Darryl Starbird's 44th Annual Tulsa Rod and Custom Show - Tulsa Town

The Newmad '55 Nomad is a virtually handbuilt contemporary version of Chevy's innovative sports wagon. With every panel heavily "breathed on" by Steve Frisbie and his crew of journeymen metalshapers at Steve's Auto Restorations in Portland, OR, the tube-framed beauty looks more the part of a factory prototype than it does a custom, and that's the general idea. Steve was inducted into Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame in the Custom category at the show. An added bonus was that this masterpiece of a longroof created for Dave Hall of Phoenix, AZ, also copped a Fine Nine award.

Dick Price brought his very straight and very black '55 Ford Tudor sedan from Wichita, KS, to be chosen as a Fine Nine contender for the 20-grand, an honor in itself. With a 429 bolted to a C6 tranny, this 550hp hunk of gorgeous tin must be a real ground-pounder.

Cliff Starbird's Star Ship is based on a '72 Camaro, and it's usually found on display in the Starbird Museum in Afton, but it's no static display piece-not by a long shot. This feature car can get up and go, as you may remember from our February issue, where it was shown on the dragstrip in Salina, KS, runnin' the eighth-mile against Gary Meyers' bubbletopped Vampyre.

To all the kids who built the Monogram model, here's the genuine article: Darryl Starbird's Super Flecked Moonbird. No, wait a minute, that was what the character Toad called it in the iconic coming-of-age flick, American Graffiti. Yep, you guessed it; it's Starbird's custom opus, the one and only Predicta in all its recently restored beauty.

Elden Titus' acclaimed Voodoo Spider '60s-inspired show rod is a Starbird feature car that now resides in Darryl's museum in Afton, OK. Not just a static display, Elden has plans to take it to the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in July in Salina, KS, where it will be seen cruisin' the grounds. This thing really runs; I've ridden shotgun in it on the interstate, and it's an E-ticket ride, for sure!

Bob and Mary Mitchell displayed their competition-style Deuce five-window, El-Diablo, from North Platte, NE, and a beauty it was, with its SO-CAL-themed red and white paintjob. Beware, when a '32 has a solid grille insert and a Moon tank nestled between its horns, you just know that injected overhead under the full four-piece hood means business-doin' business on the quarter-mile, that is.

Ronnie Tartar of Oklahoma was on hand with his unchopped '32 Ford highboy five-window coupe in what looks like Ford Washington Blue and just the right hot rod look.

Darryl Starbird's latest personal feature car creation is the Deuzybird, a '34 Buick four-door sedan that had issues about bein' parked behind the barn for years. It just plain looked pitiful enough that Darryl, seeing its hidden potential, took pity on (and torch to) her, and the ol' gal was ready for a comeback within a few short weeks of l-o-n-g hours-and she's a "Deuzy."

Another Darryl Starbird feature car is his personal Crystal Ball Merc, which sports a '51 outer skin that was chopped, sectioned, and otherwise customized so it would fit an '87 Chrysler front-wheel-drive platform. Even most of the interior came directly from the donor car. Darryl's cars sometimes have names that predict(a) the future of not only customs but indeed the automobile itself, and his Crystal Ball is no exception.

Rick Nelson (no, not that Rick Nelson) built a '33 SpeedStar roadster that defines the breed. With loving attention to detail lavished on the 'glass bod and tubular chassis, Rick achieved his goal of having the outrageous red 'n' flamed hair-blower from Fayetteville, AR, bumped up a notch into the Fine Nine club.

Another Tulsa local, Chris Turner, showed his '39 Ford Standard Tudor all turned out in a '60s vibe. From polished five-spokes to scallops, what's not to like, especially when it brings back memories of a misspent youth!

Bavette Leeper of Tulsa, OK, brought out this great-looking, hot-rodded '41 Ford pickup, complete with primer and flames.

Ted and Sandy McCord are the owners of this cool li'l '27 T sedan. Chopped a full 10 inches, it's booted along by a Ford 390 running through an FX tranny to an Olds rearend. Ted's a drag racer, so you just know it's no garage queen, and there's nothing like a few Tommy The Greek-style scallops to top it off.

Darryl personally inductsworthy rodders into the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame. Steve Frisbie for Custom

Steve Stanford for the Designer's Hall of Fame

Bill Smith for the Lifetime Achievement Award

and Mark Moriarity as the Builder/Owner of the Year. Barry White (not pictured) was the inductee for the Rod category.