Jenny King / Special to The Detroit News

1960 Rambler station wagon, a.k.a. Ferrambo, with its 405-horsepower 3.6-liter engine from a "donor" wrecked Ferrari 360, was customized by Divers Street Rods of Startup, Wash., and is owned by Mike Warn, who entered it in the Ridler Award competition.

2008 Autorama lures thousands of hot rod super fans

By Jenny King / Special to The Detroit News

March 7, 2008

At noon, the first of thousands of visitors to the 56th annual Detroit Autorama would begin their journeys through the turnstyles and onto the floor where close to 1,000 special vehicles were on display.

Mid-morning on Friday, two pairs of legs protruded from beneath a bright-red 1960 Rambler station wagon. They belonged to Tim Divers of Divers Street Rods in Startup, Wash., and his associate Jason Killmer, of Bonney Lake, Wash. The two men were putting the finishing touches on "Ferrambo," owned by Mike Warn, and a serious contender for this year's Ridler Award.

Divers and his staff had put a 405-horsepower 3.6-liter Ferrari engine in what once was a modest family car. As Divers polished the underside of Ferrambo, Killmer pointed out that its tan leather interior was matched by the leather covering the platform, where spotlights were painted red to match the vehicle.

Al Witham Sr. of Ypsilanti hand carved the 3-D carbon fiber flames that decorate the sides of his black 1934 Ford Model 40 street rod.

In this show in which graphics are wideapread, Ypsilanti resident Al Withem Sr. likely had the most unique flames. The retired General Motors employee had succeeded in producing hand-carved 3-D flames for the sides of his 1934 Ford Model 40 street rod. The material was largely carbon fiber which was bonded to the vehicle before black paint was applied to the body. The black then was carefully taped off and the raised flames airbrushed with color.

Withem was surprised and delighted to discover that, though it wasn't intentional, the flames appear to actually be blasting from the four exhaust pipes on either side of the vehicle's engine.

"If I were to make flames like this for someone else, I would have to charge about $8,000," said Withem, who had brought the car with different graphics to Autorama back in 1999. It was invited to an Eyes on Classic Design show a couple of years later. The black paint on the body ran Withem $3,200 a gallon.

James Bledsoe of Avon, Indiana vacuums the black carpeting under his pink-and-blue 1949 Mercury (radical hardtop category).

In the back half of the hall, James Bledsoe of Avon, Indiana was busy vacuuming the black carpeting beneath his gorgeous pink-and-blue 1949 Mercury. Bledsoe had cordoned off his site with dark velvet roping held up by green lava lamps, a touch that pleased show neighbor Bill Macri, who had an Oldsmobile 442 a few feet away.

Rayo II, left, and Rayo Baker III stand with the younger Baker's 1994 Pontiac Trans Am (competition stock category). The senior Baker came north from his retirement home in Jonesboro, La, to help his son, a Detroiter, prepare his first entry for Autorama.

Rayo Baker III had attended many Autoramas when his father, Rayo Baker II, had been invited to show his cars. But the 2008 event was the younger Baker's solo as an exhibitor. He had a red 1994 Pontiac Trans Am with a high performance drivetrain. Baker, a tool maker from Detroit, said he has owned the car since it was new and has put it through its paces at tracks including Milan and Englishtown, New Jersey.

A half-dozen auto shop students from Crestwood High School (Dearborn Heights) with their instructor Jerry Lickey were admiring the countless hours of work that goes into every car, truck and motorcycle invited to this Michigan Hot Rod Association-sponsored event. The school is planning its second annual car show for Saturday, May 17. Lickey said they are hoping to attract up to 100 vehicles.

Joe Ribikowski of Roseville spent three months applying paint to his 1923 Model T, dubbed "The Golden T-Bucket." Ribikowski's other time as an Autorama participant was back in 1962, when he and a friend showed their 1959 Thunderbird.

Crestwood student Jeff Griffin of Dearborn Heights said the golden T-bucket at the show amazed him. The 1923 Model T belonged to Joe Ribikowski of Roseville. The "gold," Ribikowski said, was actually the result of 15 hand-applied colors, each of which emerges as the light and profile change.

"It took me three months to do the paint," Ribikowski said. "And I put in real bucket seats. I narrowed each by three inches so they would fit."

Amazing paint jobs are a given at hot rod shows like Detroit's Autorama. Orange, chartreuse, red, bright-yellow, green so dark it appears to be black - they are everywhere. Except on the 1940 Hudson Super Six owned by Don Petco of Shelby Township. The perfect touring sedan was a rich-but-conservative gray with knock-out chrome wherever appropriate.

1940 Hudson Super Six touring sedan (category: custom rod sedan '35-'48) with 1965 Plymouth drivetrain is owned by Don Petco of Shelby Township.

"I paid $2,500 for the car in the late 1980s and invested $8,000 in the chrome alone," said Petco, who traced this vehicle back to his grandfather, likely the original purchaser. The Hudson had been out of the family for about 20 years when Petco located it in Canton, Ohio, brought it to Michigan, restored it and put in a 1965 Plymouth drivetrain.

Autorama is a perfect marketing venue for specialists like Scott Whitaker, whose company, Dynamic Control in Hamilton, Ohio, sells sound absorption materials, and who also builds custom vehicles for himself and others. Whitaker was showing what looked like an authentic 1932 Ford three-window coupe, most of which was new made to look like old. The dingy carburetors? New. The flathead eight? Old. Its head: new.

Whitaker's custom car business is Speed Kings, famous for "Fauxd" automobiles.

The highly decorated 1933 Willy coupe owned by Bob Mermuys of Fenton, Mich. (nostalgia drag racing category) is the result of two years of work. Completed in 2003, the Willys is actually the sum of reproduction parts -- there is no real Willys underneath.