There is no perfect recipe for the perfect car show, but a few factors make for a really good car show – and some are even simpler than you might think.

This year, some two decades after my first Lead East Car Show, I am still complaining of tired feet – but I do so with a smile on my face. Lead East is more than a car show. It more than a philly cheese steak vendor in the hot summer sun. It is more than a couple of ripped up Chevy t-shirts bearing nudey lady tattooes. Don’t misunderstand – it is all of those things. But it’s more too.

This year the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, known for luxury, class, and panache, is getting an infusion of cool, American style, in the form of post-war Ford Mercury customs – never before seen at the show.

Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr., better known to racing fans as Buddy Baker, died this week at age 74, taken down by lung cancer.

Not long ago, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced a plan to spin off Ferrari, and part of that plan was to sell ten percent of the iconic automaker via a stock sale. This week, that phase drew closer with FCA having filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The world of Formula One racing has been rocked by it’s first in-race driver death since the passing if Ayron Senna in 1994. Jules Bianchi, who crashed during last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, has died from his injuries nearly nine months later.

The annual “Race to the Clouds,” the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb, experienced a paradigm shift on June 28 as Rhys Millen became the first driver to win the event with an electric-powered car.

Recently, a report on style trends indicated that avocado-green kitchen appliances, a staple of the 70s, may be staging a comeback. Hot on the heels of this is news of Chevrolet’s plan to launch a hatchback version of the next-generation Cruze.