Troy

Troy gearheads rev up for Autorama

By Terry Oparka
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Autorama chair and Troy resident Steve Novosel, with his wife, Rose, who also helps organize Autorama, hang out with their ’32 Ford Roadster at the Troy Traffic Jam last summer. As chair, Novosel doesn’t compete in Autorama. Autorama chair and Troy resident Steve Novosel, with his wife, Rose, who also helps organize Autorama, hang out with their ’32 Ford Roadster at the Troy Traffic Jam last summer. As chair, Novosel doesn’t compete in Autorama.

For Troy resident Steve Novosel, the hardest part is picking and choosing the cars worthy of being at the show.

Novosel was elected as chair of Meguiar’s Detroit Autorama last year, after he retired from General Motors. He served as co-chair of the event for over 10 years, and he’s active with the Michigan Hot Rod Association.

He and co-chairs Jim Gilbert and Butch Patrico decided who was in and who was out Feb. 6.

“We turned down 150 cars,” he said, noting that this was the most ever. “It really took off for the 60th anniversary.”

As chair, he won’t show his own hot rods at the show, although he owns three, including a street machine and ’32 Roadster he brought to the Troy Traffic Jam at Columbia Center this past summer.

“I’ve always been involved in cars,” he said. “It gets in your blood.”

Novosel is regular at car club events, starting with the Woodward Dream Cruise, promoting Autorama. “It (Autorama) is the world’s greatest and largest hot rod show,” he said. He noted that General Motors, Mopar, Ford and Chrysler all have displays at the show. “They think that the show is important enough to do that.”

There’s an abundance of travelling cars at Autorama this year, he said.

A big draw for those who attend and those who enter their hot rods continues to be the Ridler Award, given to first-timers whose cars have never been seen at shows, in magazines or online, Novosel said.

Another cool feature is an auction where items that are pinstriped by hand are available for purchase, with the proceeds going to the Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Novosel said. Pinstripers from across the country will demonstrate their craft on site on a variety of items.

He also figures Kid Rock’s car collection will be a big draw this year.

Troy resident Scott Wharff, 60, is a first-timer. He wanted to enter his car, a ’65 Ford Mustang 2-plus-2 fastback when he turned 50, but said the health issues he faced with Multiple Sclerosis stopped him then — but not now.

He’s worked on the car for 12 years, when he’s not at his day job as a truck and fleet manager for a local car dealer.

He found the car, the same model he once drove himself when he returned from serving in the Vietnam War, in St. Clair.

“I drive it all the time,” he said. Wharff said he attends the Woodward Dream Cruise religiously and is a regular at local hangouts for hot rods like Augie’s Bar and Grill, the Gathering Place and Kim’s Restaurant with his wheels throughout the summer.

He said he’s invested more than $3,000 into the car, although “you can’t put a price on labor.”

Novosel explained that the “whole show” — over 1,000 hot rods, custom car, trucks, vans and motorcycles — is moved into Cobo Center on Wednesday and Thursday before the show opens and clears out on Sunday night.

This year’s show will showcase Drag City USA, featuring vintage race cars, Cavalcade of Kustoms and 18 custom cars of Don Pilkenton. The lower level of Cobo Center will showcase 200 hot rods, customs and motorcycles inspired by the ‘50s. Local high school and trade school students have the chance to learn about career opportunities in the custom car industry from leaders in the industry during Autorama Student Career Day held the morning the show opens.

Celebrity appearances at this year’s Autorama include WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio; Deena “The Blast” Nicole from MTV’s “Jersey Shore”; Austin Russell, aka Chumlee, from the History Channel’s “Pawn Stars”; Billy Bretherton, from A&E TV’s “Billy the Exterminator”; and Zendaya Coleman, who plays Rocky Blue in Disney TV’s “Shake It Up.”

For Novosel, it’s really “all about the cars. That’s what makes it fun.”

Meguiar’s 60th annual Detroit Autorama will be held at Cobo Center in Detroit Feb. 24-26.

Admission to Autorama at the gate is $18 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 12, and free for children under 5. Discount tickets are available at O’Reilly Auto Parts — $16 for adults and $4 for children 6 to 12. For more information and celebrity appearance details, call (248) 373-1700 or go to www.autorama.com. Autorama is produced by Championship Auto Shows Inc. and is sponsored by the Michigan Hot Rod Association.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Terry Oparka at toparka@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1054.