The Detroit Autorama - The Best Reason

Lobeck's V8 Shop built Chris and Anita Conly's '33 Ford Cabriolet which rides on a Lobeck chassis and is powered by a 354ci Hemi backed by a 700-R4. Their effort was rewarded with a Great 8 pick.

Certainly one of the strongest contenders for the Don Ridler Memorial Award was the PPG Rich Dark Brown '35 Ford coupe entered by Harold and Rhea Schrader. The all-steel three-window coupe was designed and built by Tucci Hot Rods and features a long list of body mods, most noticeably the chopped top, rounded door openings, and laid back custom grille.

This '49 Ford has lead quite an interesting life. It was originally built in Southern California in the late Fifties by Harold Killian while he was stationed there serving in the military. Harold installed a stroked OHV Cadillac and a '57 Ford trans and rearend and took it to Tijuana for a tuck `n' roll job. When he returned home to Michigan, he traded the coupe to Duke Emerson for a '57 Chevy wagon so he could bring his whole family back to sunny SoCal. Over the next couple of years, Duke raced the Ford and took it to the Alexander brothers a few times to have some custom work done. On one of those occasions the car got left out over night and the next morning the interior, intake and ignition, and a few other parts were gone along with Duke's enthusiasm. The car sat for several years and changed hands a few times until it was purchased and restored by Roddy and Sally Moore.

I'm not sure what direction hot rods will take over the next several years but, by the look of this model and the rest of the designs displayed by the College for Creative Studies out of Detroit's Cultural Center, I'm sure they'll be just as cool and exciting as ever. I was amazed at what some of the young designers dreamt up. You can get more info on the school at www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu.