2017 Detroit AutoRama

Auto what, AutoRama. Prize, the Don Ridler Memorial award. Winner, yes. Pictures tons. Words, a few. The Motor City was humming with horsepower at the 65th Annual Detroit AutoRama. There is a reason this show is 65 and going strong. It’s dubbed “America’s Greatest Hot Rod Show” for a reason. The best of the best show up year in and year out, making this Detroit tradition one of the largest and oldest hot rod-custom car shows in the Nation. It attracts visitors from around the world and rides from across the country. It’s non stop action for three days culminating with the presentation of the Don Ridler Memorial Award, the most coveted award in the hot rodding sphere. For the past 55 years the prestigious award has been given to the most outstanding new custom car, shown for the first time anywhere. Because of this unique distinction, the Detroit AutoRama gathers the cream of the crop every year to the Motor City to show the world what they do best and what they do best is off the hook. This year’s the winner was no exception.

The top prize went to Buddy Jordan and his hand fabricated 1933 Renaissance Roadster. Steve’s Auto Restorations out of Portland Oregon is the shop behind this incredible build. They have a well established and stellar reputation for steel and aluminum fabrication. The body was hand crafted from aluminum sheets. The frame was hand built from steel. The Renaissance Roadster has a GM Performance Anniversary Edition 427 power plant using an aluminum block and heads. The transmission is a GM 4L60. To name a couple of the hand fabricated elements on this ride, the headlight buckets were hand formed, as was the custom shaped rear bumper. The interior is outstanding. That front bumper was CNC machined. It is an overwhelming ride to take in, the detail is over the top and there’s a heaping helping of talent that’s evident in every inch of the over the top ride. Ladies and Gents the 2017 Ridler – “The Renaissance Roadster”……..

Here are the other contenders for the top prize. Ted Hubbard’s 1930 Ford Coupe built by CAL Automotive Creations. Larry & Robbie Griffey’s 1954 Corvette GM Concept Tribute built by Larry Griffey’s Hot Rods & Restorations in Knoxville, TN. The winner Buddy Jordan’s 1933 Ford Renaissance Roadster. Robby Collvins’ 1949 C-10 Pickup from Mt Vernon, Texas. Dennis Johnson & Scott Roth’s 1966 Corvette Split Ray. George Poteet’s GTP 1932 Ford Tudor that was built by Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop in Gadsden, Alabama. The Phoenix Phantom 1929 Ford Pickup that took Dennis Portka 24 years to build. And last but not least, Ed Sears’ 1941 Ford Pickup “The Gold Standard”. Each ride worthy in and of itself. A Great 8 to say the least.

With so much more to look at words sort of fail here. In a nut shell, there were about 800 or so other rides filling the Cobo Center. Beautiful to outrageous. Each a show stopper, each wilder than the next, each prize worthy, honestly. The best of the best really do come out for the AutoRama. Feast your eyes.

Go grab a cup of Joe, sit back and stroll through the Most Recent Show Gallery from the AutoRama. You can thank me later.

We’ve got a Blow Dart up next and there’s so much more from the AutoRama, like a little something called AutoRama Extreme. And Extreme it was! Plus so much more.

Till the next time – Keep on Kruzin!