<\/p>\n
A Jeep on an outdoor course\u00a0at the New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on Friday, April 3, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Breunig\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
The New York Auto Show the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on April 2, 2026 in New York City.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
VIEW press\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve only been at the New York International Auto Show<\/a> for five minutes and The Kid is flirting with Mrs. Met.<\/p>\n When did I become a wingman for a 14-year-old?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n I\u2019m having trouble sorting out if Mr. Met<\/a> even cares. He has that same unsettling smirk even when the Mets get shellacked by the Yankees. I should probably be more concerned about triggering a basebrawl at the Javits Center since Mr. Met is a bobblehead taller than either of us. Then again, he\u2019s obviously not much of a fighter. His face is covered in stitches.<\/p>\n When my dad first took me to these shows during my childhood, it seemed like the models were in a competition for shortest skirts and highest heels<\/a>. The women\u2019s rights movement seemed to have stalled when Mrs. Met<\/a> got labeled with her hubby\u2019s uniform number (00).<\/p>\n After hugging Mrs. Met for a photo, The Kid asks if we can exit Ford\u2019s baseball showcase. There are 750 cars at this show. Most of them are stationary. To The Kid, a car only makes sense if it\u2019s in motion.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make CT Insider a preferred source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n So we hustle downstairs to the EV & Hybrid Test Track<\/a>, where I repeatedly sign away my privacy on endless forms and invite open season from sales departments. We spend most of the rest of the day doing laps in a windowless room.<\/p>\n LAP 1: We\u2019re told The Kid can\u2019t sit in the front seat.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 6-foot-1,\u201d I counter.<\/p>\n The Kid, in his reliable \u201cBaby Driver\u201d <\/a>varsity jacket, doesn\u2019t care where he sits (though he\u2019d seize the driver\u2019s seat if they let him). For him, these are amusement park rides. April is Autism Acceptance Month. The Kid lands on a particular hue of the spectrum<\/a>. He embraces The Thrill of the Torque that is delivered as every test drive launches with a punch of the pedal on a runway into illusionary peril.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoo-whoo!\u201d He repeatedly whoo-whoos throughout the day, like we are taking off for the moon on Artemis II.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s a magic trick. A jump scare. Because The Kid keeps wanting back on these rides, I get to perform my own magic trick and steer the conversation away from sales pitches. The drivers reveal that they\u2019re not allowed to go more than 45 mph on the \u201ctakeoff\u201d and can\u2019t surpass 17 mph when yawing around orange traffic cones. The indoor screeches echoing throughout the room boost the fantasy.<\/p>\n LAP 3: The Kid has figured out that if he keeps his mouth shut he can just get in front seats. I suspect this may be why I haven\u2019t been able to persuade him to shave.<\/p>\n LAP 5: The drivers clearly take pride in how well they navigate cones and rattle over faux potholes. These are a pale imitation of the craters left in Connecticut\u2019s suburban roads and local public works department budgets after winter\u2019s snow finally melted.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you have speed bumps in the demo?\u201d The Kid inquires.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n I sense the driver is reimagining the track.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a good question.\u201d<\/p>\n LAP 8: We meet a lineup of wheelmen as we try out the Chevrolet Bolt RS<\/a>, the Ford Mustang Mach-E<\/a>, the Polestar 4<\/a>, the Toyota bZ<\/a>, and other EVs with stray consonants, vowels and digits. None fail to use the phrase \u201cI\u2019m a professional driver,\u201d which we hear in Southern, New England and Australian (\u201cwe can go aught to 60 in \u2026\u201d) accents.<\/p>\n I suppose I would boast too if I were a professional driver. It probably works well as a pickup line for, say, Mrs. Met (or Mr. Met). I ask one driver if he can recommend any attractions at the show.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI dunno, I\u2019m just driving around in circles,\u201d he replies.<\/p>\n I\u2019m tempted to explore if he\u2019s being metaphorical. Instead, I ask about the hardest job he\u2019s encountered as a pro driver.<\/p>\n \u201cLogging in Maine,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n I now have so many more questions. But these interviews all end in less than a minute. I need to be more efficient.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n LAP 10: About the only decorations on the test track are a few inexplicable popup tents. No one could explain them on this opening day, so I spread a rumor in my most authoritative resting dad voice: \u201cI understand the driver who knocks over the most cones has to sleep overnight in the tents.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, we get to see how the brakes work.<\/p>\n LAP 12: \u201cThis is the last one,\u201d I beg.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n We explore other parts of the show. Since this is the first day, the show\u2019s pit crews aren\u2019t quite ready for prime time.<\/p>\n Nissan staff should hand every guest a GPS to understand its four-part scavenger hunt. When The Kid can\u2019t wedge his frame into the frame of a Nismo, no one can crack the code on how to move back the driver\u2019s seat (hint, it\u2019s on the right side of the seat). Staff repeatedly point\u00a0us in wrong directions when we interrupt them from soulful relationships with their phones.<\/p>\n When The Kid finally earns a spin of the prize wheel, he wins mints. I\u2019m getting grouchy (I\u2019d prefer the prize of a nap in the Nissan Frontier\u2019s rooftop tent).<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, that\u2019s not going to work,\u201d I counter. \u201cHe\u2019s diabetic.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Kid scores sunglasses instead.<\/p>\n His autism superpowers kick in too. He defuses to hypercaffeinated spokepersons with tart insta-reviews (\u201cI don\u2019t like the mirrors\u201d) and charms a member of the NYPD into letting him blare the siren. Which has exactly the effect you\u2019d expect inside a packed Javits Center.<\/p>\n I\u2019m impressed that my son is able to curb his enthusiasm and save a visit to his favorite car company for the end. He\u2019s essentially an ambassador for Subaru<\/a>, and I\u2019d like to get him a souvenir to put in the Subaru backpack he carried from Connecticut.<\/p>\n But Subaru has zero merch at the show.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d I ask a member of the crew.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have dogs,\u201d he counters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n