(Words and photos by Mike Brooks) – Growing up in western NY, one of my earliest gearhead adventure memories is when my old man took my kid brother and I and headed to the 1985 Buffalo Auto-Rama. I was 7 years old and being exposed to what the post disco era hot rod scene had to offer. It was a sea of Pro Street glory, glimmering paint, crushed velvet interiors all spinning around on mirrored turntables. I remember the big draw of the show was getting to see the ZZtop “Eliminator” street rod and getting to meet the original Batman, Adam West. I still have the polaroid of me sitting in one of the Batmobile replicas. Flash forward to 2016, I’m back at the Buffalo Convention Center to check out the continuation of a 60+ year tradition of car shows downtown with this year’s Buffalo Motorama.
The show continues to be a family event that has something for everyone. The show features a varitety of vehicles from Hot Rods, Street Rods, Classics, unrestored originals, Racecars, Bikes and more. Folks got to check out famous movie and TV cars like the General Lee, The Flintstones car, an original Back to the Future Delorean, and I got to recreate my photo with the Batmobile. (The car seemed alot smaller than remember)
Fans got the chance to meet Dave Kindig from TV’s “Bitchin’ Rides” on Friday while Lutz Race cars was there all weekend with Jeff’s 250+mph street legal “Mad Max” promod Camaro and Jeff Jr.’s freshly painted Drag Week Civic powered by a twin turbo’d small block Chevy. There were numerous displays from the local dragstrips, clubs, and vendors throughout the main show floor as well as the ballrooms and lobby downstairs. The “open wheel room” downstairs featured some of the coolest old school and traditional rides along with pinstripers and live music all weekend. This year’s show happened to fall on Easter weekend, ending the show Saturday night. The plus side to that was the opportunity to watch the show unload and pour out into the streets of downtown Buffalo. It was awesome to see the show come to life as the sounds of horsepower and the smell of tiresmoke began filling the air as some “extracurricular activites” ensued, wowing the large crowd. This event always gets the blood flowing as the locals get ready to free themselves from winter’s grasp and gear up for another great gearhead summer!
