Father, son bond over auto restoration
With Detroit being the car capital of the world, it comes as no surprise that the Detroit Autorama is the oldest and largest hot rod show in the country.
Ladies and gentleman, start your engines for this year’s 68th annual Meguiar’s Detroit Autorama, feature 800 hot rods with classic and custom designs at TFC Center (former Cobo Center), hosted by the Michigan Hot Rod Association and promoted by Championship Auto Shows Inc.
Allen Park resident Frank Bishop has been attending the Detroit Autorama for 20 years, and always talked about showing his car but never did. Until now.
This year’s Detroit Autorama will be especially memorable for Bishop because he’s showing his 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS for the first time. He bought the muscle car 25 years ago as a fixer upper when his son, also named Frank, was about 2 years old.
“I had to take the engine out and I remember taking my son and sitting him down inside there,” he said. “You could barely see him over the fender. I’ve been taking pictures of my son with the vehicle over the years, and you see him getting bigger next to it each year.”
After 25 years of working on the Chevelle with Frank by his side, Bishop had his son drive the vehi
cle into the show.
Bishop joined the Michigan Chevelle Club about six months ago, and was encouraged to enter his Chevelle in the show.
“They (the Michigan Chevelle Club) called me asking if I ever thought about putting my car in to Autorama,” he said “That’s why I decided to go for it. For the last six months it’s been full on with prep work for the show.”
More than any other aspect of the show, Bishop is
most looking forward to being at the Detroit Autorama with his family, proudly showing off their hard work over the years.
This year’s Autorama brings with it two new special features: the gathering of five of the most significant hot rods of the 20th century and two actual cars used in the recent Oscar-winning 2019 film “Ford v Ferrari,” starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. The movie depicts 1966’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race, for which American car designer Carroll Shelby (played by Damon) built the first Ford GT race car to defeat Italian racer
Enzo Ferrari.
The P330 Ferrari and Ford GT40 used in the hit movie are making this pit stop in Detroit before heading to Chicago as part of a three-city tour. Peter Toundas of Oakland Township, president and owner of Championship Auto Shows, says the Ford GT40 appearing at Autorama is an original race car owned by the studio, whereas the Ferrari P330 was built for the movie and is owned by a private car collector in Minnesota.
This isn’t the first time Hollywood has made an appearance at the Detroit Autorama. Two years ago,
Toundas secured the cars from “The Fate of the Furious,” the eighth installment in the “Fast and the Furious” movie series.
Another highlight this year is the gathering of five iconic hot rods from the mid-20th century, some owned by private collectors, others kept in museums.
These exemplary hot rods are Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s customs “Outlaw” and “Beatnik Bandit,” Tommy Ivo’s “1925 T Bucket,” Bob McGee’s “1932 Ford Roadster” and Norm Grabowski’s “Kookie T Bucket” — featured in the TV show “77 Sunset Strip.”
Toundas worked for several
months trying to convince the owners — private owners and museums alike — to take their hot rods on tour.
“These vehicles are highly coveted in the industry by world-renowned builders and have been on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine,” he said “It’s truly unique to have these cars shown together, they haven’t appeared together in over 50 years. These cars are artifacts and can never be replaced.”
As is tradition, the Autorama’s Best in Show award, The Ridler Award, will be presented to one winner. The award is named after Don Ridler, a former Michigan State football player, Lawrence Tech Athletic Director and the Autorama’s first promoter, from 1956-1963. For 57 years the Ridler Award has been presented to the most outstanding custom car that is being shown for the first time. The panel of judges is headed by Butch Patrico, president of the Michigan Hot Rod Association.