60-year Cleveland Auto-Rama tradition ends as I-X Center closes

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The 60th Annual Car Parts Warehouse I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama wraps up this weekend, marking the last show at the longtime International Exposition (I-X) Center.

Organizers say 900 cars are parked for the event, featuring flashy cars and rebuilt classics.

Cleveland City Council approved plans last year to repurpose the event space for an unnamed private company. What replaces it, nobody is saying.

“Never miss, never miss,” said Jack Marino, who has attended many shows at the I-X Center. “It’s sad because it’s sort of a tradition to this area.”

Marino said he is worried about what Cleveland could lose when the building closes.

Show features diverse collection

“Anything that has a piston that makes it go is in the show. We even have a tank here that was built in 1964 when we were the Cleveland tank plant,” said Scott McGorty with the I-X Center.

George Conrad owns 221 cars and brought a few to the show, including a purple classic.

“Knowing this is possibly the last show, hopefully not. I wanted to bring an eclectic mix of really different things,” said Conrad.

Conrad said someone else started the build on the purple car and never finished it.

“Kind of a step child project to me. An older gentleman had purchased it and started the build and unfortunately he passed away,” said Conrad. “We took the project on, completely disassembled it and kind of restarted the whole thing. Three years, we don’t want to talk about the money.”

Conrad finished it just in time. There will not be another show according to the organizers of the autorama.

No replacement venue in sight

The I-X Center has hosted events for decades, including the garden show, the auto show, the boat show and the RV show. The city and the building’s owner have not released details on what comes next. Only that the expo space will close.

Organizers say no other building in Northeast Ohio is big enough to host the autorama.

“This show has always been about people as much as it is about cars,” said Steve Legerski, show manager for the I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama. “For 60 years, families have grown up coming to this event together. Builders have debuted lifelong projects here.”

The event features hundreds of vehicles, specialty exhibits, competitions and a marketplace.

The final consumer show inside the Cleveland I-X Center begins Friday and runs through Sunday, March 29. The show is the 60th Annual Car Parts Warehouse I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama.

Tickets are available at www.pistonpowershow.com and at all 23 Car Parts Warehouse retail locations.

The I-X Center was built in 1942 as the Cleveland Bomber Plant and was a manufacturing site for the B-29 bomber during World War II.

Later, it was known as the Cleveland Tank Plant and tanks and other military vehicles were built there.

Once the war ended, the center had several different uses before becoming the I-X Center in 1985.

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