The Detroit Autorama has the Great 8, but here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, we’ve got the Noteworthy Nine. Here are nine cars at the 2015 Autorama that we thought were worth a closer look. 

First, we want to make clear that we have no intention of dissing the Detroit Autorama’s Great 8 and the Ridler Award. We’re certain the judges did a righteous and proper job selecting the eight finalists that will vie for hot rodding’s most prestigious prize. No, our Noteworthy Nine is a totally different kind of group.

Presented here are simply nine vehicles we encountered at the 2015 Detroit Autorama that, in our estimation, are worthy of a special look. There’s far more to the Detroit Autorama than simply hot rods and customs. There are great vehicles here of almost every category, and many vehicles that don’t quite fit any conventional classification. We enjoy them all regardless of genre. Here are nine that caught our eye on the floor at Cobo Center.

In 1962, Mopar hero Bud Faubel of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania campaigned this factory prototype Chrysler 300 loaded with trick equipment, including a special ram-tuned intake system for the 413 CID V8.  Big Red, as the hardtop was known, was stored in a trailer for years, then recently purchased and restored by Jim Kramer, who also owns Faubel’s 1965 Dodge altered-wheelbase drag car.

This exotic vehicle is a 1942 Ford BNO-40 Moto-Tug, an adaptation of the Ford 9N tractor designed to serve as an aircraft tug. The beasts saw duty throughout World War II, including on aircraft carriers, but this example, known as no. 64, pulled B-24 four-engine bombers around the giant Ford Willow Run plant. Jim and Laura Gautz of Dexter, MI are the owner-restorers.

We spotted this sweetheart at Autorama Extreme, the rat rod and alternative show in the basement at Autorama. Owned by veteran rodder Dave Gray of Midland, Michigan, the ’33 Ford pickup is period-perfect with gold lacquer, smoothie wheel covers, white firewall, and a 1950 Cadillac 331 CID V8

Part of a dedicated display of historically significant Corvettes, this ’53 roadster is VIN number 221 of the 300 cars built the first year. Raced on the sand at Daytona Beach and elsewhere, the Corvette was upfitted with a 265 CID V8 and at one point was prepared by Smokey Yunick. Miraculously, the old race and test mule has somehow survived to present day.

Owner Jack Matia and builder Barry Penfound of Penfound Design call their latest creation the Scramjet. Front and rear chassis sections on the 1970 Camaro are by Art Morrison with RideTech suspension, and a Chevrolet Performance 427 LS7 crate engine supplies the power. However, we were drawn to the slick, functional exterior treatment and the smooth 19-inch Boyd/Penfound wheels.

Cylinder head magnate Richard Maskin’s first Pro Stock effort (with partner Jim Gilbert) back in 1972 was this stubby Gremlin, which featured a Ron Fournier chassis and Booth-Arons horsepower. Always the innovator, Maskin conducted early experiments with aerodynamic carb intakes, including the monster setup shown here. Tom Abrams of Canton, Michigan owns the car today.

Built by Dave Shuten for Beau Boeckman of Galpin Auto Sports, the Grass Hopper is a recreation in 1:1 scale of the famed Monogram Green Hornet plastic kit model. (Read about the kit here at Mac’s Motor City Garage.) The model, in turn, was based on a real car, the Geraghty & Crawford roadster that appeared on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in October 1959. So the car has come full circle, you could say. The glamorous showpiece sports a fully chromed supercharged Olds V8 and an original 1915 Model T Ford steel body.

Rich Guasco’s insane Pure Hell fuel altered was booked in to perform a fire burnout in the street in front of Cobo Center, but the near-zero temperatures and frozen pavement prevented driver Brian Hope from putting on the full show. No worries—we got a kick just viewing the supercharged, nitro-burning Bantam roadster, which Guasco has raced in various forms since 1963.