Mexico grand touring coupe. From Great Britain came
the Triumph TR-250, and the Simca Rootes division of
Chrysler Motors revealed the French-built Sunbeam
fastback and front-wheel drive Simca sedan. On view
for the first time at a Chicago show was the front-wheel
drive, 45-horsepower Honda 600 two-door sedan.
Debra Barnes, 1968 Miss America, posed for “selfies”
in the Oldsmobile booth. Lincoln-Mercury’s panel of
sports celebrities included Jesse Owens, Byron Nelson
and Bart Starr. World land-speed record holder Greg
Breedlove was in the AMC exhibit. Friends and families
attending the 1968 auto show were encouraged
to take at least three hours to visit all the exhibits
properly, which is sage advice while touring this year’s
extravaganza.
Making its public debut in Chicago
was American Motors Corp.’s AMX two-
passenger coupe, AMC’s answer to the Ford
Mustang. It was photographed inside the
International Amphitheatre before the
opening of the 1968 show. In the photo, to
the left of the AMX is the four-passenger
Javelin in SST trim.
A bird’s-eye view of the Chevrolet Astro
I show car (above) captures some of the
653,120 visitors who attended the nine-day
1968 Windy City show. The Astro I featured
an electric swing-back roof (raised in this
scene).
Shown on stage as part of the 1968 “Motorevue,” two female performers were outfitted in “mod” miniskirts, along with the
Plymouth Road Runner low-budget muscle car. This was the premiere year for the supercar with the horn that went “Beep-
Beep!” Just like in the cartoons.
M
ore
C
ar
, L
ess
M
oney
: T
he
LEASE
you
can
do
!
CHICAGO AUTO SHOW 2018
29
