Miss Autorama Pinup contest, March 3, 2018
There was snow on the ground in Detroit, but the pinup contestants were already blooming downstairs at Cobo for the Miss Autorama pinup contest sponsored by Vinsetta Garage.
Once again, I caught the afternoon performance of the Twistin’ Tarantulas, which is always followed by the Miss Autorama Pinup contest. It’s the one time I’m certain to meet up with all my car show and photography friends. A great group of girls as always, some returning contestants, and many new competitors.
The format seems to change every year, continually diminishing in content. The whole contest was about 35 minutes or so, with no elimination round as there used to be. Also the questions were very generic, when in past years, the questions had been targeted toward the contestant. For instance, if one of the ladies had a special interest car, they would be sure to cover that in the question/interview part of the contest. Also they didn’t clear the stage, so there was clutter at the front of the stage, that is usually cleared away, and at during the judge’s deliberation, they brought all the ladies to stage front, making it impossible for many of the photographers to get good group shots. Probably not an obvious problem, but I guess photographers think of things that others don’t.
All of the contestants took great care to assemble great outfits, some accessorized, like a Ice Cream Soda prop and um… a meat cleaver.
I would have to say, at least in my view, this is becoming less of a “Pin-Up” contest and more of a “Vintage” show, and there’s nothing wrong with that really, and it does promote the inclusion of a wider variety of body types into the show. The outfits definitely conform to the spirit of a custom car show and it’s interesting to see what the ladies come up with.
It’s taken me a week to get this post up, normally I would have it up by Sunday night following the show, but Autorama was so jam-packed that I had to come back to actually shoot the cars upstairs. Autorama is definitely a success in terms of attendance, and the Pinup contest is only one of many events that brings in the crowds.
Miss Autorama 2013, Ashley Bowers.
