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<\/p>\n<\/div>The actual Ford GT40 and P330 Ferrari from the movie “Ford v Ferrari” on display at Autorama.\u00a0(Photo: Daniel Mears, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n Detroit<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Autorama is playing the classics this weekend.<\/p>\n In addition to the hot rods vying for the coveted Ridler Award, the 68th annual Autorama will roll out the red carpet at TCF Center from Friday through Sunday\u00a0for the historic 1966 Ford GT40 Mark II and Ferrari 330 P3 race cars featured in the film \u201cFord v\u00a0Ferrari.”<\/p>\n Showgoers\u00a0can revel in more ’60s racing nostalgia with the 1969 Trans Am Camaro on display that will be piloted by racing legend Lyn St. James in May as part of the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle. And five of the 20th century\u2019s most storied hot rods\u00a0will be featured including the Bubble Top Beatnik Bandit, the model for one of the 16 original Hot Wheels toys.<\/p>\n The Ford was built for the movie by Race Car Replicas of Fraser, Michigan, using a Chevy engine and Porsche transaxle. California\u2019s Superperformance replica shop crafted\u00a0two, period-perfect GT40s that raced across the finish line in Le Mans scenes.<\/p>\n The muscular GT40 will appear next to a curvaceous replica of the Ferrari 330 P3 (also built by Race Car Replicas), one of the most beautiful race cars ever built.<\/p>\n The green-and-white No. 95 GT40 was predominantly used in filming the 24 Hours of Daytona scenes as the lead car that is passed in the closing laps by Ken Miles (Christian Bale). The same car was\u00a0repainted as the red No. 3 and yellow No. 8 cars that appeared in the Le Mans scenes. It was loaned to Autorama by the Volo Auto Museum outside Chicago.<\/p>\n The pair will evoke the famous line from “Ford v Ferrari” as the cars rolled onto the grid at Le Mans: \u201cIf this were a beauty pageant, we just lost,” said racer Ken Miles, played by Christian Bale.<\/p>\n Movie producers didn\u2019t have access to the remaining 330 P3s remaining in the world \u2014\u00a0Autorama producer Peter Toundas says there are only two \u2014\u00a0so they turned to the Fraser shop to make replicas. Toundas estimates an original P3 today is worth over $30 million.<\/p>\n \u201c’Ford v Ferrari’ costs $97 million to make. If they bought one of those cars for the movie it would have cost a third of their budget!\u201d said the Autorama chief.<\/p>\n While Ford was dominating international endurance racing in the ’60s, the Camaro was scoring wins in America\u2019s Trans Am series.<\/p>\n That series will come alive again in May at Belle Isle featuring some of the original \u2014\u00a0not replica \u2014 cars from the era. The 1969 Camaro on display here was a unique entry that was built by a student team at the University of Pittsburgh with assistance from Detroit racing icon Roger Penske.<\/p>\n Racing pioneer St. James, one of Sports Illustrated\u2019s top 100 female athletes of the 20th century, will pilot the University of Pittsburgh Camaro in the Belle Isle race\u00a0and will be available for autographs at Autorama on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always loved the racing fans in the Motor City and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing everyone at Autorama this weekend,\u201d said St. James, the first woman to win Rookie of the Year honors at the Indy 500.<\/p>\n Autorama has helped popularize hot rods for seven decades and the show will honor its roots:\u00a0Tommy Ivo\u2019s 1925 T Bucket, Bob McGee\u2019s 1932 Ford Roadster and Norm Grabowski\u2019s Kookie T Bucket (made famous in the \u201c77 Sunset Strip\u201d TV show) will join Ed \u201cBig Daddy\u201d Roth\u2019s Outlaw and Hot Wheel\u2019s Bubble Top Beatnik Bandit.<\/p>\n Ultimately, though, the museum pieces will take a backseat to Ridler competitors which will be front and center in TCF Center.<\/p>\n They headline 800 of the world\u2019s best chopped, channeled, dumped and decked custom rods at\u00a0TCF Center.\u00a0Autorama Extreme \u2013 a collection of lowriders, cars and bikes inspired by the 1950s \u2013 will be featured down below.<\/p>\n The 30 Ridler competitors will be pared by judges to the \u201cGreat 8\u201d finalists before Meguiar’s presents the winner with the $10,000 cash prize and trophy. For 57 years the Ridler has honored the best new custom car.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the Motor City,” Toundas said, “and Detroit is where hot rod, custom car shows started,\u201d<\/p>\n