Event Coverage America's Most Beautiful Roadster

Agreed on all accounts.

 

Ryan, I couldn’t agree more with your commentary on the Roadster Show. But on the other hand the Coby coupe sends a mixed message to me. Is it an early ‘50’s fendered fuel coupe that sports ‘60’s injector stacks and zoomies?
The paint job is high quality but I’ll never get used to that color palette.

 

Jack rules. I can't help but look at that car and think of the Khougaz roadster. Completely different cars...Jack's roadster isn't even channeled...but something about the profile. Maybe it's all in the soul.

And congrats to my good pal @Cody Walls for taking an East Coast custom out west and standing tall. The Buick he built for his wife is bitchin...with or without headlights.

 

That's a pretty great little roadster, I wouldn't kick it out of the garage even with the big wheels. The striped coupe stopped my scrolling in my tracks. Wow! Having an idea like that and then seeing it through to completion does take some serious cajones! I love it though. I'm gonna build a model car with a similar paint scheme now.

 

I love GNRS. But it seems that the winner of AMBR usually has the longest list of who's who in the rodding world. Did you go Ryan? The Swillco roadster was more in line with my sensibilities. GNRS would do well to let a group of average hotrod guys judge for a year. Let's see what wins in that case.

 

At least it will be easy to model that car. Build the AMT roadster kit stock, kit-bash in a set of Halibrands, squirt it with a coat of Rustoleum gloss black and voila!, a show stopper!!

 

Who does the judging, and where are they from?

 

This year's seven-man judging panel that will select the most beautiful of the bunch consists of builders Bobby Alloway, Pete Eastwood, Jeff Karls, and Don Lindfors, journalists Brian Brennan and Tom Vogele, and designer Larry Erickson

Forgot to put this was from Motortrend.

 

A top notch of guys that knows their shit.

 

Larry Erickson's roadster at this years GNRS...He designed/drew Cadzilla as well.

 

Coby and South City didn't just push hot rod boundaries with his coupe, I think they blew right past them. I love it.
I know he is respected for his artistic abilities, but I think Coby is under-appreciated. It's a really big deal to pull that car off the way he (they) did.
On a side note, most people don't realize the depth of his design portfolio. I could almost guarantee we've all seen a movie poster that he designed... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

After following the build of that 5 window through Bill Ganahl's Instagram account, I found the paint scheme disappointing. If I didn't know about that car, I wouldn't cross a street to look at it. It screams "Look at me!!", which just makes me want to walk the other way. I feel that any one of those colors, by itself, on that car would have been just beautiful.
Bill called it "The Barf Bag Coupe", comparing it to T.C.'s helicopter in Magnum P.I. I hope to one day be able to look past color schemes like that, but to this day I still can't look at Robert Williams roadster.
I guess I really don't appreciate art.

 

I think they should have painted it BLUE with a number like 555 on the door.

 

I LOVE Coby's Coupe!!! He's one of those guys who has an idea and doesn't let anybody talk him out of his vision. Sure, he could have painted red, black, of the lastest trend GREY! But he chose to throw throw everything in the fire and watch it burn. It's been a LONG time since a car at the GNRS caused as big of a stir. I told him, like it or hate it...everybody was talking about it. The barf bag deal was funny as hell. I didn't get one, but I wanted one. Can't wait to see it making it's rounds.

Also, I liked the pinstriped Roadster, but the one that one was well worthy of the award. Lots of hidden details.

 

I really like Coby's 34. The colors selected are all basically complimentary and the yellow stripes make it pop. If you're too scared to take a risk, you may end up building something someone else has already built. If that's what you want, fine. I'd drive that 34 and be proud of it.

 

Agree on your comments about the show. Was my third visit to see the art. Love, got to admire the low rider customs & paint work even if not drivable. Prefer rods that can be driven, love couple Bonneville roadsters, driven & driven hard. Last year picked both big award winners as favorites, not this year no obvious first choice for me but liked the 27 roadster. Another favorite at the show was Tom Pagano’s 1950 F100: looked shortened, chopped, channeled, pancake hood, & sectioned. Wow, would love to drive that one. Still enjoy the show, so much to see & admire

 

I went to the Roadster Show every year on multiple days since 1975 or 76 until it moved away from the Bay Area. until recent years the AMBR really meant nothing to me with few exceptions. I think we should all be happy the contenders are heading back to Traditional style, even the least Traditional ones at this years show were a far better representation of things I like than the hideous look at me creations we used to see.

I went for the tradtion of the show, usually had freiends with cars in it. "Show Cars" never really interested me.

 

I've never been to the show but it is on my list to do. I love the workmanship of the 34 but am one of the I don't get it ones as far as the paint job goes. If the intent was to do something so different that folks have a hard time deciding if they like it or not, then I guess that it was a success in some folks eyes?

 

Coby's cars inspiration was from Drag Cars and Funny Cars. Nothing more look at me than those. I think he knocked it out of the park.

 

paint on the 34 makes me think of the 1965 LA Dart. there was a 1967 version as well

 

I've been looking at the Saint Christopher on and off for a number of days. Studying pictures online and walking up on it a number of times this last Friday and Saturday. Yes, it's shocking. But I'm starting to get it.

You have that base of dark gold/bronze and then the series of stripes where the front and first stripe are the identical color and then the temperature increases front to rear. It's the natural progression on the color wheel. It's not arbitrary and the colors weren't picked out of a hat. The gold leaf outlines tie the different colors back to the base. The paint scheme as a whole has rhyme and reason.

I think soon this will be considered a classic build and will stand the test of time. It just takes a while for people to come around and process the vision.

 

Seems,now,every year gets longer away from what I knew as hot rods,when I started building rods in the 1950's. I like rod picked this time,not so much a few from passed years. All that is why they don't ask me! Ya,even a few tiny things I don't care much for,used on this good looking rod; Bucket seats always look less comfortible then beach too me,an a few Mega $ parts{ seems it's the thing to do fore }=Were I come from the rod idea of make best of what can be found! is gone.. Yup,I know none of these builds,have anything like a small piggy bank though. I still like it,nice clean work.

 

Love the coupe, too big ones

 

The last AMBR winner that I remember as being largely home built was the Phil Cool Roadster, it think that was 1978. Have there been others in the more modern era?

HRM did an article on the car and Phil handled the fabrication, welding, assembly, etc. but I think he farmed out the bodywork and paint. Could we ever see that happening again?