The 57th Annual Murray O' Reilly Auto Parts Autorama - 57th Detroit Autorama

Those who have attended the Detroit Autorama have watched over the past few years how fabricator Dan Webb has teased everyone, first with a rolling chassis, then last year with a partially-completed body, but now his ode to teen-era racer Barney Oldfield is complete. Webb's Golden Submarine tribute, with an aluminum skin from Craig Naff, had a big crowd around it each day.

On the other end of the spectrum from Webb's sub was Wayne Cherry's roadster--a one-off built by the talented Fran Hall at Race Car Replicas in Fraser, MI. Incorporating a new LS2 Cadillac engine, the roadster also featured scissor-type doors, touch screen controls, Indy-type pushrod suspension, and an all-aluminum monocoque chassis.

Looking like someone had plugged it into the wall, the lime green flake paint job on Jake Moomey's '54 Chevy Bel Air looked positively electric! The silver flake up top was a nice contrast, too.

The Preservation Award, given to the owner of a vehicle who has restored a historic vehicle to its former condition, went to Richard Munz, who is the latest in a line of folks who have owned what has become known as the Neal East roadster.....

.....(who owned it when it was featured on the August '61 cover of Rod & Custom), though its proper name should be the Woodard-East-Moeller-McManus-Seivers-Munz roadster. Former owners Bill Moeller (left) and Neal East were also on hand for the festivities.

Back Bay Customs in Portland, ME, built this '59 Cadillac for Lou Querusio of Mendon, MA. At 225 inches bumper-to-bumper, it had to be the longest production vehicle in the show! The two-tone yellow paint scheme looks like it could have come out of the `50s, as does the wide-whites-on-wires wheel combo.

Nancy and Roger Ritzow's '56 Chrysler 300B was built at Troy Trepanier's shop and nicknamed Passion. The chassis features fully independent suspension, 14-inch brakes, a big Dodge motor with P7 heads, and an overall look to die for!

Dave Perewitz is a well-known custom motorcycle builder, but he recently finished construction and assembly on one of the new Factory Five Racing '33 Hot Rod, and he displayed it in the STREET RODDER booth. Look for more on the build-up of this vehicle on page 144 of this issue.

Ralph Whitworth owns this 1916 Model T, which was built in 1961 and was known as the Trojan. The wheelbase was cut to 96 inches, and a 332-inch Nailhead was installed, but the rear deck came from a '58 Ford lid, the rear fenders from a '59 Chevy hood, and the body was capped off with '59 Impala taillights.

Painter deluxe Darryl Hollenbeck (left) with legendary kustomizer George Barris have a lot in common, including some of the cars on display at the Autorama. Darryl painted the Ala Kart during its restoration at Brizio's Street Rods, and George originally built the car back in 1957.......

......George's brother, Sam, built the Merc on display back in 1949, and it was restored (with a Hollenbeck paint job) for owner John Mumford. The Barris Brothers also built the two-tone green Hirohata Merc back in 1952, but the one in the booth is a clone built in the mid-`80s and owned by Jack Walker. See how it all makes sense?

Reiters Metalcraft in Mt. Clemens, MI, built this stylish '51 Merc hardtop for Mike Kunzman, and they used many of today's aftermarket parts manufacturers (such as ididit, Edelbrock, Auto Meter, and Painless Wiring) to get it finished.

Hundreds of folks line up to get into the Circle of Champions breakfast held on the Saturday morning of the show. Besides a decent breakfast, a ticket gets you up close and personal with the shakers and movers who have made their mark in hot rodding over the past several decades.

There was talent everywhere you looked. Multiple Ridler builder Don Pilkenton (left) with 1990 Ridler builder/winner Dan Webb had some catching up to do--it had been a couple of years since Don had attended the show and everyone was glad to see him.

Automotive journalist, historian, and all-around-car-nut Ken Gross was the featured speaker at the Circle of Champions function. Later in the day Ken was busy signing copies of Art of the Hot Rod; a 240-page book he wrote that features Peter Harholdt photography.

As simple as it is, it looks like Chris Herod's '23 T might be a blast to drive around town, and you can't get more bang for your buck then owning a T like this.

The Pirelli Great 8--those folks who owned the eight vehicles that were in the running for this year's Ridler award--were all recognized at the Circle of Champions luncheon. (See www.streetrodderweb.com to see mini features on each of the cars).

Bob Larivee, Jr., (left) presents this year's Featured Builder commemoration to Darryl Starbird, who had seven of his vehicles on display at this year's show (see page 60 for more on Darryl's cars).

Three special people were inducted into the elite Circle of Champions this year, including (from the left) Mike Warn (last year's Ridler winner), Dan Carpenter (artist and pinstriper), and Dana DeCoster (founder/publisher of the Detroit-area Crusi'news magazine).