2024 AUTORAMA HIGHLIGHTS

Over the weekend, the annual AUTORAMA show was taking place at the Huntington Place convention center in downtown Detroit. More than 800 classic cars and customized hotrods were showcased during the event. When you live in the Motor City it is part of the region's car culture that fathers and sons bond over checking out cool rides. My boy and I did exactly that spending some quality time together enjoying all that AUTORAMA had to offer.

Here is a highlight reel of our walk around the AUTORAMA show floor:

My son's favorite car at AUTORAMA was this souped-up Ford Mustang. He'd love to take that out for a spin on a track! That car has some nice Motor City muscle! 

This gritty street racer with an Old English D on the grill caught my attention. Piecing together a vehicle to race against your buddies on a rural dirt road or urban back alley for drag racing bragging rights is like an elixir of youth for a middle-aged dad like me. So, this was one of my favorite cars on display at this year's AUTORAMA.

This year was Autorama's 71st annual event in Detroit. For more information about Autorama or other hot rod shows held around the country, including Cincinatti, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis and Kansas City, visit autorama.com. Also check out @hotrodshows on Instagram and Twitter. 

BATMOBILES ON DISPLAY IN THE MOTOR CITY

In addition to showcasing more than 800 classic cars and customized hotrods, the 2024 AUTORAMA that took place this weekend (March 1 - 3) included five generations of batmobiles and two batcycles on display. Holy Hotrods Batman! Featured were the original batmobile from the 1966-live action television series along with motorcycles ridden by Batman and Batgirl in the show as well as the cars the Dark Knight drove in the movies Batman Begins, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Justice League.

1960 ERA BATMOBILE

From January 12, 1966 though March 14, 1968, the adventures of Gotham City's caped crusader and his boy wonder sidekick were broadcast across the country on the ABC network. Batman, played by Adam West, and Robin, played by Burt Ward, engaged in a variety of comic book style battles with epic villains during the television series 120 episodes that spanned over three years. And while the show was filled with great actors and actresses playing its heroes and villains, it was a car that may had the most memorable role. Everyone knows and loves the Batmobile from this Batman tv series!

The vehicle was custom made for the show. Prior to this tv show, Batman drove a simple non-descript red sedan in the comic books and an average looking Cadillac in the 1940s film serials.  Television producers though wanted to have the hero have his own unique tricked out hotrod that would wow audiences. So, they purchased a Lincoln Futura concept car that Ford wasn't planning on bringing into production and transformed it into a crime fighting weapon. The concept of Batman having a cool looking, techy, super car was born! 

Autorama provided for a close up view of a replica of the original Batmobile and Batcycles from the 1960s era tv series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The vehicles have been autographed by a number of the cast from the show. With its double-bubble roof, fins and rocket engine this sure is a sweet ride! 

TIM BURTON-ERA BATMOBILE (1989 - 1992)

The batmobiles driven by Michael Keeton in the Tim Burton directed Batman movies was meant to have a gothic vibe and darker tone for the film compared to the campier Adam West ride. This batmobile was inspired by the vehicles of 1930s era salt-flat racers and the sliding canopies of fighter jets. The movie car was powered by a Chevrolet V-8 to give it some Motor City muscle! 

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

The Batmobile driven by Val Kilmer in the Joel Schumacher directed film had more of a sci-fi inspiration to it compared to the one utilized by Burton. Designers took inspiration from under the sea in jelly fish and outer space with creatures from the film Alien to design this adaption of the Batmobile. There was an emphasis from the movie studio to lighten up the imagery of Batman to make the toys based on the film more appealing to kids. 

While this Batmobile didn't take design cues from prior makes and models of cars, it was built on a Corvette platform and utilizes a 345-horsepower Chevy 350 ZZ3 V-8 engine. While the body of this Batmobile may look like a toy, it is the real deal if you were to take it out on a race track. The vehicle on display at Autorama also sports Val Kilmer's autograph on its frame. 

BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

Director Chris Nolan wanted to have his Batman, Christian Bale, driving a vehicle that had more a real life military vehicle image to it. He envisioned a mashup of a Lamborghini with a Humvee.  In essence, Nolan wanted a super-fast tank. The batmobile that resulted became known as the Tumbler.

The Tumbler is equipped with 44-inch monster truck tires and a Chevy LS1, 5.7-liter V-8 engine. This movie car was so fast that a Mercedes camera-car could hardly keep up with it while filming scenes for the movie. The Batmobile Tumbler is a beast! 

JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017)

Ben Affleck's Batmobile in the Zack Snyder DC Comics inspired movies is a leaner version of the Tumbler. It looks more like a fast, futuristic armored car versus the Tumbler's tank-like appearance. While the Justice League version of the Batmobile doesn't have working machine guns and missile launchers, it does have a real life Ford F350 Raptor 700 horsepower truck engine in it. Vroom! Vroom!

Five generations of Gotham City batmobiles on display in the Motor City. Which batmobile is your favorite? I'm torn between the Tumbler and one that wasn't on display at Autorama, the muscle car driven by Robert Pattinson in 2022's The Batman which had more of the appearance of a hotrod versus a techy super car. Yet, I would be GEEKED to take any of these batmobiles for a spin and it was awesome to get a close up look at these five cars at the Autorama display.

This year was Autorama's 71st annual event in Detroit. For more information about Autorama or other hot rod shows held around the country, including Cincinatti, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis and Kansas City, visit autorama.com. Also check out @hotrodshows on Instagram and Twitter. 

2023 CLAWSON CAR SHOW

The annual DOWN ON MAIN car show took place this weekend in Clawson, Michigan. Each year around 500 classic and customized cars cruise into the city's downtown where a 1/2 mile of Main Street is closed to traffic for displaying them. The event is a fundraiser for the local Lions Club. 

The highlight of the Down on Main Clawson Car Show for me was a 1962 Austin-Healey. This British sports car maker had a twenty year run (1952-1972) making some of the finest roadsters of the time. I would love to have one of these to enjoy as a summertime weekend fun car. Imagine driving it on the open road for a road trip!

This Austin-Healey was the model for the first Barbie dream car created by Mattel. Its owner keeps with one of the toys that he had Earl Scheib paint for him in its original peach color. Talking with him brought back memories of my first car in high school that I had bondoed out the rust and had Earl Scheib repaint if for me. That Buick Skyhawk was my pride and joy all the way through college.

The movie geek in me was also thrilled to see a Delorean parked on Main Street. Who hasn't dreamed of putting the pedal to the metal to hit 88 mph in a Delorean? No flux capacitor in this car though. So, the only time traveling this Delorean will be doing is providing nostalgic memories for those of us who were around to see the Back to the Future movies when they originally played in theaters. Still based upon this being a classic movie car it is always exciting to get a close up look at one.

From motor city muscle cars to customized VW bugs there was a lot to take in at this car show. If you missed this year's event, I recommend making an effort to stop by this car show in 2024. The Down on Main car show takes place each August the Saturday the week before the Woodward Dream Cruise. Mark your calendar! This downtown Clawson car show absolutely earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval for being an interesting event whether your interest in cars is as a casual driver or you are a diehard gearhead. Walking the mile loop around Main Street is not just a scenic delight but also a nice way to get your steps in for the weekend.