-sized passenger. With the sunroof closed, the car has a top speed of about 51 m.p.h., he said.
Stuart’s car drew the attention Friday of a cluster of teenagers, including Henry Clark, 17, of Rockford. Stuart, whose main ride is a Chevrolet Suburban, was thrilled to see a young person take an interest.
“The hot rod world is a kind of a gray-haired world,” Stuart said.
Far from mocking Stuart’s tiny car, Clark found it fascinating, saying his girlfriend would find it “amazing.”
“It’s the Smart car of its time,” said Clark, who was allowed to sit inside it. “It’s almost like Mr. Bean’s car.”