Event Coverage 2010 AMBR contenders.

Yep ... Unfortunately the AMBR, the Ridler, and judged car shows in general have rarely been about "cool" or "esthetics" ... I guess that's why I've always dismissed the competition aspect of these shows.

To me, it would be much more gratifying for your vehicle to receive an award from your peers rather than by the total number of points on the "Judges Sheet" ... i.e., I'd be more honored (& my ego stroked more) if I received the "TJJ: Best Roadster" trophy or a "pick" at an outdoor show.

This is not to say that an online vote award or peer "picks" aren't without their controversy as well ... but I won't open up that can of worms.

 

Perhaps aesthetics are too subjective to be judged ? Modifications for their own sake don't necessarily make for a cool car.

 

I'm praying that the red '33 doesn't win because that is the exact same display he used in 2008 to win. At least they changed it from an f&ckin' roulette table for this year!

I'm pulling Don Smith's '32 RPU at least it would be change in the direction of the A.M.B.R. award winner, back to a traditional hot rod look for the first time in a very long time.

 

I agree. Everytime I look through more GNRS pics, that pickup just keeps looking better and better.

So who won??

 

Of course....... the winner

 

Did the Pinocchio car really win ?
60'

 

I haven't ta$ted puke in along time....until now....to win it take$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and no ta$te what $o ever.

 

very sad!

 

James Hetfield's Auburn should take it , smooth flowing lines...beautiful. Rob

 

I was afraid that might happen.

 

if that car really won, its just awefull. I mean really, awefull.

 

Sad But True!

 

It is funny how one off bodies can be awarded points for modifications. How can it modified when it is built from scratch?

 

Geez, I looked through 1000+ GNRS pics on the HAMB and elsewhere this weekend and I didn't see that one as even being in the hunt.

 

Should change it to:
AYFKM Award.

Are You F'n Kidding Me

 

Any word on who else would have been a" runner up"

 

Well they got it all wrong again this year, just like they do every year...

Just my opinion anyways. Ive been known to be wrong too, just ask my wife....

 

Ouch

 

Bingo! And just like it shouldn't be called a '33 anything....unless it's 33 inches high maybe.

 

Ugh...

 

I really hate to join in on the bashing on the AMBR winner but...

Once again the car I would have picked dead last in the runners won.

Once again I showed the pictures to my Dad and many of his friends. Many of these guys are die hard "Street Rodders" (and I don't mean it as an insult, they are older NSRA types who like billet and such...no harm, no foul) and none of them would have picked that car.

I am beating a dead horse and I know I sound like a broken record but something is seriously wrong with how they do things. Style and looks should trump the total number of mods and a freaking display.

Once again the judges look foolish. For the last few years I have yet to see on a post on a forum, a magazine article, or talked to a person that has agreed with the cars they have picked for the AMBR.

What a shame.

 

33" wheels?

And Sacramento is around the corner..........

B

 

what do you expect with a bunch of old fogies with moneys are the judges? they need a younger bunch to do the judging, well at the picking out the contenders. it's shame when cars you can buy out of a catalog win.

 

How do you have trouble setting up the same F&CKIN' rotating display for the second time at the same show? You think they could have remember from the last time. Set up started on Wednesday morning, which means they at least 2 full days to start setting the display before Friday morning. And all they changed from the last time was they got rid of the hideous roulette table cover panel, a few mirrors, and the material on the border surrounding it. How long can that take actually to do? They only had TWO YEARS! to get that done from the last time they used the display.

As for the quality of the build I can't say anything because I haven't seen the car in person yet. Although, to me there's nothing innovating about the overall look of the car. Most of the major themes of the car are the same as his 2008 winner. So much for the the rule change making a big difference to the A.M.B.R. award winner, I was really hoping to see a full fender car win for the first time since 2007.

I'm pretty sure even the judges know it's easier to build a car with out fenders then one with them. Just cause your hung you one off suspension parts out there for everyone to see doesn't mean you've done a better job then guy who's using a solid front axle and transverse spring on his full fender car. Remember he spent the time to align the fender gaps to the body and running board plus metal work, paint, cut, and buff a body part your car doesn't even have.

 

Trace from Ink and Iron is putting on Showcase of Kustoms in September and after seeing what he did at the last Ink and Iron it should be neat..

I talked to him for a while at the show and he's going to bring the indoor show back to reality.. Not only will it not have a points style judging but it will be judged by a few
original guys from the Renegades car club that were a big part of Californians indoor car
shows in the 50's and 60's.. on top of that there is a 20,000 dollar prize for the best in show..

the GNRS is the only indoor show in So Cal and thats going to change..

they have my support..

Check it out:
http://www.showcaseofkustoms.com/photos.asp?id=INI_09#

Heres a quick write up:

Showcase of Kustoms & Motorama is a modern indoor/outdoor car show steeped in tradition! The first to be back in the Long Beach Arena in 30 yrs. it pays tribute to the importance of the Renegades of Long Beach, Car Club formed in 1941 in Long Beach, as well as local "Kustom Painter Extraordinaire" Larry Watson; without him, kustoms wouldn't have looked the same. Across the Arena floor, the ALL Kustoms indoor portion will be spatially laid out for 360 degree viewing of these "One of a Kind" dreams. On display in the lobby will be the "Vino Paisano" Watson's 1958 Thunderbird, the one that changed it all and is considered to be one of the top 10 Kustoms in it's time. This car debuted in the Long Beach Auditorium 51 years ago at the 5 day long Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama; it will re-debuted at our 2010 show in its fully restored form. Along side this display we have some of the Renegades C/C memorabilia, also inside the lobby you'll meet our "Master of the Kustom" inductees Frank DeRosa Sr. and Dean Jefferies, both long standing legends of the Kustom car world, and this years "Kustom Innovator of the Year" goes to Marcos Garcia of Lucky 7 Customs, all will have cars on display. Just outside the lobby; the "Horsepower Corral", is where Traditional Hot Rods and those wanting their Kustom under the sun will get viewed and judged.

Showcase of Kustoms & Motorama takes place along the waterfront of sunny Southern California, with sail boats and the "Historic" Queen Mary as our back drop.

We have 20+ acres of grass in Rainbow Lagoon & Marina Green Park for you to kick back and soak in the SoCal lifestyle.

 

Looks has everything to do with wining the AMBR award. There is nothing BEAUTIFUL about that car.....

 

2008 Winner


2010 Winner


When you start looking at them side by side there are way more similarities then differences. So much for a step forward for the A.M.B.R. award.

 

It's sad when the judges in that show only look for the latest hotlick billet trick and don't take the whole package or ascetics into consideration. But then I have a friend who thinks his bulldog ugly wife is a queen because she has huge jugs.

My pick from the start was the full fendered Red Deuce just because it looked so right in every photo you see of it that anyone and every one took. The Auburn is so damned beautiful that it outdoes that red 33 "just like a hundred others" thing that it is unreal. Put a Guards Red paint job and set of 16 inch billets on that 33 and it's right in front of Boyds shop in the early 90's even with the autozone portholes.

Now I'm afraid to ask what got the award we voted on yesterday.

 

Maybe the G.N.R.S. should change the name to the America's Most Modified Roadster Award to better align the name with the winner.

At lease Goodguys gets it right with their American Most Beautiful Street Rod award, as it say in the guidelines it's a beauty contest pure and simple. A great example is this past years winner Marv Bok's '39 Ford Convertible, it's a beautiful car, we can all agree on that, but we all know it wasn't the most modified car of the finalist, that would have been the '32 B400 called "Deucenberg"

 

Weren't they both built by the same shop/builder?