Autorama Hot Rod Show and The D Lot Designer’s Display and Charity Auction Return

Hot Rodder’s D Light

Detroit Autorama, the popular automotive event featuring hundreds of custom hot rods and classic cars, is back in person for 2022. And that means, so is The D Lot presented by AMSOIL, which will once again feature a specially curated exhibition of modified cars during the Autorama event, held March 4-6 at Huntington Place (formerly Cobo Center). Also returning is The D Lot’s annual fundraising effort, with all proceeds from a raffle and silent auction benefiting Make-A-Wish Michigan.

The D Lot was inspired by Murray Pfaff of Pfaff Designs as an outward extension of his passion for designing cars and to create an opportunity for the automotive industry to give back to the community. This year’s The D Lot display features nearly a dozen vehicles that were designed by Pfaff Designs, including a pair of 1969 Pro Touring Camaros, a pair of retro-popular Honda Mini Trail bikes, an overlanding-themed Chevy Tahoe, a candy-coated Pro Street Dodge Magnum with a blown HEMI engine, a 1932 Ford roadster, and custom electric bikes, including one worth $4,000 to be auctioned off during the fundraiser. In fact, there are more than $40,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Tickets are $5 each for the “Pick-A-Prize” product raffle, with a chance to win items from some of the top industry brands, such as a garage heater, performance parts, tools, audio components, and much more. But you don’t have to be present to be a winner. Everyone can participate in the online silent auction running through March 11, 2022.

“The D Lot journey has been an incredible experience year after year. I’m able to reach out to industry friends and manufacturers to pool our collective resources and raise money for a few of Michigan’s best charities at the Big Daddy of car shows, the Detroit Autorama,” said Pfaff. “Despite the 2021 show being canceled due to the pandemic, The D Lot still managed to set a fundraising record, raising $17,000 through our online charity auction. We’re very excited to see everyone in person this year and to offer an incredible lineup of cars from across the country and some very exciting products, as well as to once again do great things for Make-A-Wish Michigan.”

The D Lot got its name from “Detroit.” At his first The D Lot display at the Autorama, Pfaff displayed six cars he’d designed, including NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace’s 1978 Corvette Stingray and the widebody 1969 Camaro roadster by Weaver Customs. In that inaugural year, there were $8,000 in prizes, with every dollar raised going directly to Leader Dogs for the Blind. Collectively, The D Lot has given away almost $250,000 in prizes and has raised more than $75,000 for various Michigan-based charities, including Forgotten Harvest and Make-A-Wish Michigan.

The 2022 sponsors of The D Lot are AMSOIL, Pilot Transport, Motor City Solutions, St. Ignace Car Show Weekend, Diamond Back Classic Tires, Forgeline, Gearhead Homes, Henry Electric, Painless Performance, Syracuse Nationals, Axiom Graphics, Bilstein, Extang, Ididit, Katzkin Leather, Kicker, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, Motor City AutoSpa, Phoenix Transmission Products, Rigid Industries, Vintique Motors and WireCare.