page_title: Detroit Autorama
section_title: The Pirelli "Great 8"
hierarchical_section_title: Detroit Autorama / The Pirelli "Great 8"
caption_attribution_description: English: Car buffs look down at one of the over 1,000 cars on-display "America's Greatest Hot Rod Show".
context_page_description: The Detroit Autorama, also known as America's Greatest Hot Rod Show, is a showcase of custom cars and hot rods held each year at TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, in either late February or early March.
  It is promoted by Championship Auto Shows Incorporated and hosted by Michigan Hot Rod Association, part of the International Show Car Association schedule for the Summit Racing Equipment Show Car Series, which includes other prestigious show car events such as the Chicago World of Wheels and Houston Autorama.
  The Detroit Autorama is best known as home to the Don Ridler Memorial Award, which is presented to the "best in show" at each year's event, and has been won by many well-known car designers and builders, such as Chip Foose, Jerry Pennington, Troy Trepanier, and Bobby Alloway.
context_section_description: Since 1970, the Ridler Award recipient has been selected out of a pre-determined group of cars, known as "The Great 8", sponsored by Pirelli Tires.
  
  On the application for Autorama, a box is to be checked to indicate to the promotional staff if the submitted entry is a Ridler contender. Those entries who've checked-off the box on their applications are told to move into Cobo the Wednesday before the show, a full day ahead of other exhibitors. Then on Thursday Night before the show opens, the ISCA judging staff goes through all the Ridler Contenders, and sort-out which eight of them outweigh the rest. 
  These "Great 8" entries were formerly announced during the annual Ridler Ball inside the Cobo Ballroom the Friday Night of the show, but are now announced earlier in the day, usually before the show opens to the public at noon on Friday, in order to accommodate online-publications and social media outlets. Each car has a banner within its display, distinguishing it as part of the "Pirelli Great 8".
  On Friday night, while the owners and builders are attending the Ridler Ball, an entire staff of ISCA Judges are assigned to solely the Great 8 cars, and go through each one before making a final decision the following morning. Once a decision is made, the winner is announced during the Sunday Night Awards Ceremony-again in the Ballroom; after all Great-8 owners have been previously brought-up on stage, and a short video presentation showcasing all eight-nominees to the tune of Europe's "Final Countdown"-is completed.
  The Ridler Award is presented to the winner by the management of GM Performance Parts, and is also given an embroidered jacket and a $10,000 check. Along with receiving a personal Ridler Award with only their name engraved in it, the owner's name is also engraved among the list of past recipients on the full-scale Ridler trophy, which is kept at GM Performance's Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
  The criteria to win the Ridler is to be the "most outstanding from among the cars being shown for the first time". It must also have "limited media exposure" prior to the event, and must be "minimally operable", which requires it to "start, stop, move forward and backward under its own power, turn left and right and stop using the brake pedal".
  The 53 recipients of the Don Ridler Memorial Award are shown below:
caption: Car buffs look down at one of the over 1,000 cars on-display "America's Greatest Hot Rod Show".
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