For those looking only for the photo gallery, you can reach it directly here: 2012 World of Wheels Show

It’s that time again, the first post of the new show season and as usual I’m going to start with the World of Wheels show at the David Lawrence Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

This is the third year that I’ve shot the show, and as always it was brimming over with a large variety of cars and exhibits to enjoy. Last year, I only had a short amount of time to shoot due to the weather and the AFC Championship, but this year the weather was fantastic and the Steelers weren’t, so I was able to make it to both levels. Needless to say, the extra work was worth it.

With any show, there’s always a mix of old and new, and World of Wheels is no different. As you go through the photos, you’ll see more than a fair share of return vehicles on display. That’s OK I think; I like seeing the repeats and many times they’ve been updated in some form or another, so it can be fun to follow that progress. On the flipside, shows this early also have a higher chance of fresh metal showing up for their first outing, so it’s exciting and fun to see what projects were under wraps through the winter and are just now coming into the light. It’s also fun that people love to talk about said new projects. After all, they’ve put in a lot of time and sweat, so it’s only natural to be excited to share that with the world.

With that said, I’ve included below some of the new rides I came across from the first batch of photos uploaded tonight. With big shows like WOW and the Cleveland Autorama, it’s easier to upload photos in smaller batches as I process them than to wait and post them all at once. This way I can get photos up earlier to share than I could if I waited to post them all at once. That’s better for the viewers and fans of the show, and also for me as it takes some of the pressure off of getting images out in the public eye. In any case, definitely hop on over to the gallery to see this first batch, while in the meantime I’ll also post a few faves below just to whet your appetite in case you don’t have the time to view the gallery now. Thanks as always for looking, enjoy!

First up, this incredible Corvette-themed trike. Unlike a ‘Vette, no fiberglass was used – it’s all hand formed aluminum instead. Powered by a ’69 Camaro 6 cylinder engine, I think it’s an amazing scratch-built vehicle, and it’s owner/builder should be proud.

Adding to the fresh metal, how about this beautiful vintage Vega funny car? If you keep your eye out for it you may see it run at a track near you this year.

And for something really unique, check out this custom bike made entirely of Knex. Yeah, it’s not a legit ride, but the amount of time and design that went into it is pretty impressive. Plus, I’ve never seen anything like it before at any show ever. In fact, the whole display was a real standout.

Nice mini-mural on the tail of this very clean Mustang.

Speaking of Mustangs, how about this pink beauty? I was told by the owner that this was an original limited edition color given to Playboy Bunnies. Dealers only got six cars – 2 vinyl tops, 2 std. hardtops, and 2 convertibles, and that was it. This one has has been in the family since its purchase.

And finally, a nice 5.0, just because.

Highlights from this batch are below – the amazing Mercedes SLS AMG.

Highlights from this batch feature the new Hyundai Elantra:

Posting up the first installment of photos I took from the recent 2011 Pittsburgh International Auto Show at the David Lawrence Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. For those that want to jump straight to the gallery, here’s the link: 2011 Pittsburgh International Auto Show

The show ran from February 10th – 13th and I took all of these on the opening day, 180+ photos in total. This is the fourth year in a row that I’ve seriously tried to cover the show in detail, though earlier I’d been going as a regular spectator for fun.

One good thing that I can say about the show is that it is very consistent. Every year it has more or less the same look and feel, a similar layout and design, and a large number of manufacturers present. If you take the time to browse through the galleries from prior years, I think you’ll see what I mean pretty clearly. This is a professionally run show and that’s very apparent on all levels.

One thing that does seem to be changing over the years is the number of “eye candy” displays as I call them. These are things like displays of exotic cars and the like that are more simply there for people to ogle as auto porn than anything else. In years past, you frequently had cars displayed from Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and more in addition to assorted racing and public service vehicles present as well. Lately that’s changed though, and there were none really to speak of that I saw this time around. Perhaps that’s due to the economy and such, but that’d be only a guess. Too bad though, as they added a lot of color and flair to the show beyond the everyday displays that are the norm. If any of the show promoters read this, my suggestion is to bring back more eye candy. For many people, auto shows like this are the only real opportunity to view the exotics for any extended length of time.

As for the standard displays present, this year like all the others had a good strong showing by all the major manufacturers that most people are insterested in. No Pontiac of course, and no Hummer either, but those are sad stories for another time. Of the manufacturers that were present, however, there was a nice mix of current as well as newly introduced vehicles. Off the top of my head – Kia had the new Optima on show, Hyundai the new Elantra and Sonata Hybrid; Chevy had the Volt and the tiny Sonic; Nissan was showing its Leaf, and Ford had the new Focus and a sweet Mustang Boss 302; Mazda, the new 2, and Saab with the new 95. There were a few more, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment. Oh, wait! – Mercedes had the SLS AMG there too, and Audi had the R8 convertible.

Attendance was good from what I saw, with definitely more people there than I expected. So good in fact, that it took me a fair time longer to shoot than usual because of waiting for opportunities for photos with zero to none of the visitors included. Even then, I still had to shoot some shots with spectators in them or I would have never got a shot of the vehicle otherwise. That’s the way it rolls though, and the show’s really there for the guests anyway, so it was good to see them in numbers and enjoying the displays and vehicles.

There you have it then, if you went to the show then this should all be familiar to you and you can revisit the cars you saw through the photos. If you didn’t go, then this should be the next best thing, though I should say upfront that I didn’t get every last vehicle or manufacturer displayed as time was limited. Towards the end I shot only the standout vehicles in a booth if they were any I felt needed to be shared. It’s a judgement call ultimately, and since I shoot this for personal satisfaction and to share, and not for any compensation, there’s a bit of leeway in how much I can cover given the time I have. Still, I hope you enjoy what I’ve got, and I finish today with some shots of the Audi R8 convertible that was on display (a beautiful car!). Otherwise, the remainder of the photos will go up in a few more batches over the rest of the week, so check back often!

These are the highlights form the first batch:

First up is a cut-away car of the new and soon-to-be-released Honda CR-Z hybrid. First time to see one in person, but a shame that it was only this cut-away. Also, oddly enough, this was tucked way out of the way in a corner of the entrance gallery on the second floor, and nowhere near the Honda booth itself.

Next up was this somewhat unusual custom Lexus IS 350C built by Clark Ishihara and David Rahemi for VIP Auto Salon and JTuned.com. The paint is completely flat with no shine whatsoever, which is great for photos, but I think I like my cars with some sparkle. Still, very well executed and unique compared to any of the other showcars present.

Lastly, just one detail shot of a wheel from a 50′s Triumph TR2 on display for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I liked the way the light worked with the chrome, so here it is:

More to come shortly, so keep checking back!