|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » custom cars » 2008 Detroit Autorama ( RSS)
-
|
His work has been seen on TV series such as Bewitched, Star Trek, and Get Smart, as well as on the big screen in Blade Runner, Robocop, Back to the Future II, and Sleeper. So it really comes as no surprise that the 2008 Motorama Builder Of The Year is Gene Winfield. He's one of the greats, right up there with Ed Roth and George Barris. He was one of the first to make a "Lead Sled" Mercury, but it's obvious that he wasn't tied down to just that particular sort of Kustom. Even if you're not into "blended" paint jobs or the low stances, you really can't ignore the talent and creativity this gentleman still has. There's so much we could say, but we'll just let you enjoy the gallery below of his display at the 2008 Detroit Autorama . galleryPost('genewinfieldautorama', 12, 'Gene Winfield Customs');
|
-
|
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. galleryPost('larsonspecial', 9, 'Larson Engineering Special'); Novel ideas don't end there. The car has been sort of a test bed for go-faster ideas seeing all kinds of changes and updates over the years. When it was originally built, it pucked the trend of a front mounted solid axle with trailing arms and instead went with a swing axle design allowing for the low stance. Since anybody who's...
|
-
|
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. galleryPost('vampyre', 9, 'Vampyre Dressed in Purple'); In any case, the Vampyre is rife with snazzy design details. The low profile gives it a speedy feel, sculpted head rests visible under the canopy, thin line white walls on Torque Thrust 2's, the tiller is the bottom third of a steering wheel, welded onto rods, dipped in white rubber and bolted to the yoke. Cool. Bet this car gets some looks while cruising...
|
-
|
Freakshow has our noodle in a bind. No part of it looks like an 1964 El Camino and yet the placard clearly said it was so. 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? galleryPost('freakshow', 12, 'Freakshow Shatters Our Fragile Little Minds'); Yes, we know, it doesn't look like any 1964 El Camino we've ever seen either, that's because it's sporting a '61 Chrysler nose and a '57 Chrysler tail along with an incredibly schizophrenic paint scheme. But still, we circle back to this brutal dichotomy of total dominating badassity spitting...
|
-
|
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 "Astosled" 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". The all new, all steel hot rod is based very loosely on 1959 Mercury mechanicals and really is a treat to see. galleryPost('atomicpunk', 9, 'Aaron Grotes Atomic Punk'); The grille alone is a piece of art, not to mention the delightful hand crafted exhaust manifolds, all the custom fiberglass, the spectacular chrome capped fins and the immaculate flawless white interior. The classic white walled MT's mounted on old school 5 spoke Cragars really finishes this masterpiece...
|
-
|
newVideoPlayer("cheetahautorama_jalopnik.flv", 475, 295,""); There's no question that Cobras are cool, even in fiberglass kit form. But you've got to admit that the fiberglass snakes are becoming somewhat common now with all the companies being sued by Carroll Shelby making their own versions of the V8 roadster . So for those seeking an alternative, Ruth Engineering & Racing will be producing kits for streetable Cheetah replicas. The coupes can be fitted with any Chevy powertrain of your choice; this particular one with a 383 stroker. Suspension bits come from a donor C4 Corvette, but the leaf springs have been replaced by independent coil-overs. That means the new Cheetah should be able to tear up a road course, making this not just a cool cruiser, but a tactical trackday toy too. We'll take ours with an LS9. [ RER - AmericanCheetahRacing.com ] galleryPost('cheetahrep', 6, 'Cheetah Kit');
|
-
|
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 galleryPost('puppycrusher', 12, 'Take That You Sniveling Mutts'); The doors have been welded shut to keep things stiff, so to get in, the roof is actually hinged forward so you can just step right...
|
-
|
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. galleryPost('orange32', 9, 'Cool Orange 1932 Ford'); We're really feeling this hot rod - it's simple, to the point, and cool looking. How can you go wrong with a clean execution on a car that is so often overdone. Its got a cross drilled solid front axle, trailing arms, great big drum brakes, two seats and a shifter - the helmeted skull on the shifter isn't hurting either. We'll take one.
|
-
|
newVideoPlayer("CrosleyDavidson.flv", 475, 300,""); A 1951 Crosley wagon is cool in that quirky oddity sort of way. But you'll probably want more grunt than the original 26 HP motor. Well you could try to shoehorn in a small block V8, but that would just take away some of the offbeat Crosley charm. So why not use a Harley V-twin? With 110 HP, it's hardly a slouch in the little 1600-lb. wagon. Now the Crosley can cruise Woodward and hang out at Sturgis. Check out the whole build process here . galleryPost('crosleydavidson', 6, 'Crosley Davidson Wagon'); [ MIRG ]
|
-
|
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. galleryPost('55chryslerrid', 12, '1955 Chrysler 2 Door Hard Top Wagon'); Everything that isn't wood, glass or chrome is coated in a smooth layer of DuPont Hot Hues Revolutionary Yellow. Yes indeed the fellas at builders JK Customs did a hell of a job on this one, and it's a fine example of just how sick a grocery getter can really be.
|
-
|
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. galleryPost('willetspecial', 9, 'Viper Powered Willet Special'); With the power of 600 horses this Special is capable of over 200 mph, and with less heft than the Viper...
|
-
|
After the 2008 Geneva Motor Show , we needed a little recoup time, but yesterday we were back on the beat at the 2008 Detroit Autorama. We're just going to lay the smack down right away, the winner of the 2008 Detroit Autorama Ridler Award was a car we saw last year in the building stages - a Ferrari-engined Nash Rambler dubbed "Ferrambo". The bright red lightning rod of holy-shit-that's-crazy stood out pretty strong amidst this years Great 8 as the hands down, batshit craziest entry and we love the Autorama judges for giving it the nod. galleryPost('ferrambo3', 16, 'Ferrambo Wins 2008 Ridler Award'); The Ferrambo may not be the greatest name ever, but it serves up a stout 280 points on the Jalopnik scale, and for good reason. How many other tiny, bright red, two door station wagons with a mid-mounted 3.6 L V8 mill out of a Ferrari 360 Modena have you seen lately? Of Course it's stupidly well built, but the details are really what puts this car over...
|
|
|
|