CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The Chicago Auto Show is giving visitors two chances to go off-roading without leaving McCormick Place.
The experience that pioneered the indoor off-road track, Camp Jeep, is back at the show after parent company Stellantis took a hiatus last year.
"We're excited to be back for our 20th year," said track supervisor Sergio Armenta, who added that Camp Jeep drivers have given more than 600,000 rides to visitors at the Chicago Auto Show.
The ride-along experience gives passengers a chance to see firsthand how Jeep's SUVs and trucks handle obstacles including a 30-degree sideways tilt and a ride up a stepped ramp, culminating in what Armenta called the “mobile mountain.”
"It's a 40-degree angle up the mountain, a 40-degree angle down, and you'll be sitting over 30 feet up in the air when you're at the top," he said.
A similar experience, Bronco Built Wild, is in place at the Ford exhibit, designed to show off the capabilities of the Bronco SUV, which competes with Jeep's Wrangler.
Both experiences are designed to provide owners and prospective owners with a brief glimpse of what their SUVs can do.
"It gives us the opportunity to show consumers what the dealership's can't," Armenta said, noting that a lot of Camp Jeep passengers are already owners.
"A lot of [comments are], 'Hey, I bought a Jeep, I'm glad I went on the ride...Now, I know what it can do,'" he said. "We also get, 'Wow, I didn't know Jeeps were this nice inside.'"
The Chicago Auto Show runs through Feb. 17 at McCormick Place.
Information about tickets and parking can be found at chicagoautoshow.com.
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