Rides Of The Autorama

It takes a lot to get us charged up about spending a winter weekend in Detroit. Something big. Something like the Detroit Autorama. It's one of the most prestigious rod and custom events in the country, and the site of the coveted Don Ridler Memorial Award. We hadn't been there since the 50th anniversary Autorama filled Cobo Hall back in 2002. That year, it was the excitement of seeing 1,000 outstanding cars, trucks, and bikes that got us on the plane to Detroit. This year the incentive was the big news about a new addition to the program--something Championship Auto Shows was calling Autorama Extreme.

To find out exactly what Autorama Extreme was all about, we had to descend to the lower area of Cobo Hall (called Michigan Hall to the promoters, and "downstairs" to everybody else) where an additional 100,000 square feet had been opened up for traditional hot rods and customs, as well as tuner cars.

We headed down the escalator a little bit curious as to what kind of "traditional" stuff was going to show up at an event famous for trailered-in, trophy-seeking show cars with build-up budgets rising above the million-dollar mark. To our excitement, downstairs was jam-packed with excellent homebuilt traditionally styled rides, and we spent the whole weekend bouncing up and down between floors, feasting our eyes on terrific rods and customs from both stories. To our relief, there was nothing but peace and harmony between the rodders upstairs and the rodders downstairs; that and maybe some new appreciation--maybe even some new respect--for how somebody else builds cars.

The original Ed Roth Mysterion appeared on the cover of this mag back in 1963 and moved car building in a whole new direction, which Fritz Schenks still follows. Dave Schuten's Mysterion replica--painted by Schenks--was joined by Schenks' own Roswell Rod bubbletop show rod, a tribute to Big Daddy, and built with the same techniques Roth used.

Tony Messina's homebuilt '29 sedan is loaded with creative details. Tony shortened the rear of the body by 20 inches, and stepped the frame to drop the car, then added four-wheel discs and Air Ride suspension. The '41 Buick Fireball I-8 mill is tied to a Saginaw four-speed. The 65-year-old Fair Haven, MI, resident built the car two years ago and repainted it just before the Autorama.

There's more to look at on Jon Hall's all-steel '32 Fordor than the eye-catching Ardun-converted 296 Flathead, such as the leather tuck 'n' roll, '39 dash, American Racing Salt Flat rims, and the change in proportion made by relocating the rear wheels up almost 4 inches. Jon, a member of the Motor City Hot Rods, drives the sedan whenever the weather is nice.

Was anybody surprised when Ken Reister's '36 hardtop convertible, Impression, ran away with the '05 Ridler Award? Nah! The Chip Foose-built car is more closely aligned with European coach-built cars than with street rods. Every inch has been meticulously hand-fabbed, down to the hand-cut fasteners and tires...

...Foose altered, but didn't hide, the look of the "Flathisphere" LS1, even adding cloth-wrapped plug wires for a little retro elegance in an overall high-tech ride.

The coolest car at Roseville High School belongs to 17-year-old senior Tony Tierney, who is also a member of the Draggins car club. Tony built his '31 sedan in a year, packing the A with a Flathead with dual 97s and a Thickstun intake and air cleaner, plus a LaSalle three-speed box. The grille came from a Grant Six. Headlights are from an American La France fire truck. It's all coming apart for paint soon.

Paul Peters was a teenager in 1972 when he bought this steel '30 roadster, sight unseen, out of Hemmings. Since then the old survivor has gone through many changes, rolled across thousands of miles, and participated in many Autoramas. The Kewanee and Elkpoint green paint was shot in 1975. The 409 Chevy is equipped with tri-power (which gets it mistaken for a 348).

Harry Westergard's '40 Mercury was displayed at the first Autorama, held in Sacramento in 1955, and is now owned by Jack Walker and Ed Guffey, who brought it to Detroit. Take a good look at a great example of the taste and style of one of the earliest and most influential customizers.

Since we saw Ted Houchin's Nailhead-powered, '37 Hudson Terraplane-grilled, '46 Chevy pickup in Indy last year, it has picked up a '29 Ford bed and a new owner: Bob Sargis of Louisville, KY. In Detroit, it received an award from both Chip Foose and Troy Trepanier--plus this comment from a spectator: "That is hardcore!"

In 1963, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's Pontiacs were dominating Stock Eliminator racing. Wally Abela, from New Boston, MI, built this replica of Beswick's '63 Tempest wagon as a tribute. The original, equipped with a 421 Super Duty engine, clobbered Fords and Mopars all over the country and won the '63 Winternationals.

Ray Bartlett at the Hot Rod Garage in Denton, MD, built this all-steel '34 coupe, which has the distinction of being the cover car for the first issue of The Rodder's Journal, and is scheduled for a repeat appearance soon. Ray had the coupe displayed with the Motor City Hot Rods Club.

Bill Hines originally built the Golden Nugget '34 roadster more than 50 years ago. Larry and Sandy Jordon recently restored it to the form it was in when it appeared at the '58 Autorama, using the rebuilt Nailhead, and many of the original parts, including the grille and the '56 Lincoln Continental wheel covers. The trophy it won in 1958 was displayed with the car, and is now joined by the Meguiar's Preservation Award.

A discarded length of driveshaft tube serves as an intake on the '48 Olds flat-eight on Andy Didio's '23 T roadster. The hand-molded 'glass body rides on a handbuilt square-tube frame, and the suicide frontend makes it look even longer. Andy's father, Jerry, shot the paint, and canned metalflake was applied to the radiator hose, windshield frame (an upside-down Dodge frame), on the chassis, and other places.

While searching for a '22 T AMT model kit on eBay, Draggins member Robert Montgomery found an ad for the full-sized thing, and at a great price, and scooped it up. The small-block is capped with a Weiand intake and four 97s. The body is early 'glass, and the striping was done by Von Franco.

Mike and Belinda Terzich's '56 Olds 98 looked great on the cover of the May '05 Custom Rodder, and even better on the floor of Cobo Hall. The highly modified body wears custom trim and sits on an Art Morrison chassis. The 555ci Dart engine features a custom fuel injection system. The interior is black leather and suede.

You'd be nuts to call this '31 sedan a rat rod. Richard Rawlings at Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas is building the unibody sedan to go up against the sports car guys in the Bullrun road rally...

...Aaron Kaufman created the rectangular tube frame and integrated rollcage for the "driveable racecar." The 472ci Cadillac with a single four-barrel powers the car, built "low, fast, and safe."

David Lohr bought his '30 Model A pickup as a roller and finished it in half a year, gutting the interior, recutting the frame, and chopping it until it looked good. Six Holley 94s on an Offy intake feed the 327 with fuelie heads. Front rims are Hallcraft; rear Radirs roll on whitewall piecrust slicks. "I built it to pick up my 2-year-old daughter at daycare and scare the soccer moms. It scared my daughter instead," David says.

After Sam and George Barris built this '39 Merc back in the '50s, it went from L.A. to the East Coast, and finally to Michigan, where Gary and Ruth Bedard have owned it for about 10 years. The custom was restored and painted in 1980, and retains the old Eddie Meyer Flathead and the original Gaylord seats with the old-style T-shirt-stuffed rolls.

This channeled '34 cabriolet was built between 1959 and 1962. Aaron Mann bought it last year from the daughter of the original builder. The newest parts on it were the tires from 1966. All Aaron touched was the radiator, brakes, the Rochester injection system on the '56 Corvette mill with '61 FI heads, and those tires. The paint, interior, '62 Starfire steering wheel, and Montgomery Ward cloth top are all right out of a time capsule from the old days.

In 2002, Gai Wilson was a Great 8 finalist with a Bobby Alloway-built candy-purple, flamed '32 three-window. This year, he made the cut again with this Alloway roadster. The old-style Hilborn injection on the 502 was converted to EFI. The wheelbase is stretched 4 inches, the hood is stretched 3, and the body is dropped 1 1/2 inches, which is why it looks so sleek.