Today I went to the first ever Shiny Rusty Hot Rod Spectacular, which was held indoors at the Oakland Expo Center in Waterford, Michigan. This is practically in Justa's backyard! There were about 200 cars under the roof. I was invited by my buddy Chuck, who was a vendor for the Syracuse Nationals and his '51 Ford shoebox was in the show. I actually applied to be in the show, but I was not accepted. Better luck next year, I suppose. So without any further ado, here are the pics I know all y'all are crazing.

Right in front of Chuck's booth is this former Ridler contender. '36 Chevrolet.

Chuck's '51 shoebox with ghost flames.

I love the Marlins.

Here is a home built Woody pickup. It's built on a 1974 Chevy C10 pickup chassis.

This Grand Prix is interesting. It's been lowered, it has dog dish hub caps - to it's not an 8-lug car, and it's a three speed on the tree. See the clutch pedal?

Mercury convertible

Yeah, it's got a Hemi. A Chrysler Fire Power Hemi to be exact.

A 350 Tuned Port powered '46 Chevy

A Cross Ram Dart

I walked past this '57 gasser twice to make sure I wasn't see things. Yup, those are a pair of mannequin legs being used a hood prop. I asked the guy where he got them. He said "the trash literally". It seems these were in a dumpster near a now out-of-business gentleman's club. These lined the stage and strippers would throw there panties and clothes on them during their strip tease routines.

OMG! It also reminded me of the movie Christmas Story and a certain major international award! LOL!

Mercury Commuter wagan

'68 GTO convertible with a His/Hers Hurst Dual Gate shifter

LS-powered '30 Ford. Almost looks like it was meant for off-roading.

572 powered Nova

This lowered Jeep totally reminds me of the lowered Jeep from Roadkill. Although this looks a lot safer somewhat. The suspension is on air bags. Not sure if I have ever seen a turbocharged 351 Ford motor. So that looks a bit sketchy! 7-gallon fuel take will not go far - about 90 minutes if you keep your foot out of the throttle according to the owner. Still this has been over 100 mph before. Now does sound uber-sketchy.

I knew this was a '68 Roadrunner even before I saw the placard. The '68 Roadrunner was the first year and only had the black and white Roadrunner decal. After that, the decals were in color and had a dust trail. I love the original Hurst pistol grip shifter.

Every see a Tiffany before? I have seen 2-3 before. Not sure it if is true, but I was once told that the firewall to the back window came from a two-door Lincoln from that era. No idea if that is true.

A turbocharged 4-cylinder Cummins diesel powered Chevy C10 4x4.

Edited November 10, 2025Nov 10 by Frosty

Here's more....

A Studebaker pickup

An Edsel

This bad boy is a flame thrower!

This one is for Justa, Indyman Joe, and fellow Detroiters. When was the last time you saw a Detroit Times newspaper box period? Let alone mounted to an engine? Awesome. FYI the Detroit Times went out of business on November 7, 1960.

My boss, who is a Halloween/horror movie freak, would love this car. I especially love the skull tipped zoomies. A ver y cool touch.

This Caddy was one of my top three for Best in Show.

Here we have a phantom car, a '48 Studebaker wagon. There was never a Studebaker wagon built on this platform. It's a one of none.

A dual carb'ed '37 Buick. Nice.

I love the faux-patina on this Chevy pickup.

This reminds me of Justa's GTO.

Does mounting a grinder on the back of your pickup technically make this a "work" truck? Asking for a friend. The sketchy looking lawn mower also has me wondering.

A Buick nailhead-powered '37 Buick. Nice.

Six one-barrels on a SBC powered '51 Dodge Wayfarer. I honestly cannot tell you how many Wayfarers I have ever seen before, let alone customized lead sled like this.

Here is a radical customized Diamond T truck.

Modern Cadillac tail lights frenched into the back and an offset, recessed license plate too. Very cool Ford pickup.

...and more....

Two Utes - an original El Camino and a Ford Ranchero, next to each other.

I love this real Studebaker wagon.

This guy has got boost! Two stacked 8-71 blowers. Notice that the top blower is bolted to the base of the bottom blower! So the bottom blower is inverted! I infer from this that the bottom blower must spin in the reverse direction of the top blower. Hmmm.....I never seen this particular multi-blower setup before. Cool.

This is what a proper Ford Flathead is supposed to look like.....blown and twin carbs! Yes!

Let's look at some real race cars - shall we?

This Ventura is a street/strip beast. It runs in the 10s. Cam timing, perhaps a different cam, and 4.11 gears instead of the 3.70s will get this car in the 9s according to the owner.

Note the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer can covers for the headers!

I have a few more photos but it is getting late and tomorrow, sadly, is a work day. Dang it! I will post more tomorrow night.

wow!!!!!! what a show !!!! thanks for the pics frosty !!!!! very very cool ! loved the red studewagon !

Great pics as usual, Frostarelli. At the risk of hijacking your thread I have attached a couple of pics of my own. Each morning I'm home, I make a coffee for us both and we sit on those chairs overlooking the river. Because it's getting too hot in the morning I need to wear a hat - so I have made the cap you gifted me all those years ago the default. I call it my 'Make Mareeba Great Again' hat. Mareeba is the town we live closest to. I think of you (briefly - nothing too erotic) each time I don it! Trump stole my look.

I included one other pic - most of the dinosaurs in my local car club drive Pommy crap with MGs comprising a large chunk. This pic was featured in a club newsletter - a fitting tribute to the reliability of old English machinery.

6 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Great pics as usual, Frostarelli. At the risk of hijacking your thread I have attached a couple of pics of my own. Each morning I'm home, I make a coffee for us both and we sit on those chairs overlooking the river. Because it's getting too hot in the morning I need to wear a hat - so I have made the cap you gifted me all those years ago the default. I call it my 'Make Mareeba Great Again' hat. Mareeba is the town we live closest to. I think of you (briefly - nothing too erotic) each time I don it! Trump stole my look.

I included one other pic - most of the dinosaurs in my local car club drive Pommy crap with MGs comprising a large chunk. This pic was featured in a club newsletter - a fitting tribute to the reliability of old English machinery.

Thanks for the nod Fitzy. Glad you can enjoy the hat while cruising in the Crimson Terror!

I think rule #4 applies to justa about anything from the old British-Leyland brands.

Oh and let's not make this any weirder, okay?

Edited November 10, 2025Nov 10 by Frosty

Sooo much cool in one spot! Our Club, the Widetrackers had an image sent in an Email to print for free admission. I might add that the Expo center is next to Elite Volleyball where I have spent many years worth of hours on the court. It is also HOME of the Michigan Senior Olympic's. Great pic's as always Ol buddy. We will have to look into entering next year.

Loved the pics. Thanks for posting. Looked like a very interesting show.

Oh lookie....there's still more!

This guy has driven his Camaro across country a couple of times. He's put over 70k miles on it. Not sure how much is on the matching Buick pedal car.

I LOVE THE COYOTE HOOD ORNAMENT! OMG! I think I want one for the Buick. Love the subtle horror reference in the baseball cap.

Kiwi - your Camaro needs a motor like this!

WIdetracker VP Don States smells the metal roses while President Tim Mays grins.

It's a Firebird funny car in the raw! Kiwi - are you pondering what I am pondering? I think so Frosty but can you really use the word 'asphalt' in polite society?

This is a firetruck was converted into a rolling RV motorhome and rollback trailer. This Christian group raises money to fight human trafficking. This firetruck only has about 25k miles on it, that is very rare for a vehicle like this. It was new in Oregon and then sold to a fire company in Pennsylvania before the current owner bought it.

Justa - does this car look familar?

How about some replica TV and movie cars?

I think the hardest part of building a KITT replica is finding those '82 rims and plastic hub caps. Ugh. I hated those back then too.

Elenanor

Replica California High Patrol (CHiP) badges autographed by Larry Wilcox and Eric Estrada. These were signed about six months before Larry Wilcox passed away.

This General Lee replica has been autographed by virtually every actor that appeared on the show. This is a 440 (bored .030 over) RT car. The AC works has the owner's wife has MS and his daughter has cerebral palsy. The case of moonshine is a nice touch too.

Who among us doesn't love Smokey and the Bandit? The Re-Elect Buford T. Justice for Sheriff bumper sticker is an awesome touch!

Edited November 11, 2025Nov 11 by Frosty

....more, more, more! I know, I know.....sheesh!

Ted's was an original drive-in restaurant during the original Woodward drag scene. It's long gone now.

This "Miss Linda Vaughn" has been memicing Linda for the last 2 years. She did actually meet Linda in Flint many years ago.

Here is the pin-up girl contest.

These ladies were eliminated.

These are the finalists. Our Linda Vaughn placed 3rd.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Looks like the club has time to smell the roses, now that we had our 1st snow of the season. The Hot Wheels man!

10 hours ago, Frosty said:

8 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

The Hot Wheels man!

Yup! He even had a ‘65 Bonneville Hot Wheels that I bought from him!

FYI - I found the Coyote hood ornament online for like $20. I might just get it for the Buick.

Edited November 11, 2025Nov 11 by Frosty

So - a simple bolt on?

I can't wait to hear what goes wrong with this one!

23 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Looks like the club has time to smell the roses, now that we had our 1st snow of the season. The Hot Wheels man!

Met him on Coolrides many years ago and always see him at the Labor day show and others.

He told me that he has done 25 car shows between Labor Day and Sunday.

That's my dream - going to car shows daily!