The Granddaddy Hoedown

The Grand National Roadster Show was the first "Big One," and it's still the last word

By Chris Shelton

It's the Granddaddy of them all, and it didn't get its name without merit. Winning the big cheese, the highly coveted America's Most Beautiful Roadster award, has carried significant weight for over half a century. The notoriety and subsequent publicity can literally make or break a shop and shape styling trends for years to come. For that reason, the Grand National Roadster Show has few peers.

This year's event certainly lived up to the esteem. First, the big news: George Lange got his name on the big trophy for his Bobby Alloway-built '32 Ford. When we saw the car prior to the show (and subsequently placed it prominently on the Feb. '02 cover), we knew it had what it took. For the record, it's a De Ley-bodied masterpiece and it's no stretch to say it's the most detailed piece to roll from Alloway's shop--and that's saying something.

But Lang's award wasn't a shoo-in, by any stretch of the imagination. A complete underdog, Ralph Arias (no relation to the piston manufacturer), gave all the pro-builders something to think about. Arias showed up with a homebuilt, textbook example of a hot rod that showed every bit of innovation, skill, and detail as any pro-built AMBR contender.

Arias, with the help of friends and neighbors, sculpted several ingenious one-off creations including a spreader bar from a solid stainless billet, a flawless #8-polished stainless floor, and combination headlight stands/shock mounts that plugged into machined sockets imbedded in the frame.

Bob Cutler showed up with a wild interpretation of the venerable Deuce. His Harry Bentley Bradley-designed creation featured artfully finessed lines, a rather trick headlight design, a very unorthodox Jaguar V-12, and a litany of small details and handmade components.

Even 2001's Builder of the Year, Leonard Lopez, bade for the big trophy with John Decker's '32 Ford, Dominator II, a car based largely on Lopez' 2001 AMBR contender. The second incarnation featured similar attention to detail, but with a few changes. In total, some 16 entrants enlisted for the AMBR-only class--which makes things easier to digest and gives more obtainable cars a chance at glory in the regular roadster classes. It's the second year the Cyr group used the exclusive class, and it's a welcome break and a good distinction.

This year's event certainly marked the year for customs. While John D'Agostino didn't build a contender for this year, Richard Zocchi held up the honors with not one, but two cars: a '57 Ford and a '62 Pontiac (the latter a clone of a car he built that won in 1962, but this time with a chopped lid).

Jim "Bones" Noteboom displayed his radical '39 Lincoln Zephyr woodie wagon, while former Rod & Custom editor Bud Millard resurrected one of Bill Cushenberry's heavily worked pieces, a '58 Chevy. On the resurrection theme, Jim and Stacy Breazeale found the Busonic '55 Buick, wrenched it from its three-decade dormancy, and had it on the show floor as well. One of the New Guard, 30-something builder Andre Carey, brought out his latest creation, Jim Rydelius' '60 Ford, while Tom Compton showed his generation-melding drop-top '46 Buick. The custom is alive and well, indeed.

While the National Roadster Show itself started in 1949 (actually, Al Slonaker added the "Grand" in 1962), promoters knew they'd created something historic by the '60s. In 1961 they started marking the industry's movers and shakers with an official ceremony. This year Chip Foose, Dan Fink, Allen Taylor, and Jim Handy won induction into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame.

Foose, now sharing the position with his father Sam, who was inducted in 1995 (the only other father/son inductees we know of being Andy and Roy Brizio), certainly earned his recognition: four America's Most Beautiful Roadster awards, five Street Rod of the Year awards, the Plymouth Prowler, and the distinction of one of his body designs winning AMBR this year (Mercel De Ley at Custom Metal Shaping in Corona, CA, initially built the body per Chip's designs). Oh yeah, Chip's also the youngest Hall of Fame inductee.

Fink has the enviable honor of claiming a good number of the grilles on the show floor--or at any rod gathering--as his own. He performed much of the work on Vern Luce's '33 Ford coupe (a 1981 GNRS class winner) and gets the credit for the grille on Wes Rydell's Grand Master '35 Chevy--2002's Detroit Autorama's Ridler award winner. Either via parts or metal shaping, Fink's work has appeared on at least 58 magazine cover cars.

Taylor gained recognition on the ISCA show circuit with CUBIK, a full-custom '57 Buick. He eventually graduated from competitor to ISCA official, and ultimately to ISCA judge in 1975. You've also seen Handy's work; save for one event, he's photographed every Grand National Roadster Show since 1962, including the shot of Paul Trussel's car from 2002's event (thanks, Jim!).

Each year, GNRS exposes up-and-coming builders, thereby promoting fresh talent. This year they named Santa Rosa, California's Creative Concepts as Builders of the Year. You'd be hard pressed to find talent this good and established any younger, though; proprietors Dennis Hartwig and Zane Cullen barely cracked the 30 mark as of this writing. They've won or placed consistently in the past decade with everything from cruisers to AMBR-contending roadsters. They've even moved into the manufacturing arena with the proprietary windshield they displayed last year on Rich and Terri Stadelhofer's class-winning roadster.

So you could say that even after five decades and competition with a Raiders-hosted playoff game the same weekend, the Grand National Roadster Show still packs enough punch to maintain its top dog ranking. We'll see you there next year!