The folks at Goodguys Rod and Custom Shows finished up their 35th season of nationwide car shows hosting the Fall Nationals Show in Scottsdale, AZ. Besides great weather for their car corral, swap meet and over 3,000 cars on asphalt and grass, they bring out their recognized top builds for one more look. During the year at select events, the folks at Goodguys select winners for some of their once a year awards. They also select finalists for some other awards and finally at this show they bring them all together to be seen in one space, at one time. These cars and trucks are used to bringing home the trophies, and included the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) and a Riddler Great Eight finalist. It is great chance to see what the top craftsmen can do with these classics. The Top Twelve include two trucks, so be sure and check out issue xx of Truck Round-Up for in-depth coverage of a 1934 Ford pickup and a sweet 1968 Chevy C10. But in these pages we'll cover the remaining ten cars. Read along and we'll have a quiz at the end.
Custom of the Year - 1949 Cadillac
This two door had a ton of body modifications starting with a chopped roofline and newer 1955 bumpers with flush mounted tail lights. It was powered by an LS3 engine and an Edelbrock intake. The interior had seats borrowed from a 2016 Mustang including both heating and air cooling available. The wood dash inserts came from Bed Wood (one of our advertisers) and added a huge pop to the interior.
Street Rod D'Elegance - 1940 Ford
Hard to argue that a 1940 Ford is a popular classic and this one proves why. They grafted on a 1949 cloth top and swapped in a 1939's fenders and grill. The Roadster Shop provided the frame and Wilwood brakes will slow down this one. A slick stack injection sat on top of a small block Chevy and they used a Bowler 4L60E automatic for the gear changer.
Hot Rod of the Year - 1932 Ford
This roadster also took home the AMBR award from Pomona, CA and it was easy to see why. The owner had owned it for years before letting Scott Bonowski from Hot Rods and Hobbies do his magic on it. That included an Ed Pink 401 ci Chevy with an eight stack electronic fuel injection. The rear end caught many an eye with a quick change rear end.
Street Machine of the Year - 1969 Camaro
This car just won the SEMA Battle of the Builders two weeks earlier and was produced by Detroit Speed. This black beauty also had an LS3 engine with a supercharger. This Camaro had undergone some heavy metal shaping with mods to just about every panel, removing the drip rails and adding mini tubs for the rear. The paint was drop dead awesome and the interior was all custom with Recaro seats.
Street Rod of the Year - 1929 Ford
Truth be told the paint scheme of this car didn’t pop out to me, but as they say different strokes for different folks. You couldn’t argue that a Model A has lots of room for changes and this one did it all with a chopped top, swept back A pillars and custom side panels. An Offenhauser intake sat on an aluminum small block Chevy with another Bowler transmission.
America's Most Beautiful Street Rod - 1936 Pontiac
This was a Great Eight finalist for the Riddler Award in Detroit and the bright white paint drew admiration during the whole show. A supercharged LT4 Corvette engine also caught some glances along with a sweet Kugel independent rear end. Body mods included stretching the body four inches, barely chopped the top, moved the headlights lower on those massive fenders and added custom bumpers and beltline trim.
Custom Rod of the Year - 1957 Chevy
Now some purists may scoff and say this isn’t a 57 Chevy, but the builder took "some" liberties to add his interpretation to the American classic. It might not look like the original, but after all how could it after chopping that top, adding a custom hood, grill and bumpers? The builder took liberties with the rear taillight and fin structure too. They added a custom front and rear independent suspension and slammed a huge 515 ci big block Chevy under the hood.
Muscle Car of the Year - 1969 Pontiac
This award typically goes to an over the top, spot on restoration. I doubt that this Judge left the factory looking this majestic. I have always admired the GTO Judge and this build was exceptional with a Carousel Red covering. The chassis was kept totally stock and that held a 400 ci Raim Air III engine and a Muncie four speed M-20. The stock interior had a Hurst shifter and vinyl seats just like it came with.
Muscle Machine of the Year - 1969 Charger
This 69 was the white bookend of the display and it was good for our retinas that they didn’t plop this Dodge next to the white Pontiac. The Charger sported a number of modifications, which complimented the original build without being too crazy or outrageous. Probably that hood air scoop was the most notable and obvious change. They planted a 426 ci Hemi under a Hilborn stack intake.
AutoCrosser of the Year - 1966 AC Cobra
Auto crossing involves driving on a coned course for the fastest times. The Goodguys have a 32 field shoot out at this show, from the circuit's fastest drivers and Scott Fraser drove the wheels off this Cobra for the win. The Cobra's owner has owned it since new and it now has an all aluminum fuel injected plant producing 820 horses for that light weight car. Maybe that's partially how he wheeled the Cobra to a winning time of just over 41 seconds.
Now for a game. Nine of these cars had a license plate attached to their car. Can you match the plates to the car? Drop me an e-mail and we'll identify the earliest correct winner in a future issue.
© 2019 Mark C. Bach