The Art of the Chicago Auto Show

Auto shows are about looking forward. Down the road, you might say. But this year's Chicago auto show is so thin with real product news that we thought we would take some time to look back at the glory days (and not so glorious days) of one of the world's oldest and largest auto shows.

Since 1901 there's only been one good reason to go to Chicago in the dead of winter: the Chicago auto show. It has been running longer than any other auto show in America, and every year significant new production and concept vehicles debut during its run. Detroit's North American International Auto Show may be more "important," and Chicago might not have the cachet of, say, Geneva or Tokyo, but the history of the Chicago auto show is the history of the automobile in America's heartland.

This pictorial is a chronicle of America's love of the automobile. And the constantly evolving way that passion is expressed.

Let's start at the beginning...