A very special car that was on display in the Studebaker exhibit during the 1917 Chicago Auto Show was the ‘Gold Car,’ which featured 8,000 parts finished in pure gold. Valued at more than $25,000, it was billed at the time as the car with the most expensive chassis ever built.
With more than 400 cars on display, exhibits space was becoming cramped and aisles were getting narrower in order to hold more vehicles. Each manufacturer on the main floor squeezed in their latest motor carriages and a bare chassis or two.