Hot cars, cold ice cream to headline Delaware Auto Show this weekend in Wilmington

Ryan Cormier
The News Journal
Crews prepare the finishing touches on the 2018 Delaware Auto Show at the Chase Center. The event runs Oct. 5-7.

Goodbye Captain America and hello free ice cream!

The 12th annual Delaware Auto Show is changing things up this year, ditching the Marvel characters that have kept children entertained in the past, instead opting for a free ice cream social and children's activities organized by the Delaware Children's Museum and the Delaware Blue Coats.

The News Journal Media Group-sponsored event, which runs Oct. 5-7, at the Chase Center on the Riverfront (815 Justison St., Wilmington) will also have plenty for adults, of course, including more than 110 2019 and 2018 models.

In fact, you just might feel like a kid again when you climb into a brand new Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 or Jaguar F-PACE, just a few of the 2019 rides that will fill the Riverfront convention center this weekend.

Crews prepare the finishing touches on the 2018 Delaware Auto Show at the Chase Center. The event runs Oct. 5-7.

The show hopes to bounce back from a slow year last fall, which was hit with temperatures in the high 80s on Saturday, sending plenty searching for fun in the sun elsewhere. With clouds in the forecast and temperatures in the low 70s, not many should be looking to escape to the beach this year.

"Saturdays are always our biggest day, so it will be different this year," says Delaware Auto Show coordinator Doug Loosararian. "More people should be out."

With a new marketing strategy focusing more on social media and free tickets distributed to groups like first responders, dealerships, schools, nonprofits and others, Loosararian hopes to draw more than 10,000 across the three-day show.

This weekend's Delaware Auto Show will offer a free ice cream social for children on Saturday (noon-4 p.m.) and Sunday (noon-3 p.m.) at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington.

Also new this year are expanded hours. Instead of closing at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday like in the past (it opens at 10 a.m. each day), the show will roll on to 9 p.m. those nights, allowing for more nighttime fun. The show closes at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $10 at delawareautoshow.com or on site for everyone 13 and older. Ages 12 and younger are free.

The Delaware Blue Coats will offer inflatable basketball games Saturday with World B. Free, the retired Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard, signing autographs from noon to 1 p.m. Retired Philadelphia Flyer left winger Bob "The Hound" Kelly will be doing the same right after from 1 to 2 p.m.

The Delaware Children's Museum will be there all thee days with Roller Racers scooters set up on a track taking over the dance floor, along with giant building blocks. On Saturday (noon-4 p.m.) and Sunday (noon-3 p.m.), the Two Peas in a Pod Photo Booth will be up and running.

There will also be a Union Park BMW raffle benefiting the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute. A one-year lease on a new 2018 BMW 320i will be up for grabs with each raffle ticket costing $50 or three for $125. The drawing will be held Oct. 13 during the "Evening of Hope" at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center. (You need not be present to win if entered.)

In terms of the cars and trucks, there will be 56 dealerships on site with representatives there to answer any questions you might have.

"We have more cars this year and we really want to emphasize that this is a show for people who are potentially going to be out there in the next six months to a year looking to buy a new car," Loosararian said, adding that concept cars won't be included. "These are cars you can buy right now and they're in the affordability range for a lot of people."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: 12th annual Delaware Auto Show

WHEN: Friday and Saturday (10 a.m.-9 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.)

WHERE: Chase Center on the Riverfront, 815 Justison St., Wilmington

COST: $10 (children 12 and under are free)

INFORMATION:delawareautoshow.com

HOT RIDES AT 2018 DELAWARE AUTO SHOW

With more than 110 vehicles, there are cars and trucks for just about everyone on the Riverfront this weekend. Here is a sampling of some of this year's head-turners.

2019 Cadillac Escalade (starting MSRP: $75,195)

2019 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (starting MSRP: $55,495)

2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS (starting MSRP: $25,000)

2019 Ford Mustang GT (starting MSRP: $26,120)

2019 Ford F-150 Raptor (starting MSRP: $52,170)

2019 Infiniti Q60 (starting MSRP: $39,950)

2019 Jaguar F-PACE (starting MSRP: $44,600)

2019 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (starting MSRP: $27,945)

2019 Volvo XC90 (starting MSRP: $47,200)

2018 Audi RS 5 (starting MSRP: $69,900)

2018 BMW X5 (starting MSRP: $57,200)

2018 Fiat 124 Spider (starting MSRP: $24,995)

2018 Lincoln Navigator (starting MSRP: $72,555)