Grand National Roadster Show 2004

By the time someone turns 55, you'd expect them to be pretty well set in their ways (the phrase, "Can't teach an old dog new tricks," comes to mind). So when the folks who run the Grand National Roadster Show--nicknamed the "Granddaddy of Them All" because it's the country's oldest indoor hot rod car show series--decided to move the California-based event 400 miles south from the San Francisco Bay Area to the L.A. County Fairplex in Pomona (about 40 miles east of Los Angeles), tongues started to wag.

Moving out of its Oakland home after 1997, the GNRS bounced around to three different venues in San Fran's Bay Area. Something needed to happen to keep the show alive, in both a business sense as well as for the participants. Dan Cyr, who bought the show (along with the Sacramento Autorama) from the late Don Tognotti at the 50th anniversary event in 1999, saw the need to expand and polish what many people consider to be the crown jewel of indoor hot rod shows.

But where can you hold a show that comes with 55 years of history? When folks heard that the Pomona Fairplex would be the site for the 2004 show, some thought it wouldn't fly. But as it turned out, they were dead wrong and, as NHRA founder and Grand National Hall of Fame member Wally Parks (who turned 91 the weekend of the show) succinctly put it: "There will be many people who are going to wish they were here for the first one," and he couldn't have been more correct.

The Fairplex facility is a sprawling venue that covers 487 acres. On the west end is the famous Pomona Dragstrip, where the NHRA holds its Winternationals and World Final drag races each year, and the parking lot and picnic area of the fairgrounds (part of the site's 250 acres of paved parking) are where the L.A. Roadsters hold their annual Father's Day show. On the east end of the grounds is the Wally Parks NHRA Museum and just behind it are the three buildings that were used to house this year's GNRS.

Many years from when the show used to run 10 days (!), the GNRS is now three days long--Friday through Sunday--with set-up on Thursday. The type of cars generally entered in indoor car shows varies around the country and, for this event, very few motorcycles were accepted and no boats were shown. That left hot rods and customs to fill the halls, with a lot of roadsters making up the hot rod portion of the entries.

The big award at this show (big because it's 9 feet tall, but also because it's 55 years old) is, of course, the America's Most Beautiful Roadster (or AMBR) award. Awarded to a roadster that is of a pre-'38 design, the AMBR has had its controversy over the years (remember the XR-6 or the California Star?), and it's partially responsible for the separation that exists between "show guys" and "go guys."

Some builders who have wanted to win the award have slowly taken the drivability of the cars out of the equation, opting for perfection of design and detail and erasing any possibility for road rash or paint chips (there have been, however, exceptions along the way, such as Richard Berg's Impact roadster, which won the AMBR in 2001 and now has 5,000 miles on it). A few years ago, the method of choosing the AMBR went strictly by the points--whoever had the most points recorded on the judge's sheets won. The downside to that method was that the "beautiful" part of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award was not addressed.

Nowadays, if you think your car is qualified to be an AMBR contender, you pay your $100 fee and are then entered with all the others who feel the same way about their roadster. This year, after the points were tallied in the AMBR class, the top four or five points leaders (in no particular order) were then added to a sheet that was given to a group of industry folk, who then chose which they felt was the "most beautiful" from that elite group. If the result of the group votes are close, show owner Dan Cyr makes the decision, but if it's a landslide, he doesn't need to. That is the system that is in place for future shows.

The problem is, there's no clear-cut way to determine something as subjective as "beauty." Who's to say one car's more beautiful than another. The only way to further refine the method of determining a winner would be to have the judges spend 15 minutes with each owner/builder so that they could plead their case--as even the judges can't possibly see everything done to every car. It still means there is only one winner and the rest are, err, "non winners," which means there will always be people who've spent an inappropriate amount of money on a ride that will come away with only a runners-up trophy. But that's the dance they went to, so they shouldn't complain about the outcome, even though they will.

There were many other awards handed out both great and small at this year's event, and you can find a list of winners on the Web site created by the show's producers at www.hotrodshows.com. And though the AMBR took center stage for most folks, there were still many other things to do and see at the GNRS. Over in the corner of the main hall was a collection of photography by Jim Handy, who has been covering the GNRS for most of its (and his) life. From early black and white promotional photos to the wild creations of the '60s and early '70s, Handy's photos depict the full spectrum of what the show is all about. On Saturday, the GNRS Hall of Fame ceremony began with a roll call (where every member stands while the entire members list is read). It's an incredible collection of those who have paved the way for the rest of us--hot rod heroes one and all. The induction of four individuals was next, which included painter extraordinaire Darryl Hollenbeck, customizer Frank DeRosa, Jr., Detroit car designer Larry Erickson, and a posthumous induction of builder/painter Bill DeCarr.

It's too bad the public wasn't allowed to participate in or view the proceedings, though. With all of the history that surrounds this event, the Hall of Fame should be accessible to the folks who would appreciate seeing the legends of the hobby. Maybe next year the organizers can find a way to expand the function to include separate seating for those who would like to hear and see their hot rod heroes.

On Sunday evening trophies were handed out and, of the 15 cars in contention at this year's show for the AMBR, the winner was Charlie Lambetecchio of Fresno, California, with his yellow and silver '36 Ford roadster. Charlie has been very busy lately campaigning his ride around the country, winning the top award at Blackie's Fresno Autorama last year, a Great Eight spot in the Ridler race at Detroit earlier this year, and a Most Elegant Rod at the San Francisco Rod, Custom, and Motorcycle show a few months ago.

Though nearly 300 vehicles fit into the three halls used, there is talk of expanding the show to fill five buildings next year. With a scale model expo, bands playing on stage, NFL cheerleaders signing autographs, and more than 100 specialty vendors filling the three halls this year it sounds like they could use the extra space! Though it was a big step (show owner Dan Cyr called it an "exciting but scary decision") to move the event to SoCal, it looks like it paid off big for Cyr, judging by the elbow-to-elbow crowd on Saturday. With SoCal being the birthplace of hot rodding, having a historic event like the Grand National Roadster Show in its backyard is appropriate. The second year at a new location is always harder than the first but, after 55 years of practice, the Grand National Roadster Show seems to be getting better with age!

History was alive and well at the GNRS Hall of Fame induction ceremony held inside the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (photo A), which is on the grounds of the Fairplex. At one table you could find any number of hot rod heroes. One table had Bud Coons, Eric "Rick" Rickman, Wally Parks, and Tex "LeRoi" Smith seated together (photo B). Inducted this year were painter Darryl Hollenbeck, designer Larry Erickson, customizer Frank DeRosa, Jr., and, posthumously, builder/painter Bill DeCarr (photo C, left to right). After the festivities, members of the Hall of Fame gathered for a group photo under the big statue of Wally Parks (photo D).

The Deadliners is the fictional car club made up of the editors of STREET RODDER who wanted to show the projects they are driving and currently working on. Some folks wondered why the cars weren't clean of dirt, or even finished for that matter, but the magazine's staff showed they are like everybody else, with hopes of someday finishing the rides they're working on! That's Eric Geisert's Ravon Retro Rod driver next to the M2000 and McMullen clone roadsters, Ron Ceridono's Hemified Deuce sedan, as well as Brian Brennan's Lakester driver parked next to the late Gray Baskerville's roadster, now owned by Jim Shelton (father to SRM staffer Chris Shelton). B'Ville's roadster won the Brizio Family Award, given to a rod that has seen some road miles, and Gray's has over 300,000 miles on it! The '33 Ford 2003 Road Tour roadster and the magazine's most current project--the Cyber T--were also on display.