Wagons at Detroit Autorama

I thought you might appreciate some of the wagons that I saw at Autorama yesterday.

The show is on two floors of the COBO Center; upstairs are the more traditional show cars and downstairs you'll find motorcycles, Rat Rods and anything with a matte finish.

First, the wagons that were upstairs.

This local Malibu had some nice woodwork in the rear compartment:





Paul and Todd Reiter (Reiter's Metal Craft) had this 57 Nomad at their booth. This car was a total rust-bucket; they have re-built the body using a combination of reproduction panels and their own fabricated pieces. Somebody is going to be showing a really nice car at next year's show:


A very sweet 57 Nomad:


I've now seen this 53 at several shows. It is beautiful:


Not a wagon, but "almost". This 47 Crosley has been campaigned for decades. It's a 10.00 to 10.20 car...way cool:




Now, to the "downstairs" wagons...

Very cool panel:


Regularly driven, this 59 Brookwood had a couple of surprises for me:


Surprise No 1: It's not all Chevy...check out the 59 Pontiac front end:


Surprise No. 2: Did you notice that cool "Grocery Getter" decal? It is the latest from Bewber!!!

Surprise No. 3: it gets driven over 1000 miles/month!Here's a closer look at the owner's display board:



I thought this was cool:


I understand...it was on this car:


The pinnacle award at Detroit's Autorama is the Ridler (pronounced "Riddler") award. Based on creativity, engineering and workmanship, the award is one of the premier national awards.

The field is narrowed down to eight finalists (known as "The Great on Saturday and the winner is announced on Sunday afternoon.

There were no wagons in the "Great 8" this year, but here is a link to photos of the Great 8 cars:
http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/2011show/2012_great_8_detroit_autorama/

I'd have a hard time choosing one winner out of that group...but I really liked the 53 pick-up.

This Thunderbird won the Ridler award:





Awesome show with some sweet wagons. Love the fact that John's decal is in there.

Nice pics. Thanks guys!!!

Great pics Joe,thanks and wish I was there too.

Sweet. I heart that 59!

Haha, Thanks a ton for the pics. That's actually not a sticker I made - but it's dang close!

Lotta ingenuity displayed in the vehicles there. On one ratrod, the guy used pistons for brake & clutch pedals. On another, the guy used pistons for drink holders.

Bewber wrote:

Haha, Thanks a ton for the pics. That's actually not a sticker I made - but it's dang close!

I thought it was another version of the newest one...sorry 'bout that.

jimbeau wrote:

Lotta ingenuity displayed in the vehicles there. On one ratrod, the guy used pistons for brake & clutch pedals. On another, the guy used pistons for drink holders.

It's a great show.
Sure inspires you to be creative on anything you tackle!

I liked the RatRod truck with the mid-engine set-up. It had an automatic trans; the shifter was mounted to the back wall of the cab; it looked like a handle from a huge turf mower. It operated a double chain that rotated a bicycle gear set mounted on the transmission shifter shaft. It was Rube Goldberg all the way!

Didja see that cool guy walkin' round in a 3 TON FUN t-shirt? HAHA! Met a guy who has a '77 Caprice 2 dr. on a '95 chassis. Nice car.

LOVE the 59 Chevy with the Pontiac front clip. That's awesome!

Great pics, glad you posted!

-Mike

Thank you for the pics! Love Dirty Sanchez! lol

I found those on eBay, had to have em lol,,, got lots of finger pointing and grins when ppl saw them

Bewber wrote:

Haha, Thanks a ton for the pics. That's actually not a sticker I made - but it's dang close!

It's too bad that the guy who doesn't ever brush his teeth couldn't go to the 'Rama because one of his fedid, roiting teeth fell out on Friday...