Still Here...Last post on topic.

If you figured rods and customs peaked at the millennium, there was cable TV. In a flash in 2001 there was a documentary, Motorcycle Mania and a follow-up, both with Jesse James. We have the weekly Monster Garage in '02 and the concurrent American Chopper. In '04 American Hot Rod debuted as well as Overhaulin' with designer/fabricator Chip Foose. Rods and customs also began showing up in TV documentaries formerly featuring classic and exotic autos. This exposure has surely sparked a wide interest in building or owning what's seen on television.

Still having car fun are the rat rodders, young tuner car owners, low riders, 'gasser look' owners, muscle car folk, and classic rodders. As Thom Taylor said, '...the hot rod and custom car...is as strong and vibrant as it has ever been.' It is an American phenomenon and we are happy to carry it on.

Hope this rant was on-topic with you.

Bill

Still Here...Continued See 12/17/09 entry.

The first Street Rod Nationals and founding of the National Street Rod Association happened in the summer of 1970. A year later we saw Street Rod, Street Rodder magazine and others. American Graffiti grabbed America's attention in 1973. For car folk, what better than the Deuce coupe, chopped Merc and '58 Impala central to the movie? The Mid '70's saw the beginnings of the street rod after market industry. Also ground up construction of replica rods and the birth of the resto rod with modern mechanics that improved reliability, safety and comfort.

The 1980's saw an exploding design trend: billet. In the late '70's builder John Buttera and friend Boyd Coddington were leaders of the trend. Originally, custom designed and built, today a credit card and a phone call get billet parts of every kind delivered to your garage. Other '80's trends pastel colors and the pro street look based on Pro Stock drag racing machines. From the mid-80's on the fat fender post-'35 cars became an accepted start for a rod. Customs also emerged, with many now conceived by professional designers with Larry Erikson leading a trend into the next decade.

The 1990's were an era of new styles born of nostalgia. The “rat rod” brought in a younger crowd, revived car clubs and were a return to a more dangerous and much more affordable past. Rat rod shows today have their own art, music and fashion harking back to the 1940's and 50's. Very trend setting customs were built and auto companies began creating and showing custom and hotrod based show cars. The nostalgia wave also reached the parts makers with the first Brookville '32 all steel Ford roadster in 1997.

That was just 10 years prior to the Conquerors II Autorama at the Lansing Center.

Bill

BUMPS IN THE ROAD

Stuff is happening with the Autoshow and I would like to let you in on it. But there was a Bump in the Road and the last week was spent in the ditch. Here is all about this Bump...

Wife called while our car club was meeting just over a week ago. A friend in Florida had phoned to let me know something was screwy with my personal Hotmail.

Everybody in my Hotmail contacts list got spurious emails saying, "Hello, how are you doing...I am in London...misplaced my passport...lost my wallet...send $1,500!"

Sho 'nuff, my hotmail account was hijacked and I could no longer log on. I frantically spent the next three days trying to recreate my contacts in a new different provider email account to let friends know it was a 'hack'. Also worked with FBI, local police and Microsoft Security. Incidentally, Hotmail couldn't help 'cause it did not affect their security, just yours and mine.

Microsoft Security listened and with their help, after four days at the computer, we got my personal Hotmail email back. Lucky me!

Hope nothing like this happens to you. Good luck!

Bill

Still here after 80 years

Hope y'all had a Merry Christmas. Through several gatherings and a lot of family, 2009 was the best for us. Under our tree among socks shirts was Hot Rod and Custom Chronicle (ISBN-13: 978-1-4127-1226-2, ISBN-10: 1-4127-1226-2) by Tom Taylor.

Taylor suggests this American phenomenon was unlikely to survive its 1930's roots, or again its virtual extinction in the mid 1960's. The 1950's were the heyday of hot rods but within the next 10 years, rods were succeeding to the lure of muscle cars. Customs had evolved from custom bodies for expensive chassis into autos available to working folk, thanks to the few creative and dedicated shops who made it affordable. Similarly, customs were being upstaged by Riveras, Chargers and Mustangs exhibiting more '...custom touches than could ever be welded, cut, bent, or otherwise fabricated into a '50 Merc.' Taylor notes.

In the '70's, a wave of nostalgia led that original hot rod generation to create the cars they dreamed of but couldn't afford back in high school. A decade later, and right on time, custom car fans got the bug. 'So began the second coming of hot rods and customs', says Taylor.

Great book and a decent history of our addiction. Worth a read.

Bill

A rude 'Hello".

I promised more information on the Autorama to Autoshow name change.

As it turns out, Promotions, Inc. registered "Autorama" as a Federal trademark in 1992. Champion Auto Shows, Inc. (CASI) now owns that federal trademark. Their attorney contacted us November 10 and wrote, "...your use of the trade name "Conquerors II Autorama" infringes on CASI's federal trademark."

Our attorney said that for us to continue using "Autorama" required 'prior and continuous use' of the copyrighted "Autorama". We definitely had 'prior' use for the 1957 and 1958 Autoramas and we heard not a peep from CASI about the 2007 Conquerors II Autorama at the Lansing Center.

'Continuous' use of "Autorama" is not quite so clear. We used "Autorama" only when we held or were planning an auto show...four times in 53 years.

If you Google "autorama", over 30 uses of "autorama" associated with auto events or sales but not associated with CASI pop up. Many link with other words in a title...Beloit Autorama or Detroit Autorama or the Aut-O Rama. But our attorney said going to court was the only way to clear our use of the title. He also noted that a court injunction would screw us in royal fashion.

We took the expedient path, changed the show name and ate the expense of redoing all our promotional material, getting a new name for the web site as well as revising the web site. Still cheaper and more certain than going to court.

Thanks for listening,

Bill

Web update!

I suppose you are wondering how come it took so long to get this web site up? Well there was a little matter of changing the name from Conquerors II Autorama to Conquerors II Autoshow.

It took a while and a lot of help from Media Graphics, an attorney and some dollars $$. I'm going to tell you a little bit more later... perhaps over a beer... or two.

-Bill

Lansing Auto Show 2010

Hi World, This is the official Blog of Lansing Auto Show. Time to get on board and join us this Spring!