The 61st annual Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS), which will be held January 29-31, 2010, will honor one of the industry's youngest and most talented builders, Troy Ladd of Hollywood Hot Rods, as the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show's "Builder of the Year." Ladd, who has been building hot rods for over 20 years started Hollywood Hot Rods just seven years ago, will be presented with this esteemed award at the show this year at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
Says Troy, "Designing and building hot rods has been a passion for most of my life. Making the leap from a corporate suit-and-tie guy with a hot rod hobby to being a full-time hot rod builder is quite literally a dream come true." He continued, "When I decided I wasn't put here to be a project manager, I quit my job and used my entire life savings to open Hollywood Hot Rods. I had to sleep on the shop floor at night and lived on one McDonald's meal a day to survive. To go from that, which was just 7 years ago, to being 'Builder of the Year' at the most prestigious roadster show in the world is quite unbelievable."
Asked what his secret is, Troy says it's without a doubt doing right by people. This philosophy has paid off for Ladd. In seven short years he has built two 'America's Most Beautiful Roadster' (AMBR) runner-up cars ("Respect Tradition" and "Black Widow"), was named Goodguys' "Trendsetter of the Year" at the 2007 SEMA Show, has been featured numerous times on Discovery Channel and SPEED Channel shows including Rides and Hot Rod TV, and has been featured in over 60 publications. Ladd is also one of the youngest builders to receive the award, though he asked us to keep his age to ourselves... To learn more about Troy and Hollywood Hot Rods, check out his super cool site at http://www.hollywoodhotrods.com.
In addition to naming Troy Ladd "Builder of the Year", the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show promises to entertain with sought-after awards, special exhibits and notable personalities.
EXHIBITS, DISPLAYS & CELEBRITIES
- "History of the Race Car" - featuring stunning cars from years gone by including George Poteet's 401-mph record-setting Bonneville car, Dale Earnhardt's famous #3 car, an original legendary Panamericana race car and more
- Special Rod & Custom and Street Rodder exhibit of "Cover Cars." Includes the first cover car from the 1953 issue of Rods & Customs, plus 17 cover cars from years thereafter. The largest gathering of magazine cover cars ever assembled!
- Pin-Up Girl Contest - presented in conjunction with Car Kulture DeLuxe and 'Ol Skool Rodz, happening Saturday nite in the Suede Palace, complete with rockabilly entertainment.
- Appearance and signings by Lorenzo Lamas, former star of 'Falcon Crest' and 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and current star of new reality TV series 'Leave it to Lamas'; John Schneider of the famous 'Dukes of Hazard' TV series, award-winning builder Bobby Alloway (aka 'The East Coast Boyd Coddington'), bombshell, Erika Eleniak of Baywatch and The New Gilligan's Island and others
- See vehicles owned by stars such as James Hetfield of Metallica (built by Rick Dore) and actor Tim Allen from Home Improvement (built by Steve Moal) and Chip Foose of Overhaulin'
- George Barris and his brother Sam's infamous 'Hirohata Merc'
- 'Tall T' - deemed 'the biggest and fastest selling model car kit ever' as a 1/32 scale model
- The world's first solar-powered futuristic roadster, featured at the SEMA Show in November 2009 at General Motors' booth, designed by Wayne Cherry, world-renowned Corvette designer
- The 5th annual GNRS Pin Stripers Reunion. Come get your items striped by the best!
- 'The Drive-In,' on Sat and Sun, where show goers and 500 of their closest friends can show off their rides and enjoy outdoor entertainment.
AWARDS (just to name a few of the crowd favorites)
- The coveted "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" and "America's Most Beautiful Motorcycle" Awards
- The Al Slonaker Memorial Award (The founder of the GNRS)
- The George Barris Kustom d'Elegance Award
- The Chip Foose Design Excellence Award
- The Bruce Meyer Hot Rod Preservation Award
- The Brizio Family Award
- The Von Dutch Pin Striping Award.
A three-day event, the GNRS is the longest running indoor car show in the world and home to the coveted "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" Award - a perpetual 9 1/2 foot tall trophy that attracts the best roadsters from all over the world to compete in this historic annual event. There will also be on display the best custom cars, trucks, classics, motorcycles, and hot rods in the industry. Previous recipients include Boyd Coddington of "American Hot Rod" on the Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel's "Overhaulin'" star Chip Foose. For more information, please visit www.rodshows.com or call John Buck Enterprises at 1-877-ROD-SHOWS (1-877-763-7469).