With Spring and racing season almost upon us here in southern Ontario, what better way to welcome it than with the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Expo. The show was previously known as the Motion Custom Car Show, Performance World, and up until last year, Megaspeed Show. It’s a 3 day exhibition of some of the finest examples of speed machinery in the region, featuring hot rods, custom trucks, rat rods, more modern muscle and sport compacts, and enough race cars to satisfy just about any enthusiast’s tastes. The show also features vendors and car culture celebrities as well as interactive attendee activities.
Walking into the first hall, we were greeted by the infamous Targa Truck, built and owned by our friend Mark Bovey. It was sitting in the prime spot of the Performance Improvements booth, a totally suitable location for one of the coolest trucks on the planet and a machine Peter and Dave got to spend a week admiring while racing at Targa Newfoundland with Mark and his co-driver Miles Markovic.
Tom and Stella Renzetti’s 1941 Willys instantly caught our eye thanks to its curvaceous body. With a supercharger we’re assuming it has the power to match its menacing looks. The rear slicks certainly suggest it must make a whole bunch of horsepowers.
Lady In Red, Neil and Roberta Blackie’s 1966 Chevy Nova, is a ground up restomod that’s powered by an LS1 with a L460E transmission and a 10 bolt rear posi. It also features air ride suspension and Wilwood brakes.
The “carbon” motif in the engine bay certainly makes a strong statement, and in typical hot rod fashion the entire bay is clean enough to eat off of.
One of my many favourites of the show, this 1971 Custom Chevy El Camino nicknamed “Blessed Persistence”, features a Nelson Race Engines blueprinted and balanced NRE540 fuel injected BBC. Perfect ride height achieved by air ride and sitting on beautiful staggered Forgeline RB3C wheels in 18” and 19” sizes. And check out that spotless engine bay. Slightly nicer than the ASS2000, we think you’d agree.
This 1946 Dodge Pickup nicknamed “Kandi” has a custom built 331 Chrysler Hemi that has a 6.71 supercharger sitting on top that’s fed by dual 750 cfm carbs. This combo pumps out an astounding 677-hp on pump gas. Damn!
The paint job on this 1950 Mercury custom is an eye grabber. Owner Trevor Downing did the paint job himself featuring House of Kolor paints. The result speaks for itself. A lot of custom body work such as a 1956 Caddy front end, shaved and decked hood and rear trunk, blended quarter panels, and a 3 1/2” chop top provide the canvas for the paint work. It is no slouch either with a 454 GM big block under the hood. Suspension is a combo of coilovers up front and airbags in the rear.
This 1930 Model A Ford Tudor “Dog Spit” caught Dave’s eye as it reminded him of ‘Kermit’ his old EG race car….in color anyway. This was also supercharged and carb’d.
