Al Bergler of Macomb won the first Don Ridler Award in a competition slingshot dragster. When the Don Ridler Memorial Award was first presented as the competition’s top honor, the program was already in its twelfth year. “Ford Custom Car Caravan” customizers Bill Cushenbery, Jack Florence, Dean Jeffries, and Gene Winfield attended the show. The first non-Motor City professionals at Cobo were George Barris, Darryl Starbird, Carl Casper, and “Big Daddy” Ed Roth. The 1961 show’s last day drew approximately 35,000 people, breaking the attendance record. A new-record 230 cars competed that year, filling the whole 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) of the lower-level basement of Cobo. The inaugural event at the brand-new Cobo Hall was the ninth annual Detroit Autorama.
The Ridler award commemorated Autorama’s first eleven years’ most influential person. The Michigan Hot Rod Association (MHRA) created the Ridler Award the following year. Furthermore, Don Ridler promoted the show until 1 963. The Michigan Hot Rod Association (MHRA) enlisted Don Ridler for the fourth event in 1956 to promote the show. The second performance was moved to the Colosseum at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, where it ran from 1954 through 1960. Moreover, the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum hosted Autorama from 1954 through 1961 before transferring to Cobo Hall.
“Merge small local clubs into one coherent company” was their goal to collect funding to move drag racing indoors.ĭetroit Car Clubs Road Kings, Shifters, Milwinders, Motor City Modified, and Spark Plugs, which organized the first event, joined the MHRA. The event, hosted by the one-year-old Michigan Hot Rod Association (MHRA), featured 40 cars. On January 31 and February 1, 1953, the University of Detroit Memorial Building hosted the first Detroit Autorama.
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