04 Mar World of Wheels 2013 – A Recap
It’s time once again for our coverage of the annual World of Wheels and Tuner Galleria event that took place this past weekend.
Just like last year, your humble narrator will be telling the story in first-person, mostly because it’s easier. Remembering that the event is primarily cash-only at the beer tents, I made sure to stock up on a few extra greenbacks this year. However, two members of my group did not bring cash, so I wasn’t able to imbibe nearly as much as I did last year. Which is a good thing. This recap might actually make sense this year. Either way, with a fistful of dollars and the work camera, I set off into the great abyss of the Rosemont Convention Center, filled with nothing but hopes and dreams. And some Jimmy John’s that I ate just before I got here.
The first thing I saw (and that everybody else saw, as well) upon entering the show was Batmobiles from three different generations. There was the big ol’ Tumbler, along with the previous Batmobile (Clooney’s, I think?), as well as the O.G. Batmobile from the Adam West days. There was also a lady in a Catwoman suit that looked like neither Michelle Pfeiffer nor Anne Hathaway.
There were fewer inanimate models around the cars this year, which is both good and bad. Good, because the weirdest one (hanging out of a gasser’s engine bay) was vibrating and extremely creepy by itself. Bad, because I like taking pictures of weird shit.
This dragster had some Schlitz cans covering the exhaust pipes, which was the second-most creative use of beer at the show. The most creative use of beer at the show goes to me, for drinking it. Okay, maybe that’s not terribly creative, but I’m the one making the rules, so them’s the breaks.
Just like last year, some of the most brilliant builds I’ve seen occupied the main floor at World of Wheels. The attention that goes into these things is unparalleled, with chrome covering things that it wouldn’t in any standard roadgoing vehicle, professional lighting leagues above what OEMs use at international auto shows, but most of all, these vehicles carried with them the aesthetic of their owners, meaning no two cars were exactly alike. Or nearly alike, for that matter. If variety is the spice of life, this is the biggest spice cabinet I’ve ever seen.
The monster truck Bigfoot was sadly not in attendance while I was there, but that’s all well and good, considering there was another monster truck there for our amusement. Whilst my friend and automotive compatriot Nick stood around and waited for parents to stop taking pictures of their children INSIDE the wheels so that he could get a good shot of the truck by itself, I decided that I’d like to see what the cockpit looked like. Drunk on confidence (and also alcohol), I hopped up inside the cabin and snapped a quick picture before anybody noticed.
From there, we went to the middle floor of World of Wheels, where a large number of custom bikes were parked. With Fluid MotorUnion having finished the Kawasaki Vulcan build earlier this winter, I wanted to see what else people were doing with their two-wheeled platforms. And I was not let down — from old bobbers with suicide shifters, to even older motorbikes powered by an engine that looks like it was built before engines were invented, there was no short supply of awesome bikes on display. Also, yes I blurred out the F-bomb on the side of one of the bikes. It’s rare, but I have been known to keep it family-friendly from time to time.
From there, we sauntered through another group of cool cars on our way to the Tuner Galleria upstairs. A brief pass through more classics put us face-to-face with the hydraulics-equipped rides, the best of which was a silver-and-green combo that demanded my attention. Yeah, it’s not my style, but you have to respect something that’s so off-the-wall and impractical. Plus, whitewalls!
With the first half of the show covered (if you can call any of this “coverage”), my group headed upstairs….but wait! The standard escalator up to Tuner Galleria was out of order when we approached it. Thinking of the famous Mitch Hedberg joke, we were forced back through the entrance of the event and up the escalator, entering Tuner Galleria through a side door. Like I said last year, this is sort of the red-headed stepchild of the World of Wheels show, appearing for only one day and usually consisting of many confused WoW patrons wondering where all the gassers and hot rods are. However, for somebody like me, it was good to see a small sample of what’s up in the European and Japanese scenes.
Zima Motorsports pulled out a solid collection of cars this year, with two Lamborghinis, a neon green GT-R and a small warehouse’s worth of BMWs. Stefan’s E46 M3 race car featured a new livery for 2013, and I’ll be excited to hit the track and hopefully do some shooting for him this year. Kris’s E46 M3 was there as well, rocking the carbon-fiber-and-Phoenix-Yellow aesthetic that’s basically become associated with his name and nobody else’s at this point. There were also a slew of brand new BMWs on loan from a nearby dealership, as well as a good chunk of Japanese cars with awesome engine swaps (RB26 in a S15 Silvia? Check.) and turbos bigger than the motors they’re powering. The Garrett attached to the JDM B18C must be really fun to drive, if you consider torque steer to be a really fun part of driving.
Shockwave was there, too. Yep.
After getting caught up in conversations and completely forgetting to shoot half of Tuner Galleria, I decided it was time for more beer, and headed back down the newly-fixed escalator (or newly-ruined stairs, depending on how you look at it). After filling up on more Shock Top, I decided it was finally time to hit up one of my favorite parts of the show — the live pinstriping. The level of dedication that goes into this is ridiculous, and I can’t believe how steady your hands have to be for this sort of work. These guys are truly artists in every sense of the word, and it excites me to see them showing off their skills for everybody to see. They also auction off the pieces for charity, which gives everybody a proper warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Me, however, I prefer to get that warm and fuzzy inside feeling from beer, which I continued to imbibe as I watched these men and women work their magic.
Nick actually had the chutzpah to walk straight into the ‘artists only’ area and catch some of the bigger pieces being painted. So, if you work at World of Wheels and are reading this right now, that short guy with the DSLR totally played y’all. You should definitely not let him back into the show next year. Especially if he doesn’t bring his own frickin’ cash.
That’s when we heard it. The sounds of a stand up bass being plucked with bare hands, a siren’s voice echoing out over the rhythm. That’s when we realized it was time to hit up our favorite part of the show — the rockabilly section, where the 1950’s never ended, and the cars keep getting more and more badass. Lowness and loudness reign supreme, along with pompadours and full-sleeve tattoos. This is the part of the show where everything is taken a little less seriously — except for the level of detail that goes into each and every unique four-wheeled rolling art platform. Life just seems…better here. Or maybe that was the beer talking. Whatever, it was still fun.
There’s no vinyl here. No cars assembled entirely from off-the-shelf parts. This is where creativity reigns supreme, where the most ridiculous designs often end up being the most revered. This is the area that I think most closely represents Fluid MotorUnion — that whole attitude of “we don’t care what you’re doing, this is us and we’re going to do it our way.” There was even a live roof-chopping taking place here. That’s right, a fabrication shop decided not to take a day off work, instead showcasing their skills to everybody willing to stop and spend some time there. Like I said before, everything here is radically different from what’s parked next to it. One car might have pinstripes right over the hood’s patina, and another might have fresh paint but an interior made out of old motorcycle chains. It’s a sight to be seen, certainly something you won’t forget anytime soon, so if you’ve been to World of Wheels but haven’t checked out this section of the show, shame on you. This is a style that, I hope, stays around for another 60 years at least.
And thus ends our coverage of this year’s World of Wheels and Tuner Galleria event. We hope you enjoyed the pictures, and you can be sure we’ll be back to check it out again next year! Until then, it’s back to our regularly scheduled coverage tomorrow! Have a great day!
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