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Autorama 2024: Batmobiles, Ridlers, and Evel Kneivel
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 29, 2024
Detroit — Huntington Place is going to be filled with bats, bikes, and Beach Boys this weekend.
The 71st annual Detroit Autorama, the world’s biggest hot rod show, rolls into Detroit’s Huntington Place this weekend, March 1-3, bringing 800 chopped, decked, and channeled hot rods — and a whole lot of sidekicks. Sidekicks like five generations of Batmobiles, three Evel Kneivel stunt vehicles, and the 1931 Chevy Roadster that was the backdrop for the Beach Boys 1964 Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
“We had to turn away 150 entrants ths year. I have never seen this kind of enthusiasm,” said Championship Auto Shows President and Autorama Producer Pete Toundas as he walked through the sprawling show. “We have filled up local hotels There are a lot of people who want to build one more great car.”
Great cars like the 14 custom builds that will be competing for the hot rod world’s ultimate prize, the Ridler Award. “Bitchin’ Rides” TV star Dave Kindig, 53, entered the Ridler for the first time this year and has brought a beauty.
“This is my dream car, starting with a 1953 Chevy Corvette C1,” he said, flipping pages on a book that catalogues the car’s five-year development. “But Chevy only built convertibles, of the first generation, so this is my version if they had built a coupe.”
The gorgeous red coupe is custom built from the ground up but features signature features from some of Kindig’s favorites: the fascia is inspired by the ’53 ‘Vette, the tail by a modern Aston Martin DB-9, the steering wheel from a C8 Corvette, and the coupe shape from GM’s classic Corvair concept.
Under the hood? A honkin’, 3,000-horsepower, 9.2-liter V-12 engine assembled in Australia. “The C1 Corvettes were made with 6-cylinder engines, so we decided to double it,” smiled Kindig, who hails from Salt Lake City. Ridler contenders will be narrowed to the Great Eight on Friday with the winner crowned on Sunday.
Kindig hopes his creation will join classics like the 1964 Autorama winner, a customized, 1931 Chevy owned by John Sbigato, 54, from New Jersey. Sbigato’s father built the yellow beauty and Beach Boys lead singer Brian Wilson was so taken with it, he asked that it appear with the band on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The car subsequently earned the nickname “The Beach Boys Roadster,” and the floor display features the car against a backdrop of its famed TV appearance.
Other TV notables on the show floor include the 1966 Batmobile designed by Hollywood design legend, George Barris, for the popular show starring Adam West. The black and red machine is one of five Batmobiles — the most assembled from the DC Comics franchise in a single show.
In addition to the OG, the display includes the 1989 Batmobile from “Batman Returns” starring Michael Keaton, the armored, 1995 weapon from Val Kilmer’s “Batman Forever,” the wicked-looking, 2005 “Tumbler” from “Batman Begins” starring Christian Bale, and the latest Batmobile, the 2017 “Justice League” model piloted by Ben Affleck. Motorcycles for Batman and Catwoman are also on display from the ‘66 show.
Multiple Batmobiles were made for the films and the models at Autorama were display models from a private Los Angeles collection.
Definitely not display models are the three Evel Knievel vehicles that the daredevil used — including the steam-powered X-2 rocket that he tried to clear the Snake Rive Canyon with in 1974. The effort failed and the aircraft still bears the scars from that failed flight.
Autorama is heavy on nostalgia. Chuck Miller is back at the show with his 29th annual Cavalcade of Customs display of classic 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s custom cars.
“There are affordable, fun customs that Q-tips put together in their garages and that still drive on the road,” smiled Miller, referring to the vehicles’ white-haired (Q-tip) owners.
But Autorama is attracting a new generation of builder, too. Nineteen-year old twins Devin and Nick Paul of Clinton Township entered their gorgeous, black, heavily-modified 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup in the show.
“My dad was into cars, and they have always been a part of our life,” said Devin. “But my brother and I like the 1980s and 1990s cars like Pontiac Trans Ams and the Chevy pickups.”
Taylor Carey, 22, of Gregory is a Michigan State University student who was named one of six 2024 Next Gen Modifiers. A veterinarian science student by day, she drag races her modified 2011 Cadillac CTS-V on weekends.
“Young people are growing the sport,” said Toundas. “Whether through family or video games or movies like ‘Fast and Furious,’ they bring new ideas.”
Families of all ages will enjoy the experience, spiced with a little celebrity. In addition to Ridler entry Kindig, “Fast and Furious” movie actor Noel Gugliemi wil be signing autographs as well as rock legend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame.
Other notable vehicles on the floor include GM’s 50-millionth production car — a completely gold plated 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe — and the long lost “Uncertain-T,” and iconic, 1965 hot rod with a distinct, slanted cabin that Galpin Motors is restoring after it disappeared for 50 years.
Autorama
Friday, March 1, 12 PM – 10 PM
Saturday, March 2, 9 AM – 10 PM
Sunday, March 3, 10 AM – 7 PM
General Admission $27, Children 6-12 $10, Children 5 and Under Free
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne