This years GNRS was the best yet and almost all the AMBR competitors were truly incredible. I'm glad to see that Jackie's car won and the people here are recognizing the incredible talent he has and that he is the most modest guy you would ever want to know. Truly a work of art! Like someone said, Jackie built the car for himself and not for the competition. Congratulations Jackie!
i really like the car except the door gaps, there's no flange on the body so you can see the interior through the gap, other than that i thought it was a great choice. the show seems to just get better every year, think about how much the quality has gone up in the suede palace from the first year.
In my ignorant opinion... 1. Sylvester 2. Brizio 3. Don Smith's Riley powered speedster The SoCal car is amazingly built but not what I consider a hot rod. The outside show was incredible.
Its a fantastic car. I agree about some of the issues brought up including the door gaps, and I'm on the fence about the paint scheme. But what I couldn't wrap my head around was the steering wheel position. Can anyone explain the angle of the wheel and the angle of the gauges? I don't see how this could be a comfortable way to drive this car. Have you ever trued to drive a car with a tilt wheel positioned all the way up? I see that they were similar in the concept sketches for the car but it just seems wrong that they point toward the sky like that. I thought maybe there was some historical precedent.? Sent from a pay phone
I really like it; great choice and very deserving! With that being said...this thing was built to RACE and represent the cars that did back in the day... and therefore deserves a classy number on it's side. It wouldnt be the same without the number on the side. I love it. congrats to all...
Excellent reporting on the GNRS Winner in the auto week post this AM. SoCal Speed shop wins AMBR award as hod-rodding returns to its roots Recommend (1) MARK VAUGHN The SoCal V8 Indy Roadster won the 2012 AMBR award at the Grand National Roadster Show on Sunday. By: Mark Vaughn on 1/30/2012 Related Articles Grand National Roadster Show rides again Arizona auctions kick up the horsepower on day 3 Grand National Roadster Show takes on new judging rules, rodding wins In a competition that "took hot-rodding back to its SoCal roots," the SoCal Speed Shop--the entity founded by original hot-rod hero Alex Xydias and now helmed by Pete Chapouris--finally won the AMBR. That's AMBR, as in, America's Most Beautiful Roadster, the most sought-after title in all of hot-rodding and the crowning glory of the Grand National Roadster Show. There is that competition at the Detroit Autorama that hands out the Ridler Award, but that is open to all manner of kustom kars. The AMBR is just for hot rods--roadsters with two doors and a top that comes off--and it's held in California, birthplace of the hobby. "We saw stuff here tonight that represented the very roots of hot-rodding," said judge Brian Brennan, editorial director of Street Rodder and a 40-year rodding enthusiast. "The show had gotten away from its roots; it was becoming a custom-car show. Now it's gotten back to where it started." This was the second year that the AMBR was judged under a new set of rules, replacing the mile-thick book of judging criteria used for decades to separate that which was beautiful from that which was merely kool. Now picking the winner is more subjective, almost impulsive. "We asked ourselves, 'If you put keys in all the cars, which one would you most like to get in and drive off," Brennan said. They all pretty much wanted to drive off in the SoCal Indy V8 Roadster. The car has quite a history. It was originally built by racer and race-car builder Jack Howarton almost 15 years ago. "I'd spent my life as a racer and a race-car builder," Howarton said. "But when I quit racing and I met Steve Moal and Lil' John Buttera, I really wanted to be a hot-rodder, but I wasn't." So he built this car. Or what would later become this car. Howarton could never imagine the car as anything but a work in progress. He showed it at Oakland on the 50th anniversary of the show, in 1999. "I rolled it in and a crowd gathered, everybody oohed and aahed. At that moment I was accepted, I knew I'd never finish it." One of those oohing and aahing was Texan Bill Lindig. He had been watching and longing for Howarton's roadster for 12 years before he finally bought it in 2007. As beautiful as it was when Lindig got it, both he and Howarton knew that he'd have to hand it over to the SoCal Speed Shop to finally finish it. SoCal worked on it for four years, massaging every detail until there was almost nothing on the car that hadn't been designed and CNC'd by them. The level of detail on the car is astounding, something all 11 judges agreed on. We figured there were five strong contenders at this year's Grand National Roadster Show: -- The Marmon Sixteen was a perfect marriage of the traditional collector-car art with the traditional hot rod. -- Sylvester III was a restored 1962 Oakland Roadster Show entrant brought back to life and displayed in exquisite detail. -- Steve Moal's creation of the Dennis Varni '33 Ford was as intricate in detail as it was powerful under the hood. -- And former AMBR winner Roy Brizio's build for owner and racer Tom Gloy was perfectly proportioned and, we're told, terrific fun to drive. After viewing all 10 AMBR entries, the judges had it narrowed down to three finalists which, if we had to guess we'd say were the Sylvester III, Brizio and SoCal, but that's just our guess. In the end it was the profoundly detailed SoCal track roadster that won out. But it was also hot-rodding--real, California traditional hot-rodding, not a different spin on the kustom kar kulture--that won out above all else. And in that regard, everyone won. Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120130/CARNEWS/120139999#ixzz1kyBkmoy8
HAMBer hotroddon's RPU won the Roadster Pickup class. Don, I hope you don't mind that posted this here.
Someone please.....the Marmon, Brizio's, the AMBR, are these the only ones?? Only 3 contenders? I just want to see the rest of the field.
And KiwiKev won Best Hot Rod in the Suede Palace with his Nasty Habit Willys, he tried to keep it quiet. Scotty.
You can see all the contenders at the beginning of this album. ...and more of the winner here! Also posted on Hemmings Blog with my permission.
AWESOME cars this year! The Indy speedster was designed to be a driver in the old Indy style. Lots if fantastic photos you all have posted, and that auto week article is also fantastic! Thanks for all the compliments I will be sure to pass them along to all involved.
We all look at someone else's car and say "I would have done this or that differently", but the workmanship and care put into any car that gets on that floor is beyond what I can even begin to understand.........not to mention the money. Any of us who have been assembling a car when it is all painted and chromed know how easy it is to ding or scratch something and I would be a nervous wreck trying to assemble one of these cars with the expensive paint work and one off parts. I think the cars in this years lineup were closer to our roots than what we have seen in previous years and that is refreshing. Don
http://images59.fotki.com/v791/photos/6/9586/10368533/012712GNRS013-vi.jpg Picture caught my eye because that's Bill Lindig and his son Brad.
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