2005 PRI Trade Show - Show and Tell

Every year racers from all walks of life, performance enthusiasts, and businesses catering to them both brave the icy winter in early December to display and drool over the latest in performance-only gear at the PRI show in Indianapolis, Indiana, from hardcore stuff like race car bodies and frames, to performance hardware, engine components, and even shop machinery. It's smaller than the SEMA show held in Las Vegas every year, but it doesn't include the fluff of neon wiper blades and chrome valve-stem caps, getting right to the meat and potatoes of performance for your street or race car from bumper to bumper.

As luck would have it, the PRI show recently signed a 5-year contract to hold the show in sunny Central Florida at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. While Orlando may not be as centrally located in the eastern U.S. as Indy, it does do away with all that nasty weather and puts the event square in ol' Walt's back yard-Walt Disney, that is. With a more family-friendly destination and warmer climate, the folks that put on the PRI show were hoping for increased attendance by both exhibitors and attendees, not to mention that the new Orange County Convention Center is huge, dwarfed only by the Las Vegas Convention Center. We've seen exhibitors set up practically in broom closets and bathroom stalls in Indy, so it was nice to have the show in one large room with ample aisle space.

Did the show exceed the last Indy show in size and attendance? We know for a fact that the number of exhibitors increased (and the show still didn't fill the whole center floor plan), and from what we've heard from exhibitors, the attendee count was up as well. With Orlando just a short hour and change away from the palatial M&F offices, we took a day trip to Orlando to check out the PRI show and report on any cool findings our readers may be interested in. So read on, and take in the coolness of these great new parts for your classic Ford project!