Autorama 2010
Headed downtown to Autorama this Sunday afternoon. Having never been before, I had no idea what to expect, yet being a hot rod fan I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed. Besides, what else goes on on Sundays.
The show takes up two floors at Cobo Hall. The upstairs features a lot more show cars, pricey hot rods and souped up/modified versions. I made my way across the first floor towards the back escalator headed for the downstairs area where I knew I could find the rat rods, jalopies, traditional rods, etc... These vehicles are much more to my liking. They seem more pure. Once downstairs I had to make my way through the amusement that was the tuner car displays, white kids drooling over the "sick bumpin rides" and attention-hungry models to FINALLY get to the good stuff. Row upon row upon row of some of the most awesome custom kulture cars. Oh, and the Twistin Tarantulas were on stage as well. Always good to hear their brand of rockabilly. Back to the cars ~ the camera came out and I just started taking photo after photo after photo. Here's two favorites from the downstairs area:
Along the back wall I noticed several artist and booths which I would check out later. Starving and thirsty, I had to get some food.
Back upstairs I got myself a $4.00 (!!!) hotdog and a Pepsi. Scarfed that down and figured while I was upstairs I'd have a look around. The people watching up here was really fun. A very close second to Movement festival. Lot's of white trash. There were some really sharp rides upstairs scattered in between some muscle cars, the newest Batmobile (I didn't get any photos), nitrous rice burners, etc... One of my favs from upstairs;
Also upstairs they had the Red Baron on display (with it's matching golf cart version). This famous hot rod was built in 1969 by Chuck Miller and became popular as a model and Hot Wheels car. Also on display was his 1968 Firetruck hot rod. Fun cars. Checked out the pinstripers. It amazes me how skilled they are. There was also a huge section for toys and collectibles along with an area that had customized bicycles, some of which were actually rather cool.
Back downstairs to investigate more closely the artist booths I had seen earlier. I freaked the F out when I saw Keith Weesner had a booth. Weesner's an amazingly talented artist who paints a mean hot rod scene. I've long admired his art and there he was just hanging out, having traveled all the way from California to be in Detroit. We got to talking and easily spent a good 15 minutes discussing art, Glenn Barr (who's work he admires and is often compared to), his 2 cars and more. Super cool guy. Picked up a t-shirt and the following 10x20 print which he autographed:
From there checked out a few more artist and then went spaz when I realized Max Grundy was here!!! Max Grundy is easily one of my top 5 favorite artist. Unfamiliar with his work have a look here. Very industrial, gas mask, bomber planes, hot rods, trains, robots, etc... in an almost Brute (KMFDM) style. Gotta admit I went total fan boy. Had no clue he was going to be there (same with Weesner) so an awesome surprise. We must have ended up talking for 30-40 minutes. While he's in town, turns out he was staying right up the road from my Ann Arbor house . Had nice things to say about Detroit as well for his first time here. He's got a show coming up in New York in September with the aforementioned Brute. Ended up picking up 2 silkscreen prints, a DVD he's profiled in and plenty of stickers. Just a tremendously nice easy going guy. Mentioned to Max, he needs to contact Rivet Gallery to do a show.
Stopped by the Old Skool Rodz and Custom Kulture booth to pick up some back issues of magazines. Afterwards I'd decided I'd seen what I needed to see and then headed out.
So all in all a good time and a great way to spend a Sunday. I'd go to Autorama again in a minute. Spring with it's abundance of car shows can't come soon enough, however this cured my winter blahs for now.
TONS more photos from Autorama can be found at my Flickr page
More later.
The show takes up two floors at Cobo Hall. The upstairs features a lot more show cars, pricey hot rods and souped up/modified versions. I made my way across the first floor towards the back escalator headed for the downstairs area where I knew I could find the rat rods, jalopies, traditional rods, etc... These vehicles are much more to my liking. They seem more pure. Once downstairs I had to make my way through the amusement that was the tuner car displays, white kids drooling over the "sick bumpin rides" and attention-hungry models to FINALLY get to the good stuff. Row upon row upon row of some of the most awesome custom kulture cars. Oh, and the Twistin Tarantulas were on stage as well. Always good to hear their brand of rockabilly. Back to the cars ~ the camera came out and I just started taking photo after photo after photo. Here's two favorites from the downstairs area:
Along the back wall I noticed several artist and booths which I would check out later. Starving and thirsty, I had to get some food.
Back upstairs I got myself a $4.00 (!!!) hotdog and a Pepsi. Scarfed that down and figured while I was upstairs I'd have a look around. The people watching up here was really fun. A very close second to Movement festival. Lot's of white trash. There were some really sharp rides upstairs scattered in between some muscle cars, the newest Batmobile (I didn't get any photos), nitrous rice burners, etc... One of my favs from upstairs;
Also upstairs they had the Red Baron on display (with it's matching golf cart version). This famous hot rod was built in 1969 by Chuck Miller and became popular as a model and Hot Wheels car. Also on display was his 1968 Firetruck hot rod. Fun cars. Checked out the pinstripers. It amazes me how skilled they are. There was also a huge section for toys and collectibles along with an area that had customized bicycles, some of which were actually rather cool.
Back downstairs to investigate more closely the artist booths I had seen earlier. I freaked the F out when I saw Keith Weesner had a booth. Weesner's an amazingly talented artist who paints a mean hot rod scene. I've long admired his art and there he was just hanging out, having traveled all the way from California to be in Detroit. We got to talking and easily spent a good 15 minutes discussing art, Glenn Barr (who's work he admires and is often compared to), his 2 cars and more. Super cool guy. Picked up a t-shirt and the following 10x20 print which he autographed:
From there checked out a few more artist and then went spaz when I realized Max Grundy was here!!! Max Grundy is easily one of my top 5 favorite artist. Unfamiliar with his work have a look here. Very industrial, gas mask, bomber planes, hot rods, trains, robots, etc... in an almost Brute (KMFDM) style. Gotta admit I went total fan boy. Had no clue he was going to be there (same with Weesner) so an awesome surprise. We must have ended up talking for 30-40 minutes. While he's in town, turns out he was staying right up the road from my Ann Arbor house . Had nice things to say about Detroit as well for his first time here. He's got a show coming up in New York in September with the aforementioned Brute. Ended up picking up 2 silkscreen prints, a DVD he's profiled in and plenty of stickers. Just a tremendously nice easy going guy. Mentioned to Max, he needs to contact Rivet Gallery to do a show.
Stopped by the Old Skool Rodz and Custom Kulture booth to pick up some back issues of magazines. Afterwards I'd decided I'd seen what I needed to see and then headed out.
So all in all a good time and a great way to spend a Sunday. I'd go to Autorama again in a minute. Spring with it's abundance of car shows can't come soon enough, however this cured my winter blahs for now.
TONS more photos from Autorama can be found at my Flickr page
More later.