QC Auto Show: Event features a ‘dream car’ for everybody

Tom Haar was having a lot of fun looking over a popular sports car at the 2025 Quad City Regional Auto Show on Friday, Feb. 28. Mr. Haar, along with scores of other people, was at the show at the Bend XPO in East Moline and looking at one of the event’s most popular vehicles […]

Tom Haar was having a lot of fun looking over a popular sports car at the 2025 Quad City Regional Auto Show on Friday, Feb. 28. Mr. Haar, along with scores of other people, was at the show at the Bend XPO in East Moline and looking at one of the event’s most popular vehicles – a 2025 yellow Corvette Stingray with a sticker price of about $97,000. While many show-goers had dreams about owning and driving the Corvette, Mr. Haar was a bit more practical, noting how low the fancy sports car rode and how difficult it is for some people to get in and out of the car.

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“It's embarrassing when you get to be our age and you have to crawl out of these cars,” said the Bettendorf man. Of the thousands of people attending the three-day Quad City Regional Auto Show from Friday through Sunday, Feb. 28 to March 2, most didn’t have to crawl out of sports cars. But they did get the chance to see more than 150 vehicles from 24 manufacturers, take test drives, ride in a  NASCAR simulator car, look over many antique vehicles on display and much more. Coordinator Susan Shrader called the show a great success. In fact, she said through the end of Saturday, attendance was up 10% compared to last year. She remarked how attendance has been down about 30% for many auto shows across the nation this year. “We are so grateful to a community that supports our show. … I asked a few salesmen how it was going, and some know they have people that will be at their dealerships this week to further pursue a sale,” Ms. Shrader told the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal. In addition to the 150 or so vehicles scheduled to be at the show, an area dealer took delivery of the 2026 Honda Passport that they were able to display at the show on Sunday, she said. “We even had three vehicles that were not shown at the Chicago Auto Show. I had one vendor say he'd sold more products than the last two years,” Ms. Shrader added. Dan Kilmer, president of the auto show’s board of directors, said the attraction of the show is that it offers something for everybody. “Come kick a few tires, sit in the vehicle, imagine  you driving each one. You may just find your dream car and there is something for the entire family,” he said in a message to guests printed in a special publication distributed at the show. Some of the “dream cars” (other than the 2025 yellow Corvette Stingray) grabbing a lot of attention at the show Friday included:

• A 2025 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 SUV going for about $211,000.
• A 2025 Mercedes G580 SUV priced at $188,000.
• A 2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness SUV that had a rooftop tent option attached to the vehicle. While many people were asking about the SUV’s gas mileage and engine performance, most had their eyes on that tent. “People have been asking how much does that tent hold. … It’s 800 pounds,” said Kyle DePauw, an employee at McLaughlin Subaru, Moline, who was kept busy during the show on Friday.
• On the other end of the pricing scale was a 2025 Chevy Malibu on display that lists for about $28,000.

But the cheapest vehicle on display was an electric scooter going for $995. Called a Honda Motocompacto, the scooter has a top speed of 15 mph and a top range of 12 miles. In addition to new vehicles, the show featured a collection of classic cars. One of the most popular was a 1929 Velie Cabriolet owned by Vicki Graves of Moline. “This car is the only remaining 1929 model year Velie. It is powered by the Velie overhead-valve six-cylinder engine and has a worm drive rear end, and Lockheed four-wheel hydraulic brakes and has 118-inch wheelbase.  … The interior of this car features a red finish with the original gauge cluster showing 32,970 miles,” according to the car’s information card. The car also has a radiator cap depicting an old airplane. That cap is in recognition of the Velie company making its Monocoupe airplanes from 1927-1929, Ms. Graves said. The Quad Citian said she bought the 1929 Velie Cabriolet at auction a few months ago. Ms. Graves added that she enjoyed looking over the classic cars at the show, but also liked seeing all the new models on display. “It’s nice comparing the features of a nearly 100-year-old car to all these new vehicles. … I think the newer cars are a lot easier to drive,” she added. The 2025 Regional Auto Show also had many non-car activities and features. Some of those included a bounce house for kids, a coloring contest, an adopt-a-pet section, magic show and business vendors selling everything from kitchen knives to windows and almonds.  It also featured several dogs and their handlers from the Quad Cities Dog Obedience Club of Milan. On Friday afternoon, several teams of dogs and their volunteer handlers were popular visitors at the show. The dogs got a lot of pets, and perhaps had a calming influence on people looking over the new vehicles. “We’ve been telling people that we’re here to calm them down from the sticker shock they’ve been seeing on the price of these cars,” joked Cheri Schloemer, one of the volunteers working with the dogs. The annual show also helps local students by raising scholarship money. This year, $55,000 in scholarships were given to 13 local students. Those students receiving money are:    College or university scholarships:

• Autumn Huizer, United Township High School.
• Carl Pairrett, Davenport North High School.
• Cole Storm, Columbus Community High School.
• Grace O’Conner, Central DeWitt (Iowa) High School.
• Holden Phillips, Davenport North High School.
• Isabella Martens,  Davenport West High School.
• Kaycee Newman, North Scott High School.
• Lucas Fehlberg, North Scott High School.
• Makynzii Murley, Rockridge (Illinois) High School.
• Nya Tarpein, Pleasant Valley High School.
• Ricky Zillmer, Pleasant Valley High School.
• Teegan Rice, United Township High School.

Automotive/Technical/Trade School scholarship:

• Eli Riedel, Calamus (Iowa) High School.

Since the scholarship program began, the auto show has given out more than $712,000 to 218 students. Even though the scholarships are a popular part of the show, the new cars, truck SUVs and other vehicles were the stars over the weekend.  After he got done looking over that 2025 yellow Corvette Stingray, Mr. Haar continued his car journey on Friday and saw a lot of new vehicles that might meet his needs. “I like what I’m seeing here. They have a nice selection. … I’m looking around because we might have to replace one of our cars one of these days,” he said, adding “This might be the place to do it.”