Congratulations, intrepid reader! You've made it to the final post in the Patio Boat's epic AutoRama photo series. To be honest, I didn't set out to pen a saga, but even though I was only at the AutoRama for a few hours, I saw lots and lots of cool stuff that I reckoned was worth sharing.
This final post is a bit of a mish-mash of other stuff I saw that caught my eye. Let's start off with a couple of custom cycles:
There were at least a dozen of these custom-painted motorcycles lined up. The detail on some of them was truly astonishing. Really, any one of them would be worth of a photoblog post of its own.
It's hard to read because it's black lettering on this matte black Lamborghini, but this Lamborghini comes to us from the Motor City Gumball Rally.
This 1971 DeTomaso Pantera comes to us from the brothers Mike and Jim Ring, the Ringbrothers, of Spring Green, Wisconsin. It was entered in the "Exotic Sports" class. Of course, almost everything looked exotic around here.
If there was an "Exotic Tractor" category, this 1938 Minneapolis Moline UDLX Comfortractor belonging to Diane Flis-Schneider of Lapeer, Michigan, would've been a shoe-in because it was one of one in that category.
Another exotic sports car, this practically new Fisker is already eligible to join us at the Orphan Car Show in Ypsilanti, since brief-lived electric-car manufacturer Fisker has already folded. The car itself was a great-looking automobile. I especially like the solar panels on the roof, which recharge the batteries while you're parked during the day.
Pictures don't do justice to the size of this mammoth 1937 Hudson Terraplane owned by C.J. Kumar of Stouffville, Ontario. The body was lengthened four feet and widened eighteen inches to fit on a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel chassis. This means really re-shaping every panel and increasing the size of all the trim accordingly. For example, the original Terraplane front grille was stretched nine inches and widened sixteen inches to fit. The fit and finish was great and it all worked together, but the end result seemed more like an elephant than a Terraplane.
I mean that in the very best way.
Finally, we come to the question, "What was the craziest thing you saw at AutoRama." Well, honestly, I don't know, but I do know that the short list includes this 1939 Chevy Master Deluxe owned by Tom Carrigan of Vermontville, Michigan. Why? Because he shoved a turbosupercharged V12 Allison V-1710 aircraft engine under the hood, that's why!
How big is a 1,710 cubic-inch (28.0 liters) engine? That's almost as much displacement as four big-block Corvette engines! The Allison V-1710 produces around 1,500 hp at takeoff and was the primary engine for the twin-engined P-38 Lightning fighter of World War II fame.
That's crazy!
Which, in all fairness is the point of an awful lot of the cars at AutoRama. I had a great time looking at them all and want to thank all the designers, mechanics, and owners who put them together and brought them there. It was a great way to spend a snowy Saturday night in Detroit, and I look forward to seeing at least a few of these same cars out and about on the roads of Michigan this summer.
Wonderful posts on the AutoRama, John. Thanks, I feel like I was there. A tour de force, and lost of fun to go through from the comforts of my desk chair!
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