Just a few weeks after feasting our eyes on several hundred of the country's best rods and customs at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, we get to repeat the experience-kind of-all over again, 2,300 miles away. The Detroit Autorama is like the GNRS' eastern cousin. There is a bit of a resemblance between these two elite level car shows, but there are also some differences we appreciate every time we go to Detroit.
Partly it's the weather. At the GNRS, the cars are scattered throughout numerous buildings and spill out into the sunny fairgrounds. In Detroit, stepping from the cold gray outdoors of Michigan winter into the excitement of Cobo Hall is like stepping from black-and-white Kansas into a living-color Land of Oz, where all senses are over-whelmed by the sight, sound, and even the smell of the country's highest level of hot rods and custom cars.
Partly it's the fact that many of the cars we see at the Autorama are being seen for the first time. One of the criteria for winning the Ridler award, this event's top prize, is that the competing cars have not been publicly displayed before.
Partly it's the blend of old and new. For every never-before-seen Ridler contender, there are old favorites that have earned a place in hot rod history. For every pro-built car with a million-dollar budget (only rumors, of course), there is a low-budget homebuilt counterpart. Credit that to the success of Autorama Extreme, held in the lower level of Cobo Hall, where the quality of low-buck traditional iron is progressing even faster than some of the high-tech, high-end cars on display one floor up.
Instead of trying to describe the experience, we'll just show you. The handful of cars you're about to see represent only a tiny part of the whole Detroit Autorama experience. A tiny bit more can be found on our Web site. But you have to make the trip to Cobo Hall to get the whole experience.
 |
Nick Giacalone and Nick Jr. now own this channeled '31 roadster, built by Jim Cooper in the early '60s. The 264 Nailhead has been swapped for a 0.030-over 425 with six Strombergs displaying frogs-mouth air cleaners. Wildest of all is the chromed frame. Nick Sr. refastened the interior and performed two months of cleaning and polishing. |
Bruce and Judy Ricks' '57 Olds Fiesta wagon, built by Tim and Darrell Cimbanin at Cimtex Rods, was beautiful. It runs a '57 Olds 371ci J2 engine and trans, but rides on an Air Ride suspension with an Art Morrison frontend. Boyd Coddington provided the 18s and 20s, and the interior is another example of Paul Atkins' talent. |
Geoff Skene's army green '32 got a ton of attention at Autorama Extreme last year and got promoted into the main hall this year. Builder Dennis Lesky from Ionia Hot Rod Shop told us the Flathead Deuce is the first non-shiny car displayed upstairs. |
We chose John St. Germain's '36 roadster as an R&C Top 10 at Columbus in '06, and seeing it again confirmed our choice. From the '41 Packard grille and '37 Plymouth bumper to the exhaust tips built from '57 Olds dash clock bezels, the details on this Flathead-powered custom continue to impress us. |
Them are some big yellow rims on Ron Winter's '32 three-window coupe, built by Johnson's Hot Rod Shop. A Demon 750 tops the 383 small-block, and the suspension includes POSIES springs. Paul Atkins did a typically outstanding job on the interior. |
Built as a "modern interpretation" of a Westergard custom, Lyle and Elaine Handsor's chopped '40 LaSalle is customized with '40 Plymouth bumpers, and contemporary touches including a Northstar engine and Air Ride Technologies suspension. |
Chris Herod built himself a cool, fun hot rod, starting with a Speedway Motors T-bucket body and a homebuilt frame. He finished with four coats of custom yellow, 12 of pearl, and four of clear. The grille is from a '32, flipped upside down and filled with a Sears barbecue grille section. This is his daily driver in the summer. |
People were bugging Don Moyer about selling this five-window Deuce all weekend. The previous owner paid $500 for the stock car in 1975. Don found the intake for the 'banger motor in the trunk, but added a Thomas manifold and the 97s. A LeBaron Bonney interior kit, still in boxes along with the receipt, came with the car, which can be easily returned to bone-stock condition. |
This '31 five-window, built for Mike "Ziggy" Zenor by Andy and Jerry Didio, grabbed our attention as soon as we got downstairs, and received an award from Chip Foose. The Pontiac side marker light on the '32 grille shell is a clue to the Poncho theme all over the coupe. Andy built the roof insert from a backward '59 Pontiac hood, and added a '59 Star Chief dash and steering wheel to the interior. The '59 Pontiac 389 is fed by '58 Saaty Meteor 100 fuel injectors. The chrome rims wear '56 Olds caps, just to mix things up. |
Bob Bateman originally built this '31 in 1956, raced it for a few years, and then turned it into a show car, and Hot Rod feature car. It was retired in 1965, but Roddy and Sally Moore purchased and restored it in 2003. It's channeled 8 1/2 inches, and the shortened grille has 121 cabinet knobs. The '51 Olds engine features Offy valve covers and a Cragar intake with six 97s. |
This '32 Plymouth roadster, recently bought and revived by Otto and Evan Hahne, is a genuine survivor. Since construction began in 1958, the local-area hot rod, lowered with a 12-inch channel, won the '72 NSRA Nationals in Detroit and took awards at the Autorama in '73, '74, and '75. |