The auto show is coming to New York's financial center, but it won't have displays, video screens, performances, press conferences, hundreds of vehicles, or rules of consumer engagement (such as which vehicles you can touch, fool with, or climb into.) It's just the cars, product specialists and an opportunity to sit in any of them, fool with them and set up test drives.

The New York Motorexpo will actually be the fourth iteration of an auto show program launched in London in 1996 by the Aspect Partnership with London's Canary Wharf Group. In addition to New York and London, Motorexpo now does similar shows in Los Angeles and Toronto under the aegis of Brookfield Office Properties.

The events, at Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles, Brookfield Place in Toronto, and at the World Financial Center near Wall Street the week of Sept. 18, bring in some one million visitors total.

Brands at the New York show include Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, MINI and Saab.

The cars reflect, to some extent, the largely affluent target audience, with Goldman Sachs across the street, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, American Express, and NYNEX in the vicinity. The lineup includes Aston Martin's Virage Volante, the 2012 Audi A7, BMW 5 Series, Range Rover Evoque, Lotus Evora S, Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4 and 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class and Jaguar XKRS.

Also on show are the Buick Verano, Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, Chrysler 300 SRT8 and Dodge Charger SRT8, Chevrolet Corvette 2012 Centennial Special Edition. On the less-premium side, the show includes the Fiat 500, Ford Focus Electric, and GMC Terrain. Visitors also get to test-drive a number of the vehicles.

"The key is that it's free to visit so anyone can come," says Chris Coleman-Brown, marketing director at Motorexpo, who tells Marketing Daily that while it is established as a de facto auto show in London, bringing in close to half a million there in June, it is still relatively new in North America, where it may expand to other markets.

"What we recognized is in business districts like lower Manhattan, there is a growing population of people who are time-poor but cash-rich. They are customers whom these brands need to get hold of; they have disposable income and are changing cars on three-year cycles."

Coleman-Brown says the show is about taking cars out of the dealership environment and putting them in a convenient place where people at work can drop in at any time for any length of time, and then schedule test drives. "This is focused on removing pressure-sales activity," he said, adding that Lotus, BMW, and Hyundai are new at the show this year.

Involvement ranges from such corporate participants as Jaguar/Land Rover to dealerships like Audi's Manhattan store. "We have pitched it as something for the modern market where brands are getting constant budget cuts. We offer it as a service for them at very low cost versus normal auto shows."

Coleman-Brown says the show is growing 15% year-over-year. "In London, where we started with 29 cars and six dealers, we now have over 250 cars. In New York, we started with 60 cars."

The company is supporting the New York show with a social media campaign and street teams handing out the show magazine at key areas in lower Manhattan.