Photos: 2011 Jacksonville International Auto & Truck Show

Living close to Jacksonville, I was able to make it up to the Jacksonville Auto & Truck Show twice this weekend. I wanted to go Sunday knowing that the Jacksonville Mustang Club would be there but I also couldn’t hold my excitement and attended Friday as well hoping to talk to some Ford reps. Friday wasn’t nearly as busy as Sunday and The Jacksonville Mustang Club was a beautiful sight. Generations of Mustangs were gleaming under the Florida sun. It was hard to break away. I took a bunch of photos.

Spawn and HOSS from The Jacksonville Mustang Club

This was my first time at a big auto convention. I am more than a regular at car shows around the state of Florida, but there’s just something about sitting in brand new sports car that really makes it a little personal, I guess. I can now say that I have been able to get an inside look at the Dodge Challenger R/T, Chevy Corvette Z06 and Camaro, Porsche Cayman and Carrera, Volkwagan GTI, Cadillac CTS-V, and, of course, a brand new Ford Mustang Grabber Blue California Special.

On the way to the domestic brand room, Sherrod lined the hallway with a gold and black customized GT with a Roush side exhaust. Of course, there was also a conversion van. I knew they sold vans so the Mustang surprised me a little. It was sold by the end of the day on Sunday.

The Audi R8 V10 drew in quite the crowd as well. The whole Audi/Porsche room just had this weird ambiance to it with the red carpet. I was almost scared to walk in knowing how clumsy I can be. I had a lot of fun in that room playing inside of the Carrera and getting a good look at the V10 that the R8 was packin’.

For good reason, a few were roped off to avoid a weekend’s worth of grimy fingerprints such as Chevy’s Concept StingRay that looks like it may have just arrived straight from the Batcave. Who would have thought Batman preferred silver?

I was hoping Ford would have a little more focus on the Mustang, but it seemed that the focus was the, well, Focus. I guess with these economic times and everybody obsessed with “green”, another big thing was the booth setup comparing the Ford Fiesta to the Toyota Prius. The only Mustang they had on the floor was a brand new Grabber Blue California Special. It was drawing more attention than any of the other Ford models in my opinion, as I had to wait in line for many people to get out just so I could get that moment of sitting in one of my dream cars and analyzing the hell out of the beautiful interior. Looking over that Grabber Blue hood just gave me that ache for a new 5.0L as I held onto the short-shifter. Maybe I’m a little biased but it was my favorite by far.

I can’t put GM down, though. There section of show floor had me drawn in like a fly as well. They brought the muscle. As much as I have been trying to dislike the Camaro, the convertible version has me liking it a little bit more and more. Everyone is correct about those A-pillars on the coupe, though. With little windows and huge pillars, it was a little hard to see out of. I couldn’t get over the ZR-1 with the carbon fiber top. It’s a beautiful car, I won’t lie.