Cleveland Auto Show features LEGO-built truck to $100k sports car

Image result for Cleveland Auto Show features LEGO-built truck to $100k sports carThere’s a reason it is not called just a car show.

Reflecting consumer tastes, the Cleveland Auto Show is pretty much bumper-to-bumper trucks, SUVs and high-end sports cars.

Sure there’s a sedan tucked in the shadows here and there but the stars of this show that dates all the way back to 1903 are high-end and uber-tall vehicles.

Visitors to the show at the I-X Center nestled by the Cleveland Hopkins Airport can even climb aboard some of these vehicles for a test drive or, if they are feeling brave enough, ride along in the indoor Camp Jeep and the RAM test track.

The show opened Friday and runs through March 3. Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for preteens and seniors and kids 6 and under are free. Parking is free.

The vehicles cover some 1 million square feet of the huge former tank plant turned expo center and range from the entry-level Chevy Spark with a price tag of $14,095 to the uber-expensive Lotus Evora 400 at $123,240.

Most of the vehicles on display fall somewhere in the middle or below.

A bit of Northeast Ohio can be found in the Toyota display, where the anticipated return of the Supra make an appearance in the form of a NASCAR race car. The Supra model made its racing debut in last weekend’s Daytona 500.

The race car proudly sports Goodyear tires made in Akron.

The Toyota display also features the concept three-wheel i-RIDE vehicle that is being beta-tested in Europe.

Toyota spokesman Kevin Melendez said the concept behind the vehicle is that it would be like the bikes and scooters that can be found in major U.S. cities and rented online for folks to get around town.

“Driving it is a mixture of motorcycling and skiing,” he said. “The vehicle actually leans with you.

“It is a lot of fun.”

Dodge is rolling out its line of heavy duty Ram trucks at the show.

Its Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy duty trucks account for some 25 percent of large pickup sales.

Ohio-made Jeep is showing off its 2020 Jeep Gladiator that hails from Toledo, where vehicles have been rolling off the assembly line since 1941.

The new midsize pickup truck will be built in the south plant of the Toledo Assembly Complex, where the Jeep Wrangler JK was built until April 2018.

The highlights of the Ford display are the new Ford Ranger, the 2020 version of the Explorer and the Shelby Mustang GT500.

Celebrity appearances at the show include Cavs rookie point guard Collin Sexton at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The 6 p.m. lineup Wednesday includes Kaulig Racing owner Matt Kaulig, four-time UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon.

Cavs point guard Matthew Dellavedova will be there at 6 p.m. Friday.

There are number of unusual vehicles at the show too.

The Delorean from “Back to The Future” and the Mystery Machine from “Scooby Doo” and the Mutt Cutts “Shaggin Wagon” from “Dumb and Dumber” are popular stops for selfies.

Chevy has a display of its vehicles that includes everything from box vans to a decked out highway patrol car to a full-size Chevy Silverado made of LEGOs.

It took 18 people and some 334,544 LEGO blocks about 2,000 hours to build the truck.

[“source=indeonline”]