A customized 1951 Mercury "Lead Sled," known as "Christine," as seen at the New York International Auto Show. Note the window tray with fries, Coke, ice cream soda, and ketchup. This is the car you take to a drive-in where a teenage waitress serves you on roller skates.
All photos © Robert Rosen.
The 125th New York International Auto Show runs at the Javits Center through April 27. Automobiles have come a long way since 1900, but the cars of 2025, with their computerized systems, electric engines, and aerodynamic styling all have a similar look. With few exceptions, the cars at the auto show that caught my eye were the classic ones. Here's a sampling of what I saw.
Long before Paulie Walnuts was cruising around New Jersey in a Caddy, the car was a horseless carriage. Cadillac had been around for six years when the 1909 Model 30 was introduced. Its 4-cylinder engine produced 33 horsepower, could reach a top speed of 30 mph, and sold for $1,795.
The 1933 Pierce-Arrow 1240 2/4 Coupe looks like the kind of car that Woody Allen, in Midnight in Paris, would have his character Gil step into to be carried back to a more elegant time. (That car was a 1920 Peugeot Landaulet.) They don't make them like this anymore, and it's probably not a car you'd want to be seen in joyriding through the depths of the Great Depression. It sold for $3,500 fully loaded (about $86,000 in today's dollars), a reflection of Pierce-Arrow's reputation for luxury and quality.
The Fiat Topolino ("little mouse" in Italian) is a 2025 model that caught my eye. It gets the prize for Most Adorable Car. This "quadricycle" is a modern interpretation of the Fiat 500 "Topolino," which was produced from 1936 to 1955. The new Topolino can reach a top speed of 28 mph (not quite as fast as the 1909 Cadillac), and is perfect for parking on and zipping around traffic-clogged urban streets. You can buy an electric mouse in Europe for around $10,000, but Fiat has not yet announced plans to bring the Topolino to the US.