Richie Feliz owned this custom silver ’36 Ford five-window built by Joe Wilhelm titled “Mark Mist” and shown at the 1959 Sacramento Autorama. It featured quad headlights, ’58 Corvette taillights, and nerf bars with a vertical grille (ala Edsel) and was chopped and channeled.
The ’58 Chevy was a custom right from the factory, but Don Delgado added a few touches that worked, such as the pinstriping, reworked grille and headlights, shaved hood and door handles, lakes pipes, Appleton spotlights, and the wide whites with chrome wheels. It’s another vintage shot from the 1959 show.Photography by John Drummond & The Greg Sharp Collection
t’s magazine deadline time, so we only have time for this quickie Parting Shot, but the 73rd O’Reilly Sacramento Autorama has just wrapped up and here is a look at several of the big winners. We will have the “full” show coverage in next month’s issue by cub reporter John Drummond with his great photos and that of Carl Bredl. In the meantime, here are some vintage show photos to accompany and remind you of this show’s great history.
In my world, when it comes time to find old-timey photos and, more importantly, info on the people and the cars, there is only one person I go to: Greg Sharp. He has often been called an “encyclopedia of all things hot rods.” All of us around the offices are inclined to agree with that statement.
It was 1950, and Harold “Baggy” Bagdasarian and the Thunderbolts Car Club got together (initially in a car dealership lot) and created what would become the Sacramento Autorama. Since then, there have been 73 shows, one less than the Granddaddy of all, the Grand National Roadster Show.
Many believe the heyday of the custom car and indoor car show was the late ’50s era. It may have been, but here’s hoping that the amazing cars built today will stand the test of time and that rodders will remember them for decades.
Taking home the Custom d’Elegance award from the 73rd Sacramento Autorama was Vacaville’s Cliff Mattis with his ’57 Chevy Bel Air convertible.
The money winner for the weekend was Pleasanton’s Brent Scheider, who took home the West Coast Challenge Car Show Series presented by ARP with his ’37 Ford Cabriolet built at Dominator Street Rods under the discerning eye of Leonard Lopez.