61st Detroit Autorama March 8-10, 2013

The 61st Meguiars World of Wheels Detroit Autorama     March 8 – 10, 2013

Al Bergler kicked off the opening of the show with a Cacklefest by starting the 1st Ridler 1964 Winner “More Aggravation” Fuel Altered, and his Motown Shaker Funny Car on nitro, and rattling the windows in the front of Cobo Hall Center. The smell of nitro in the morning and the roar of hemi engines was a great way to start the fun! This edition of the show featured over 800 vehicles, including Ridler’s Row with 27 of the past 50 Ridler Award winners, presented by the Henry Ford Museum, numerous automotive legends including Pete Chapouris, Jimmy Shine & Edsel Ford at the Ford Display with the SoCal ‘34 Coyote hiboy; Chip Foose and the ‘47 Eldorodo; Chuck Miller with his new ‘32 roadster; Troy Trepanier’s fabulous Ford Torino and ‘56 Buick Great 8 car; cars from Kid Rock’s Collection; and George Poteet’s ‘34 Ford Bonneville coupe. Gene Winfield was there again with Winfield’s Chop Shop where a complete 37 Chevy chop was completed over the weekend. Not to be missed were the First lady of Drag Racing, Linda Vaughn, with Courtney from the Overhaulin’ TV show signing posters at the GM-Hotwheels display. There were tribute displays of the Ford First Feathers – ten ’55 - ’57 Thunderbirds, and a nice ten car display in the Cavalcade of Customs. Every year there is a car chosen for the Preservation Award, honoring a survivor car that shows what it was like at the dawn of the hobby. This year, the Genessee Gear Grinder, Jim Auxbury, chopped & channeled, ’32 Ford, track nose 3 window, with Caddy power, was brought by Jim & his son, Rick.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler and aftermarket part vendors, all had nice displays, and Autorama Extreme had many parts and lifestyle vendors. As always, the model car show was a popular with some amazing examples of model car building. The 19th Annual Toy-A-Rama had a large number of toy vendors selling literature, collectibles, and anything auto related. Numerous celebrity entertainers were there, including the always popular SpongeBob Squarepants; WWE stars, Sheamus & Edge; Chris Reed from Sons of Anarchy; Davis Cleveland from Disney’s Shake It Up; and Stefanie Scott from Disney’s A.N.T. Farm. There was even a tribute display of 3 Batmobiles with a Catwoman available for photos.

Friday was the 7th annual Autorama Student Career Day, with 3,000 students from over 50 Michigan schools attending presentations from key hot rod builders and industry leaders, like Chip Foose, to learn about career opportunities in this growing field. $125,000 in scholarships was also made available from 5 colleges. They then got to visit the show, grab a quick dog & chips, and see where this career path can go in the show. This was the first year for the Autorama High School Design Competition with the College for Creative Studies to design a luxury Chrysler for the year 2030, judged by a panel of judges from CCS, Chrysler, and the Autorama. Winners received scholarships for CCS, iPads, free summer auto design classes at CCS, and tours of the Chrysler Product Design Office.

The Motor City Mavens Auto Art Panel Jam and Charity Auction raised many thousands of dollars. More than 200 pinstripers and artists applied their talents to anything you could imagine, which were auctioned off to raise money for the Leader Dogs for the Blind. People brought in items to be pinstriped, talk with the artists, and watch them apply their talents. This was the most successful fundraiser yet! The Motor City Auto Artist Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to renowned artist & bike builder, Ron Finch. Mostly known for his incredible motorcycle creations for 30 years, he is also a well-recognized artist & sculptor.

John Sanderson