Best Of The Chicago Auto Show 2025: From Solar Cars To Supercars

Every year, the Chicago Auto Show comes to McCormick Place in my home city. Just a quick jaunt down the road (in bumper-to-bumper traffic) lies the best new cars coming to dealers' lots around the country. The Chicago Auto Show is the public's chance to take in a lot of new cars all at once. You can look at them, sit in them, and even test how many bodies will fit in the trunk.

Since Chicago is my hometown, I took the opportunity to visit the show floor before it opened to the general public so I could explore everything the show had to offer, without the benefit of attending a superspreader event. Most of what I saw is not really new, per se. Most of the cars had already been announced, and we've even taken some of them for a spin already, but for many people, this will be their first exposure to everything brand new coming out this year. Here's all the cool stuff I found along the way.

One car that begged for attention — in fact, I would argue it threatened you to give it attention — is the 2025 Corvette ZR1. This car looks flat-out angry, but it's more in a "everyone get out of my way" kind of angry. This car is built for one purpose — to go fast. And the specifications bear this out.

This beast boasts a 1,064 hp LT7 twin-turbocharged 5.5L DOHC V8 engine that redlines at 8,000 rpm. It goes from 0-60 in just 2.5 seconds and completes the quarter mile in 9.7 seconds. It'll hit 152 mph in that quarter mile, but if you keep going, you'll reach a top speed of 233 mph.

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Oh, that's not enough for you? You can add on a ZTK performance package that lowers your 0-60 and quarter mile times down to 2.3 and 9.6 seconds, respectively. By the way, the coupe starts at $174,995 MSRP, which explains why this car was behind ropes.

But the most intimidating part of this car has to be the rear spoiler which is massive and just screams, "If you're looking at this, it's already too late." It's large enough to land a small plane on it, and it really just completes the whole package.

Every November, in Las Vegas, car makers and enthusiasts descend upon Sin City. The show primarily features aftermarket products that can be used to modify existing vehicles. As such, it's not uncommon for automakers themselves to debut some concept cars of their own at the show. Both Toyota and Kia have products of SEMA on display in their respective booths at the Chicago Auto Show.

Kia's WKNDR was arguably the most "out there." While it's advertised as a sort of "get out in the country for a weekend" kind of vehicle, one passerby called it the "Apocalypse truck," and yeah, that fits the vibe. The WKNDER is built off of Kia's PV5 electric cargo van, but is heavily modified with a tent on top and seating and tables on the inside. It's basically like an EV camper van one might see on a #VanLife YouTube video. But it also looks a little like something Mad Max might drive; your mileage may vary.

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Meanwhile, Toyota had a pair of SEMA projects. My favorite was the Calty Land Cruiser ROX edition, which basically looks like what would happen if a Toyota and a Jeep had a baby. The open roof and doors with what could generously be described as air vents for your feet in them — the bottom quarter of the door is just not there — make for an off-road vehicle that isn't designed to be driven in a Chicago February, for sure.

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The other Toyota concept, the 4Runner TRD Surf concept has a removable roof and fat tires designed for a day at the beach. The paint job and overall style evoke a California Surf-culture vibe, so much so that you can easily imagine this truck sitting on the beach with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

Rivian was on hand at the Auto Show, and it brought along its two upcoming EVs, the Rivian R2 and the Rivian R3X, and while I wasn't allowed to touch or get in them, I could get a pretty good look at the two vehicles from the outside. Of the two, the R3X is my favorite. This is a squatter, more compact version of the R2, but it has the same light bar and oval headlights on the front and Rivian branding across the back. It basically looks like an R2 that was put into a compactor and smooshed down a bit.

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Speaking of the R2, this is a smaller version of the R1 and R1S, following the latter's design as a small five-seat SUV. Both vehicles feature two large displays on the inside — one for the instrument cluster and a second for the infotainment system. The rest of the interior seems large and roomy, except for the fact that I wasn't actually allowed to climb in.

Still, it was good to see these vehicles in the flesh, so to speak. Both these cars are slated to launch next year, so we still have a little bit of time until these hit the road.

That's not a misprint. You can put all the cool cars you want at an auto show, but if there are puppies at that same show, that is what is going to get my attention. It has become something of a tradition for Subaru to host a few adoptable dogs and puppies from local shelters, and I am here for it. Subaru is even hosting these dogs on media days, so yes, it gets my vote.

There were two shelters representing at Subaru's display on this particular day — the Fetching Tails Foundation of Schaumburg, Illinois, and Border Tails Rescue of Northbrook, Illinois. Both shelters brought a small pack of puppies (all dogs are "puppies" no matter how big or how old they are), and they were available to hold, snuggle, or play with as you (and the pooches) preferred.

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Yes, Subaru also debuted the Wilderness trim of the Forester SUV, and that's nice and all, but these are puppies and they are very playful and adorable, but most importantly, adoptable. You can head over to their respective websites, check out the pups, and maybe bring a new friend home with you.

Finally, one non-consumer vehicle that caught my eye was the Calypso, which is a solar car designed, financed, and built entirely by students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This is a car built by the students to compete in the annual Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge. The latter is a race from Nashville, Tennessee, to Casper, Wyoming.

Calypso is the third-generation car for this team. It's a three-wheeled car that is covered stem to stern in 257 solar panels — though those panels were not actually on the car at the auto show. Those panels can generate about 1.1 kilowatts of energy, enabling the car to drive about 250-260 miles on a single charge. The car can get up to about 75 mph at top speed, though that depletes the battery much quicker.

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Calypso has a design team, pit crew, and even a strategy team that plans how the car should drive a given route in order to maximize speed and efficiency. At last year's American Solar Challenge, the team came in third place, having driven 1,566 miles. As mentioned, the team is self-funded through sponsors, donations, and advertisers, so if you want to learn more, or contribute yourself, you can visit the team's website.