Throwback: 2013 Louisville Car Show

The full name of the car show back in 2013 was the Carl Casper\’s Custom & Louisville New Car Show. The expo floor was split between the manufacturers in attendance, and the custom machines of Louisville automotive legend, Carl Casper.

There were other cars not related to either side of the marquee, too, including local race cars, cars belonging to local clubs, a lowrider show in Freedom Hall, and so on. The three-day show had something for everyone then; they still do, but more on that later.

Ford at the 2013 Louisville Car Show

Ford has a huge presence in Louisville, in the form of the Louisville Truck Plant, and Louisville Assembly Plant. The former builds the F-Series Super Duty, as well as the Expedition, and the Lincoln Navigator. The latter assembles the Escape, and the Lincoln Aviator.

In 2013, the third-gen Escape (known as the Kuga in Europe) was the centerpiece of the Ford display at the show, arriving in showrooms a few months earlier. This generation of the crossover was the first Escape to receive MyFord Touch (a.k.a., SYNC2), one of the earliest OEM infotainment systems to connect smartphones with cars.

Also: if you were interested in test-driving a new Escape, F-150, Taurus, MKS, or any other Ford or Lincoln on the floor, you could get a $50 gift card for the experience. I wonder how well they fared in my old Old Kentucky home that year.