I-X Piston Powered Show

(Cleveland, Ohio) The first day of spring will mark opening day for the 49th Annual Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama Presented by Rad Air Complete Car Care and Tire Centers! Springs, suspensions, tires, motors, carburetors and more will spring to life at Cleveland’s   I-X Center March 20-22, 2015.

If a piston makes it go, it’s in this show! The show has officially filled all participant spaces, securing more than one million square feet of custom cars, motorcycles, boats, aircraft, antique tractors, monster trucks, semis, tractor trailers, military vehicles, and historical construction equipment. A swap meet, toy modeler area and Thunder Row, featuring 40 Cruisin’ Times All-Star cars, will be displayed as they compete for top prizes.
Showcasing more than 1,000 additional vehicles, participants will roll in from all points across the United States and Canada including Woodstock, Georgia, Houston, Texas, Quebec, Canada and even Edmonton, Canada to show off their finest piston powered vehicles.

The addition of the Summit Racing Manufacturer Showcase for 2015 will feature the top performance parts and accessories manufacturers displaying their latest products in the Summit Racing Equipment expanded area.
 
Cars
The showcasing of several “Private Collection” cars and vehicles, including a GTO collection from 1964 to 1974. Eleven cars in all, featuring three Judge/GTOs which are red, white and blue to dovetail into the Forged in Cleveland, Made in the USA campaign.  Also featured is the private collection of AMCs owned by Don Moyer, plus Dick Mastin’s private collection of military vehicles.
 
Bikes
The expansion of the show’s motorcycle pavilion with the addition of American Heritage Motorcycles North Coast and Rock-N-Roll City Harley-Davidson® as official sponsors of the show and the formation of a strategic alliance with the International Master Bike Builders Association (IMBBA) and Thunder Roads Ohio Magazine. The alliance will bring the IMBBA and their judges to the 2015 Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama Presented by Rad Air Complete Car Care and Tire Centers at the I-X Center to judge all the motorcycles in 12 classes along with the Duck Award, Best in Show and Pro Builders class of bikes. Thunder Roads Ohio Magazine will host the Thunder Zone at the show and will collect ballots from show-goers for the “People’s Choice” award.
 
Planes
Aircraft from across the country include the T-28B Trojan owned by Gordon Bowers from the WarBird Museum of Virginia, the Grand Champion TBM Avenger owned by Charles Cartledge from the Lake Erie Warbirds and the T-51 owned by Jeff Paden. The Ohio State University Buckeye 50, a 1974 Cessna 150 Aerobat with tail registration number N500SU, or N50-OSU, it has affectionately become known as Buckeye 50 to the program, students and alumni.

Student Career Day
Students participating in Student Career Day enter the I-X Center on Friday, March 20th, before the show is open to the general public. As students arrive, they receive goodie bags, food coupons, if purchased, good for a hot dog, bag of chips, fountain soft drink and a cookie plus they receive a wristband that allows them free access to the show for the entire weekend. The students will attend a brief welcome reception, which includes talks by key industry speakers, including renowned car builders, industry representatives, and sponsors. After the reception, students are allowed to walk through the show to get an up-close look at the vehicles and have an opportunity to speak with car owners and our sponsors.

In addition, the Student Career Day program was developed, in conjunction with the ISCA, in an effort to introduce high school, vocational and college automotive students to the aftermarket hot rod industry. Student Career Day takes place at various Autorama shows and other ISCA-sanctioned events throughout the United States.

The Rad Air Complete Car Care and Tire Center Vocational School Challenge Series in Association with Ohio Technical College is a program where vocational and technical school students are encouraged to participate in a timed competition of automotive diagnostic and repair challenges that allow student teams to apply their skill set and determine automotive repair and service issues within featured vehicles. The Rad Air Vocational School Challenge is a rewarding opportunity to apply classroom and on-the-job skills in Ohio’s premiere automotive repair competition.
 
The competition features various vehicle failures.  Students will interact with other area technicians, learn about advanced diagnostics, display their talents, meet with employers and compete for prizes. They will have the ability to visit with Rad Air technicians prior to competing as well as the option to have Rad Air’s President Andy Fiffick visit the class to discuss industry news, issues and trends. Coveted prizes are awarded to the winning schools and teams. Sign up early to reserve your spot in this one-of-a-kind learning experience.

The Genuine Hotrod Hardware Pedal Car Challenge, Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, is another opportunity for a team of students to get involved with the show.  They apply their technical skills in a hands-on project that involves planning, design, creativity, productivity, and resourcefulness. Qualifying schools will be given one Hot Rod Pedal Car, P/N EET-9705, from Genuine Hotrod Hardware, Inc., for their students to customize at the show. The object is to create an award winning pedal car, fully finished and painted, for display, judging and auction.  Proceeds from the auction will benefit participating schools.

Prizes and Awards
More than 600 awards and over $20,000 in cash will be given out throughout the weekend in a variety of categories including the ALL NEW Summit Gold Cup Ring which goes to the winner of the Summit Gold Cup along with their $5,000 cash prize.

The South Hall Hot Rod Asylum will feature vehicles including cars, trucks and motorcycles that are Kustoms, Nostalgic Race Cars and/or have a nostalgic appearance. A separate Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday featuring nine custom made trophies. Along with awarding Best in Show, the winner will receive a trophy, their own commemorative "Straight Jacket", and their name added to the South Hall Asylum's "Straight Jacket". The Straight Jacket will be held on display at the I-X Center and other various locations.  Every year the Slick Devils identify 12 Hot Rods/ Kustoms that are exceptional examples of what the South Hall Hot Rod Asylum is all about.  Whether the car is a fresh build or a barn fresh survivor, these cars are some of the best the Traditional Hot Rod world has to offer!

Test Your Skills
For car enthusiasts looking for their chance to compete at the event, stop by the Rad Air Complete Car Care and Tire Centers booth to test your skills with the Spark Plug Challenge on Saturday and Sunday! This competition is open to the public and participants will have the opportunity to compete at changing spark plugs against celebrity challengers at various times each day.  Bill Wills from WTAM will be on hand to emcee the challenges on Saturday and Brian Fowler from WGAR will be on hand to emcee the challenges on Sunday. There will also be appearances by the Cleveland Gladiators.


Charity is a Big Focus
Check out the Pinstriper’s Charity Panel Jam called Krazy Paint. Watch the pinstripers do their thing as they paint up Hot Rod Art for charity. Krazy Paint will be selling and auctioning off unusual art, anything from a pinstriped toilet seat to a hot rod mailbox. See over 60 great painters raise money for a local kid’s charity as they paint bowling pins, art panels and even a pair of gas pumps. Have something that needs some pinstriping? Bring it to Krazy Paint, next to the stage.
The Medina VFW 5137 will be on hand throughout the weekend to help raise funds to complete the effort to build the Cleveland Fisher House and will also be on hand to honor our military. Learn about the latest technology in prosthetics, VA eligibility/enrollment, OIF/OEP Program, Voluntary Services, and the VBA. Entertainment by Vets with Guitars will also raise funds for the Greater Cleveland Fisher House, which provides support to the families of wounded veterans.
 
The show is also collaborating with Red House Projects (a Cleveland based design-build firm) as the I-X Center will unveil an epic, never before seen, interactive structure of grand proportions. Red House Projects has assembled an international design team to construct a 30’ tall by 40’wide indoor structure. Expect to see five artists in the air composing original interpretations of the United States Armed Forces. Come witness this amazing team as they climb and create live scenes of hope and inspiration.
 
Patriot 500 Racing began its work early in 2009. In 2012 they became an established and approved 501(c) 3 organization. Patriot 500 Racing uses its background with the National Hot Rod Association to inspire and engage youth while promoting a passion for life and education. P500R is an educational program based on fundamentals in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) with a goal of stimulating the minds of students and faculty with whom they work.
 
Movie Magic Comes To Life
The World’s ONLY Piston-Powered Drive-In Theater featuring two 17' x 10' state of the art screens. They will be showing two classic hot rod movies Snake and Mongoose and Deuce of Spades featured in the Hot Rod Asylum.
 
The car from the movie, Two-Lane Blacktop ’55 Chevy, will be featured in Devil’s Row leading into the South Hall Hot Rod Asylum. The Two-Lane Blacktop ’55 Chevy was built by Richard Ruth for the 1971 movie directed by Monte Hellman and starring James Taylor, Dennis Wilson, Laurie Bird, and Warren Oates. Today the car is in the exact configuration as seen in the movie minus the camera rigging.
 
Adding a taste of Cleveland to our Hollywood experience, part of the A Christmas Story nostalgia will be on display in the Hot Rod Asylum. Both the 1938 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan and 1939 Ford Fire Truck will be on the show floor to bring that movie to life.
 
About the I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama:
The Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama Presented by Rad Air Complete Car Care and Tire Centers is the largest indoor showcase of custom cars, trucks, antique construction equipment, motorcycles, tractors, planes, military equipment, and more of its kind in the world filling more than one million square feet of space with over 1,000 vehicles at the I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio www.ixcenter.com. The show will return March 20 - 22, 2015. For more information please call 216-265-7223 (RACE), or visit www.ixpistonpoweredautorama.com.   

About the I-X Center:
The International Exposition Center (I-X Center) in Cleveland, Ohio is one of the nation’s premier exhibition facilities. It is the 9th largest convention center in the world, comprised of 2.2 million sq. ft., including more than one million sq. ft. of flexible presentation space.  I-X Center is conveniently located adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, just 15 minutes southwest of downtown, with nearby hotels and secure on-site parking for more than 10,000 vehicles. With a unique ‘one-stop sourcing’ model for all production services, the I-X Center has hosted more than 1,500 events attracting 50 million visitors during the past 30 years.