DETROIT, 10:33 PM, FRI MAY 16 | 35 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@jalopnik.com | SUBMIT A TIP | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Detroit Autorama

”
autorama

2008 Detroit Autorama, We Hardly Knew Ye

Well, the 2008 Detroit Autorama was a swell show this year, chock full of goodness for any hot rod persuasion. We saw all of the entrants for the Ridler award, a smattering of kit car action, and some very cool traditional hot rods. Hell, we even saw a Citroen 2CV stuffed with a small block Chevy mill. This show does nothing if not inspire its attendants to take on their own projects, push their own envelope, or build their personal dream car. Every year we go we see some new style take root, or a once dead branch sprout new growth - there's just so much good stuff here to see that we can't cover it all. And with that, we conclude this years coverage with a gallery of the things that got left on the cutting room floor. Full wrap up below the fold.

More »

5:30 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,402 views, 8 comments

Latest by Dr.Danger: @Ben Wojdyla: I will definitely keep an eye out. more »

autorama

The Larson Engineering Special

What do you call a handmade car built by a 20 something name Bob Larson and old enough to have been in the original Detroit Autorama? You call it the Larson Engineering special and it is a treasure trove of clever ideas and hellish ergonomics. We're not implying anything, but if this is the car responsible for the whole scissor doors thing, we're way less excited by it. Still the way they operate is pretty clever, sort of a pivot on a carrier mounted to a parallelogram hinge and secured with a shot pin latch, not bad for 1953, but not even the tip of the iceberg for this car.

More »

3:15 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,834 views, 19 comments

Latest by smokeydog001: @RichDeBene: A flame thrower! That's just righteous man. more »

autorama

Newstalgia Wheels' Steampunk Chopper

David Coker is an easy talking fellow from Tennessee with a passion for blending the old and the new. His company, Newstalgia Wheel, deals in all those classic style wheels you just gotta have for your hot rod. As a means of showing off those new old stock wheels, he's brought a just finished custom chopper up to the Autorama and it has a delicious steampunk style to it.

More »

3:00 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,454 views, 23 comments

autorama

Return of the Bubble Tops: Vampyre


We don't have much info on this crazy purple bubble top called Vampyre. The owner wasn't around and the placard didn't offer much in the way of details, but it's probably one of the more sleek cars of the genre we can recall. It seems to steal a little style from the extreme low riders with the exposed upper tire and the engine dragging on the ground. It's that low body work and exposed tire style that lead us to believe this car is the work of Jerry and Eldon Titus, who busted out a similar design in the "Voodoo Spyder" back in 2005.

More »

2:30 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,001 views, 29 comments

Latest by RoninianHoon: Ahh the gay batmobile... more »

autorama

Freakshow, The Custom Camino From Hello Kitty Hell

Freakshow has our noodle in a bind. There's not much left of the original '64 Chevy C-10, but it definitely says "1964 Chevy Pickup" on the placard. By all rights it should be the absolute baddest truck/car in the show hands down with a blown 354 cubic inch hemi, six Stromberg 97 carbs, the sickest custom headers we've ever seen all running through a four speed Muncie to a 9 inch Ford rear with 4:11 gears. It has a beer keg and an in-cabin tap coming out a skull mounted under a gun rack. And yet here we are torn - the car is pink, with white fur everywhere, and has a pink telephone on the dash. What. The. Hell?

More »

1:45 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,591 views, 47 comments

Latest by fredgold56: oh boy!! i had a '61 chrysler 4-door. loved it!! as far as this thing goes, everyone needs a hobby!! chill the keg and head(?) for the drive-in!! YAHOO!!! more »

autorama

Return Of The Bubble Tops: Atomic Punk

It's been a long, long time since bubble tops were popular in the hot rodding circles, but it seems as though they're beginning to make a comeback of sorts. With cars like Dave Shuten's "Astrosled" and Gary "Chopit" Fioto's "Beatnik", the genre is steadily gaining steam again, and the incredible creativity of the style is a welcomed respite from the sameness of the last decade. This car was built and is owned by Aaron Grote, who has dubbed it "Atomic Punk" and dragged it into the Detroit Autorama. The all new, all steel hot rod is based very loosely on 1959 Plymouth bits and really is a treat to see.

More »

1:30 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,068 views, 26 comments

Latest by aaron51chevy: It' has fully functioning Air conditioning. No need to have sweaty nuts....And if you really like it buy a t-shirt (copy and paste"http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2645600#post2645600" more »

autorama

We Like To Call This The Puppy Crusher

We saw this mashup at Autorama in Detroit this weekend and immediately imagined a darker, more gory version of 101 Dalmatians. The villainess would beckon her automobile from its murky depths to carry on all manner of misdeed and the car would be known as Cruella's Puppy Crusher. We spent some time talking with the builder, one Mr. Brajkovich of Brajkovich Rods and Customs from Jonestown, PA. and found out some pretty neat stuff. First, even though it isn't quite done yet, what we do see came together in only 3 months of work. Everything in the car is some kind of special, instead of the common 235 straight six, the car has the bigger and nominally more powerful 300. The exhaust is routed 3 per side into the frame rails and is dumped out the back through the open rails

More »

9:20 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,676 views, 43 comments

Latest by Armand4: @Adamskiy: A Jaguar V12 ought to fit in there pretty easily... more »

autorama

'32 Ford Hot Rod, Now in Creamsicle Flavor

Even though we tire of high dollar '32 Fords, a cleanly done and nicely finished one still catches our eye. This example of traditional hot rodding is way cooler than the megabux toys upstairs. The white and pearlescent satin orange finish really pop and the simple clean lines just beg for a good high speed run through a summer night. The ceramic coated four-into-one headers mount up to an SBC huffing and puffing through a four barrel Holley.

More »

8:20 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
798 views, 13 comments

Latest by thatguy01: Very nice. I'd do the engine in painted steel, instead of generic chrome/polished trim. more »

autorama

Golden Submarine Sees Progress, Body Panels

We saw the beginnings of the recreation of Barney Oldfield's Golden Submarine last year, but at this years' 2008 Detroit Autorama, some very noticeable progress has been made on the car. As you can see, the incredibly detailed, lightweight frame has been worked out and sheetmetal work has begun on the sleek little speeder. We were very impressed with the crazy amount of work evident in the drilled T-cross section body frame, it looks to us as though the T-section was cut as two pieces, then shaped and welded together - incredible.


More »

6:15 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,620 views, 32 comments

Latest by FrankGrimes: ever seen an airframe? more »

autorama

"Rock Bottom" Is Biggest Hot Rod At Autorama

We're not quite sure how to size this 1995 Peterbuilt up as a hot rod. It was fabricated for something call the "Big-Rig Build-Off" and it certainly lives up to it's name "Rock Bottom". How many of those Crosley Davidsons do you thing could fit on that massive deck? No wonder the world chromium supplies are so expensive, they all went into this truck. What does one ever do with one of these when done? Is it even usable any more? So many enormous questions, not enough enormous answers.

6:00 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,099 views, 37 comments

Latest by TR3-A: Fantastic. Hot rodding is about originality. You don't like the ride? Go build one of your own. Beautiful machine, skillfully done. What's the mill? more »

autorama

ViperVette Scratches Your Project Car Itch

So after all that high end craftsmanship and attention to detail, we're assuming you need the equivalent of a unicorn chaser. We thought what better to rid you of the perfection of the main show floor and the primed and polished perfection of the Great 8 than with the 1986 ViperVette. That's right, it's the guts of a 1986 C4 Corvette with the approximate body of a first gen RT/10 Dodge Viper overlaid. Take a wild guess at how we picked it out.

More »

5:45 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,745 views, 48 comments

Latest by FreeMan: @SundaySunday: COTD!!!! more »

autorama

1940 Ford Coupe

Here's a clean 1940 Ford Coupe that was put up for the Ridler Award at the 2008 Detroit Autorama. Owned by David Walsh out of Macon Georgia, this Ford would have probably done better any other year, because it's nearly a dead ringer for the '41 Willys we saw earlier. Deep black with a red leather interior, this one replaces the high rise intake and supercharger with eight single barrel throttle bodies with matching velocity stacks. Very nice effect and we're sure it sounds mean at full snort.

4:45 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,202 views, 7 comments

Latest by blownsvt: i work at T&T. i tubbed the car out originaly to give more room for tires obviously, at the time we were expecting to go with 315's out back and thats the reason for the large tubs, we ended up more »

autorama

1946 Chevrolet Custom Pickup

Last but not least on our parade of the Great 8 is this extremely custom 1946 Chevrolet Pickup. Nearly every body panel on the thing is hand built, so calling it a '46 is an effort in suspended disbelief. We're betting it will light the tires pretty quickly too since the truck is sporting a 425 HP 6.1L Hemi with fuel injection plugged into the bottom of some really nice velocity stacks. Yeah, it's a nice truck, and probably fast, but too clean for us. All these snazzy Great 8 picks make us wonder what the other folks on the floor are showing. Perhaps when we're done with all of these cars, we start showing off the fun stuff.

4:30 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,103 views, 10 comments

Latest by BlackIce_GTS: I was just apathetic about the idea of a Ferrari engined... I don't even remember what it was. That wagon thing, remember? But the idea of a Chevrolet pickup with an SRT-8 engine is activly annoying. more »

autorama

1956 Chevrolet Handyman Wagon

Lots of wagons among this years Great 8, here's another and this one wearing a bowtie and a lot of orange. The fairly rare '56 Chevy Handyman Wagon has undergone extensive modifications, and it shows. The bodywork amounts to over 100 modifications nad 1300 handmade parts, that's love. Under that custom engine cover is a LS1 V8 and a 4L60E transaxle. The interior is completely one off with hand formed dash and leather bits where it counts. This is a very nicely done rod, even if a bit over-done for our tastes. Kudos to the builders at Rods and Restos for a job well done.


4:15 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,016 views, 15 comments

Latest by blownsvt: ok for everyone that thinks they are hiding stuff and wondering why that engine??? i was up there with the 40 ford coupe. i talked to neil and joe (builders of this car) for a while. the whole drivetrain was more »

autorama

1967 GMC Pick Up

Excuse us if we didn't take much time to look into this GMC which was on the stands as a pick for the Ridler award at this years 2008 Detroit Autorama, it just didn't tickle our fancy. Sure it was built well, and everything seemed to have an appropriate level of hot roddery, but was just a little too... meh. Maybe it was the 80's era speedboat level of metal flake in the paint, perhaps the overdone front hinged hood, maybe it was just the clear lens LED tail lights, who knows. Regardless, this was one of those rods we respect for its craftsmanship, but would pass for some of the other offerings. There's just something fundamentally wrong with a truck that has the tailgate welded shut.

3:15 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
740 views, 15 comments

Latest by CptSevere: OK, nevermind. It's a shortbed. more »

autorama

1941 Willys Coupe

Hot rodders best be careful, or the once lusted after 1941 Willys Coupe will be the next '32 Ford of the rodding world. We know they've got a nice stout shape and wear fat racing slicks with a certain style few other cars can, but as often as we see them, you'd think they never went out of production. This particular '41Coupe is under the stewardship of Joseph Mouton Jr. who hails from New Orleans. After overlooking the massively supercharged 502 V8 mill, the car has got some real nice details throughout.

More »

2:45 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
944 views, 19 comments

Latest by Novaload: @ƂƵЯ: Me too. And maybe a 24 hours of Lemons run on the back acres every couple of months or so... The Willys is starting to look like a VW Bug because of those freakin' giant rims. more »

autorama

1955 Chrysler 2 Door Hard Top Wagon

Next up in the 2008 Detroit Autorama Great 8 parade is this very vibrant, very slick 1955 Chrysler 2 Door Hard Top Wagon. Even though the car looks like it was designed this way, a ton of heavy duty work went into this one. The car has been shortened 8", chopped 2", the windshield laid by by 15 degrees, the dash was hand formed out of steel, custom floor pans throughout, custom wood deck in the back, and on and on. The motivation comes courtesy of a Hemi with a one off Hillborn injection system and power is delivered to a set of 24" Foose wheels out back.

More »

2:15 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,263 views, 28 comments

Latest by cazin678: Yep- lose the cartoon wheels, tone down the paint, and maybe this is interesting... As it stands, it's just an exercise in "dare to be different", which is code for "let's do something excessive and lacking a true sense of more »

autorama

1932 Ford "Willet Special" Has Suprise Powerplant

Instead of going with a top ten list like everybody and his brother, the Detroit Autorama narrows things down to 8 finalists in the hunt for the prized Ridler Award. This group of fresh hot rods live in what's called "the Great 8". We've already seen the winner of this years Ridler Award, the Ferrambo, but we're going to take a tour through the other selections for this years Great 8. This is the 1932 Ford "Willet Special". Styled after the racers of the late forties which were bodied and modified for speed as "specials", the Willet Special has something under the hood those original racers could only dream of. Scoffing at the laws of physics, the builders of this speedster have managed to wedge a Viper V10 into the narrow frame and hood line of this handsome coupe.

More »

9:20 AM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,793 views, 19 comments

Latest by Novaload: Yeah, let's fire that thing up for some reality testing. Plus I want to hear it. more »