Luxury cars no longer are separated from more moderately priced models. Visitors don't have to trek between floors - unless they want to see the souped-up cars and trucks one floor below.
"It makes the cars all feel like they're equal," Gregor Van Der Kam, 36, of Berwyn, said.
This year's show shines a spotlight on an industry that is "a bright spot in the economy," said Kevin Mazzucola, executive director of the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia, which owns and produces the event. Consumers are more willing to spend. Credit is easier to obtain, and American cars - and their competitors - have stepped up their game, Mazzucola said.
About 250,000 people are expected to attend this year's show.
On Saturday, visitors could window-shop for 2012 cars starting at $10,900 for a Nissan Versa and going up to $477,000 for a Rolls-Royce Drop Head Coupe.
Matthew Levenick, 17, and his friend Tommy Brett, 16, first-time visitors to the show, circled the roped-off luxury car display with Levenick's mother, Kathy.
"It's like they're in a petting zoo," Matthew Levenick said of the display of all-white cars, including an Aston Martin and a Lamborghini.
Sisters Robin Lear and Bobbie Huddleston have a serious car-buff pedigree, so on Saturday they were surrounded by the familiar.
Their father was a mechanic who gave them restored '60s-era Mustangs for their 16th birthdays. Sundays after church were spent going from dealership to dealership - the family's idea of fun.
"Most of the cars we always drive have not been American cars," said Robin Lear, 55, of Dover, Del., "but we are more impressed than ever with the American cars."
