The Phil Alloy Photo Collection

A custom Corvette featuring canted quad headlights and a custom grille. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Rodney Rice's 1955 Chevrolet custom of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Named "the Astorian," Rodney's Chevrolet was restyled by the Alexander Brothers and Fostoria Customs. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A rear end shot of Rodney Rice's 1955 Chevrolet custom. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A rear end shot of Harry Markiecki's 1916 Ford Model T Bucket, "the Trojan". Harry was a member of the Pharaohs car club, and he was known as Toledo's custom car king. "The Trojan" was his most famous work, having been featured in numerous magazines including Hot Rod Magazine, Car Craft and Rod & Custom. The car also won over a dozen national ‘Best of Show’ custom car awards around the country. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Don Tognotti's King T was built by Don Tognotti and Gene Winfield. The build was started in 1962 and completed in 1964. It was shown at the 1964 National Roadster Show, where it won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Photo by Phil Alloy.

The Wild Dream was a show rod designed and built by Joe Wilhelm at Wilhelm's Custom Shop for John Hernandez. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Another shot of the Wild Dream. Photo by Phil Alloy.

The Car Craft Dream Rod. Designed by the staff of Car Craft Magazine in 1961, the first drawings of the car appeared in Car Craft October 1961. In 1963 Bob Larivee of Promotions Inc with the approval and help of Car Craft Magazine commissioned Bill Cushenbery to build the Dream Rod. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Photo by Phil Alloy.

The Mantaray by Dean Jeffries. Photo by Phil Alloy.

The Mantaray by Dean Jeffries. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Gene Winfield's Strip Star. The Strip Star is a show and competition race car built by Gene Winfield of Winfield's Custom Shop for the Promotions Inc Show Car Division in 1963. The build was promoted as "A show car that actually runs." Photo by Phil Alloy.

A rear end shot of the Strip Star. Photo by Phil Alloy.

The second version of the Forcasta, a bubble top custom built by Darryl Starbird for Chuck Miller of Columbus, Ohio. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A rear end shot of the Forcasta. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Ed Roth's Mysterion. Ed got the idea for the Mysterion from the dragsters, as they were poppin' up with two, three and four engines. The build was completed in 1963. This version of the famous Maywood show rod has been dressed up with scallops. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A rear end shot ofEd Roth's Mysterion. Hydraulic lifts were used to adjust the height of the rear suspension. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Dick Bailey's Model T - The Wild One. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A 1928 Ford Model A coupe named "The Lonely Blue Boy". Photo by Phil Alloy.

A hot rodded Model A cabriolet. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A flathead V8 powered Ford Model A roadster pickup running Ohio truck license plates. Photo by Phil Alloy.

A Model T dragster named "Quick Draw". Photo by Phil Alloy.

Photo by Phil Alloy.

Don Gimson's Little Missile. Powered by a 304 Mercury flathead engine, the lime green Metalflake dragster was built by Don himself. Photo by Phil Alloy.

Toledo, Ohio is a long way, 2000 miles in distance and even farther in mind set, from the beaches, streets and attitudes of sunny California. Hardly the place to expect cutting edge custom cars and hot rods. But for one glorious weekend in the spring of 1965 Toledo, Ohio became the center of the custom car universe.

The Civic Auditorium was a World War I-era building located on the seedy fringe of Toledo’s downtown. By the mid-sixties the Civic Auditorium was well past its prime. In the Auditorium’s glory days Elvis Presley, at the dawn of his career, rocked the rafters. Heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis drove down from his home in Detroit and KO’d a ‘bum of the month’ to the delight of his Glass City fans. Even pro wrestling prima donna Gorgeous George preened and strutted as he headlined a 1948 bout. But that was then and now it was 1965.

"I had just turned 16. My immigrant grandfather owned a used auto parts yard on Toledo’s east side he started during the depths America’s Great Depression. By now it was a family business, my father managed the place and I worked there summers and weekends. Many local hot rodders frequently stopped in to buy parts for their cars. Toledo’s custom king Harry Markiecki was a regular and frequently purchased parts for the body shop he ran."

"Despite not having a driver’s license at the time, I was big car enthusiast, always at the corner store buying the latest issues of Hot Rod Magazine, Car Craft and Rod & Custom. Flipping through the pages it was always a thrill to see the latest customs from the fabled West Coast builders. But this time it was different. Somehow the West Coast was coming to Toledo. The cars built by the customizers I read about in the national magazines; the cars I had built from AMT and Revell plastic model kits, the cars from Big Daddy Roth, the Alexanders, Gene Winfield, Starbird, Cushenberry, Dean Jeffries, even Toledo’s Harry Markiecki with his nationally famous ’16 bucket T ‘The Trojan’ were here in Toledo. At the Civic Auditorium! All these cars and more. I mean, Toledo Ohio wasn’t exactly known as a center for custom cars so to see this parade of legendary cars all under one roof was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Fortunately, I had my camera with me. Take a step back through lens of my camera…..back to 1965."