Autorama in Detroit

[kartjockey]

Recently Travis and I had the great opportunity to be invited to the Autorama show in Detroit. Frank Mathison from Oldschoolminibike.com hosted several rides.  Autorama is held in 13 large cities and 3 in Canada.  This show is amazing.  Everywhere we turned was something as awesome and interesting as the last. It was definitely a fun time!

The mini bike in this group of photos was a 'bagger'. Look at the close-up.  It had a small air pump on it and would pump up to ride and then could release air when parked. 

I am a flathead guy (hence the briggs on my green bike). They have stood the test of time in the rodders world for sure.

[kartjockey]

Bubble top is sort or a VW rendition of Ed Roths' Beatnik Bandit that came out of the 60's.  Ed has passed but what was really cool is his son was at this show.

[kartjockey]

more

[kartjockey]

say when

[kartjockey]

Too late!  More.

[kartjockey]

Neat bubble storage!

[kartjockey]

Flames never go out of style!  Plus the Blues Brothers replica.  A couple of pics from inside Cobo center.  The statue is of Joe Louis.  "The Brown Bomber".  Cobo center is right beside the Joe Louis arena where the Redwings played.  Picture of the city is Windsor Ontario which is just across the Detroit river.

[Bob53]

How cool is that! Get an invite to show your bike at such a mega event. Makes all the hours and hard work on the green bike worth it. Pricesless!!!!  What an experience. Bet you guys had a blast. Thanks for the pics. Bob

[pd]

I've been to a couple Autoramas ... it's a good kind of exhaustion from all the admiration and wishing . LOL

Thanks for sharing , Tom .

Pete .

[kartjockey]

Well put PD!  We walked forever.  First clockwise then counter clockwise!!  The show was three days long. Takes every bit of two days to cover it and even then while walking we would see something we missed.

[Ricks]

If anybody is interested in that VW bubble top rod, here is the build thread.


https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=644402

[ndian22]

Thanks for sharing the Autorama experience with us Tom!

Guys if you just looked at the bubbletop and thought cool or whatever take some time with the build thread Rick S. linked. I'm going to read the whole thread & it's lengthy, but what this guy did with little equipment, budget or training is inspiring. He really focused on what he had and ignored what he lacked. This is what a positive attitude looks like! Rick C.