The Great Indoors
Can we get a loud amen, please, for the indoor car show? A couple of weekends ago, we got up very early on a Saturday morning, shot through the morning ritual, and headed our trusty ride from the suburbs down to the beating heart of Detroit to attend the 58th annual Detroit Autorama at Cobo Center, one of the oldest, largest and most widely respected indoor hot rod and custom car shows on the planet.
Auto show pioneer Bob Larivee and his right-hand man Bill Moeller have been doing this show and the other Autorama shows for a very long time now, and we are of the opinion that A nobody does it better and B, the Detroit show is among the very best of them, right up there with the Grand National Roadster Show, aka the Oakland Roadster Show, which is senior to the Detroit show by only three years (this year was the 61st). OK, the GNRS went from Oakland to San Francisco and is now more or less permanently located 400 miles south of Oakland in the L.A. suburb of Pomona. That’s OK, because the Detroit Autorama didn’t start out in Cobo Center in Detroit, either, because Cobo wasn’t finished until 1960. Its first home was the Coliseum at the Michigan State Fairgrounds on the north end of the city. Read the rest of this entry »
The Great Indoors
Can we get a loud amen, please, for the indoor car show? A couple of weekends ago, we got up very early on a Saturday morning, shot through the morning ritual, and headed our trusty ride from the suburbs down to the beating heart of Detroit to attend the 58th annual Detroit Autorama at Cobo [...]
Tool of the Week: Bench Grinder Buffer
The pine-like Little Tree® was famous long before Miller handed one to Otto the ’80s classic movie Repo Man. You find one in every car. You’ll see. The shop or home garage is another place this object based continuum occurs. Be it on a bench or pedestal, most every garage or workshop in the land [...]
Full Race Jalopy
The American Heritage Dictionary defines jalopy as a word used to describe an old, dilapidated motor vehicle – especially an automobile. The origin of the word itself is hazy. The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary goes further, suggesting the word may have come into being as a result of many dilapidated automobiles sent to the Mexican [...]
Bakersfield As Barometer
The motor homes across from the pits stretched out side-by-side a quarter-mile long and four rows deep, all the way back to the fence. On the deeper, wider pit side, there were hundreds of megabuck transporters and motor homes and trailers and a quadrillion dollars’ worth of vintage race cars, hot rods and customs. Orange [...]
Javelin AMX proudly wears 1978
Pedro Ramirez bought this yellow 1968 Javelin in 1978. Over thirty years later the AMX rolls as a time capsule of how a car owner would mod out a pony car ten years after it rolled off the assembly line. While the engine and mechanicals have been gone through a few times over the years, [...]
March Meet Trades in Time
Walking on the hallowed patch ground that is Famoso Raceway it becomes easy to see why the March Meet is now in its 52nd year. People like this stuff. In our case a rekindled interest in drag racing and hot rodding started again around 15 years ago with a wiff of nitromethane and a flashback [...]
No recalls for 1982 Toyota Starlet!
It might need a few new valve springs. The input shaft bearing in the transmission is whining a little. There’s a wobble or two here or there. One of the camshaft lobes may be in trouble. Clunks? Plenty. We’re really hoping the clutch cable doesn’t finally give out either. The good news is that even [...]
Bring the Amber Lamps!
From the internet meme department of repairs comes this quick and E-Z tech tip for those looking to find the amber lamps. In this case the two stock amber inboard headlamps for a 1969 Citroen iD sedan proved not only near-impossible to locate, but à prix élevé for the purposes of drivable restification. The inexpensive [...]
Hydropneumatics and Design Together in Pasadena
There were more Citroëns than drivers on a Saturday morning. The task at hand was a good one. Settle into the plush appointments behind the steering wheel of a 1969 and-one-half Citroën iD21F Safari Wagon and drive. The mission was to get all cars on the move to the Pasadena Art Center College of Design [...]
Slicing into a Sixties Charger
Most folks think of automobiles comprised of parts that are fitted together with no imperfections or miscarved lines to ruin the illusion of perfection. While this may be somewhat true of a car or truck made in the last ten years or so, it is certainly not the case of an automobile manufactured as recently [...]
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- Tool of the Week: Bench Grinder Buffer
- Full Race Jalopy
- Bakersfield As Barometer
- Javelin AMX proudly wears 1978
- March Meet Trades in Time
- No recalls for 1982 Toyota Starlet!
- Bring the Amber Lamps!
- Hydropneumatics and Design Together in Pasadena
- Slicing into a Sixties Charger
- Quad Treaded Turbo Diesel