No problem Don, I hope one day I can have a car like yours... One thing I forgot to mention in my first post; when we (my parents, son and I) first walked in downstairs, we cut to the right and went down the second "row" of cars, to avoid the crowds. On the end of said row was a car, I think the coupe mentioned above that crashed at HRR, anyway, it was a decent looking car. There were some "tuner" looking dudes standing in front of it, chatting as "car guys" do about someone elses ride. What struck me about their conversation was a comment made to the effect of "what the f*** is with these cars? Have you been on ebay lately? These cars sell for 30 grand or more... why? Our cars are so much better." I guess Big Daddy said it best, and I should have said it to them but didn't. "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand." I don't want to qualify my post from before as negative, because it wasn't. I know Riley (my 2 year old son) enjoyed seeing Mater and Mcqueen, and the look on his face when he saw Patrick and Spongebob made my day, but I didn't see anything that really struck my fancy this year (except that certain Model A)... but the Starliner downstairs came close. And, I did get to see some people I should see more often, but don't. You know who you guys are. Jay
You know its funny, all these complaints that I am reading about the detroit autorama and how indoor car shows suck.....blah blah blah! I went to the Pittsburg autorama 2 years ago and looked at a total of maybe 30 cars that were in attendance. Detroit pulls the best crowd, the best people and the best weather....errrrr... any who, when the fuck else are the kids in michigan gonna get a chance to drive through the cold to hang out with friends, meet new people, and bring there cars along to let others check out in march!? enough with the fucking complaining already it wasnt any different from last year, if anything, downstairs was better! get over your pre madonna selves already, werent there enough shiny perfect cars downstairs for you?, it sure is fun to just hang out with fellow rodders isnt it? man, thats what its all about, meeting cool new people and hanging out, the cars are an added bonus, especially the volume in detroit!
"pre madonna".....that's pretty funny.....I never dated her. Now, Britney Spears....THAT's a different story!!!!
THanks for showing your true colors Bob, your boss will surely be proud of you. I doubt anyone from the trad side wasted there time to go over and look at the 80 or so cars you pulled off the streat to fill that side of the hall. Bob Larivee's intent of the Extreme AutoRama was to show case the Real Deal dare I say Rat Rods. This is the same guy that started and promoted indoor cars show to what we know them as today, can you say visionary!! I feel Dennis and I filled the good half of the hall with what truly represents what is out there and I feel we stepped it up a notch as well with cars like Zenors coupe and a few other very nice hot hots. There was no attempt take over the whole basement and that was clearly outlined in meetings early on, belive me I could have flled the place with junk like you did if I had to. [quote from Bob,,,] " I say THANKS. The historically significant vehicles were also an awesome addition, (like Couches former Championship truck), but the junk pulled out of some field or the cars and trucks that were in no way "Traditional" had no place in this or any other show, in my humble opinion."
to defend Rudy a bit... I'm guessing a lot of the traditional crowd has my mentality. I'd rather hang out than go throught the BS of entering a show. Sure, its the Autorama... but its still a pain in the ass getting in and out. They don't want to display... they want to enjoy. (and I'm guessing a lot of them are apart right now) I'm well versed in both groups... With the tuner market, you are more likely to get 'ricers' into the show... guys that slap on stickers and bolt on crap and have little creativity in their build. Same goes with traditional cars... your rat rods are like the ricers... cobbled together... little creativity... big zoomie headers are akin to big wings. Bottom line, I know its easier to get 'nice' tuner cars to an indoor show in the middle of winter than it is to get traditional cars.
I thought the Hot Rod side of the basement was just fine. I am pretty open minded when it comes to Hot Rod's, I can apprieciate the shiny stuff upstairs and the traditional stuff in the basement, but what I love to look at is the creativity. You have to BUILD a real Hot Rod, I'm not talkin about ordering a bunch of parts from a catalog I'm talkin' fabrication. That's what puts most of the stuff in the basement on the same level as those Ridler cars to me. These guys took a pile of parts and made a car out of them, if they needed a bracket or part they modified it or MADE it. How many of those ricers can say that?, I would put the number right at none It makes me happy that young guys are interested in Hot Rod's, guys like Starliner building that T , and Tony carrying on REAL hotrodding, and all the other young guys too. There is a future for our hobby. The coolest thing in that basement (to me) was Zenor's coupe. Oh and that former championship truck, I stared at that thing for 15 minutes. Good job Rudy..........
Mike Zenors car is one of the most amazing things Ive ever seen on 4 wheels, its in my top 10 of my favorite cars of all time, just plain bitchin, thats my two cents
The Jalopy Journal
