Providence Auto Show This Weekend

All-new 2020 Jeep Gladiator pickup scheduled to go on sale in the spring
1930 Packard touring car from Newport’s Audrain Automobile Museum
Setting up before the show – with what may be Ford’s best-kept secret, the rarely-advertised, 2019 Ford Flex. Did you know this modern station wagon has been available since model-year 2009?

By Paul Zangari, WPRO News*

Exhibit halls on the third and fifth floors of the Providence Convention Center teemed with activity Thursday afternoon as setup for the Northeast International Auto Show kicked into high gear. The annual show – which has been a fixture in Providence for so long that organizers aren’t sure how many years it’s gone on – features over 250 cars on two floors under one roof, according to RI Automobile Dealers Association executive director Jack Perkins.

While the vast majority of vehicles in the show are current-model cars, trucks and SUVs, Chrysler is providing an early appearance of the 2020 Jeep Gladiator – a Wrangler-based pickup scheduled to go on sale in the spring. A handful of “Certified Pre-Owned” used cars are displayed, as well as a classic 1930 Packard from Newport’s Audrain Auto Museum and exotics from the duPont Registry.

The Auto Show runs Friday, 12:00pm – 10:00pm; Saturday, 10:00am – 10:00pm; and Sunday 10:00am – 6:00pm.

* WPRO anchor/reporter Paul Zangari is a former Certified Automotive Technician who joined the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1985. He is also an automotive technical writer. He and his brother John, a longtime Certified Master Automotive Technician and automotive technology instructor, host Drive-Thru Radio on Saturday mornings at 8:00 on WPRV-AM790. The first “modern” talk show to have aired on WPRO, it is now in its 31st year.

2009 Spyker C8 Laviolette Coupe. From the Audrain Auto Museum
Setting up before the Auto Show. Too bad RIDOT can’t use a similar method!
Cars driving up to the 3rd-floor show area from the West Exchange Street ramp

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