I must admit that I really don’t care much for the month of March. It’s like 482 days long and the weather can’t make up its mind. One day we get 3 inches of snow and the next day it’s 50 degrees and sunny. Plus, we even lose an hour of sleep each March. The only good things that happen in March are Saint Patrick’s Day, the 12 hours of Sebring, the NCAA basketball tourney, and Detroit Autorama. End of rant.
Last weekend we kicked off March with our annual road trip down to Detroit’s Cobo Hall for the 67th annual Autorama show. The event is billed as “America’s Greatest Hot Rod Show” and rightly so. Attendees and participants travel from far and wide to be a part of this late-winter Detroit tradition.
The main draw of Autorama is the Don Ridler Award. Custom cars being shown for the very first time are first selected into the Great 8 and then 1 goes on to receive hot rodding’s top honor. This year’s Ridler Award winner went to an insane 1959 Cadillac and Chevy Nomad mashup called the Cadmad. The car took 15 years and $2.3 million to build. Sadly the owner passed away prior to the car’s completion, and his brother showed the car in his memory.
Other attractions included wild rat rods, bikes, and scooters in the Cobo basement, numerous vendors throughout, a Burt Reynolds tribute, and classic funny cars and low riders in other addition to many other special displays.
The Corvette count felt like it was down this year compared to years prior, but I did notice a marked increase in the number of custom pickups. Not surprising as that sector of the collector car market is red hot right now. Nearly all generations of Corvette were present. We noted at least one car from each era except the 4th and 6th generations. Some of our favorites included a clean, simple yellow 1958, a sinister looking black 1969, and a fantastic silver 1957. There was even a C7 limousine on display.
So, with a lack of Corvettes this year we thought we’d share some of our favorite non-vettes this year as well. Even if you’re not into other makes of cars you still must appreciate the creativity and work that go into these stunning creations.
Enjoy our gallery from the 2019 Detroit Autorama below.
Source:
Photos by Steve Burns
Related:
[PICS] The 2019 NCRS Winter Regional and Carlisle Winter AutoFest
[GALLERY] The Corvette Vanity Plates of the 2019 Rolex 24
[GALLERY] Midyear Monday! Mecum Kissimmee Edition (62 Corvette photos)
-
Was #50 amphibious?
Comments are closed.