2015 Grand National Roadster Show

1933 Ford Roadster wins America's Most Beautiful Roadster Award — Larry Olson’s 1933 Ford Roadster just won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show. It was built at Bobby Alloway’s shop in Tennessee.

1933 Ford Roadster built by Bobby Alloway
is 2015 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster …

Larry Olson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota asked Bobby Alloway to build his 1933 Ford Roadster, and the rest is now hot rod history. This stunning flamed ’33 roadster has won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy for 2015. The announcement was just made at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. The awards ceremony at the GNRS just concluded and Olson’s 1933 Ford Roadster announcement was the finale of a great weekend event held at the Pomona Fairplex.

1933 Ford Roadster for America's Most Beautiful Roadster — Stunning scallop style PPG flames and brilliant chrome set this 1933 Ford Roadster apart from the rest. It was built at Bobby Alloway’s shop for Larry Olson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The interior was done by Steve Holcomb’s Pro Auto Upholstry. (Click any photo for a larger view.)

Long and low and crouched across its show display like a flaming black panther, the 1933 Ford Roadster looked like the car to beat today. Alloway has set many trends in street rod building and his roadsters are famous. This one was stretched an extra two inches for a look and stance that is perfect. The secret to the car is in the details. The lines are simple and smooth, enhanced by perfectly formed steel body panels and gaps. It has Alloway wheels which complement the stance.

The engine is a 241 ci Dodge Red Ram Hemi fed by six Stromberg 97s set up in an original old school style. What you can’t see is the fuel injectors hidden in the cylinder heads. The car has a Tremec T-5 transmission, Winters Performance V8 Quick Change rearend, Posie suspension parts and Billet Specialties. An old school custom black interior was done by Steve Holcomb Pro Upholstry.

Olson brought the flamed black roadster to the 66th Annual Grand National Roadster Show to win the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy. And that is what he did.

Cars On Line Facebook followers also picked Larry Olson’s 1933 Ford Roadster as their favorite to be America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. COL readers were placing their “unofficial votes” for the AMBR winner on our Facebook page. The ’33 Roadster got 441 likes on Saturday, most of any of the AMBR contenders. Our readers agreed with the AMBR judges here in Pomona.

There were 18 entrants in the AMBR competition this year. We’ll show you the whole field here below.:

The Grass Hopper, a replica of the 1915 Ford T Roadster — The Grass Hopper, built in tribute to the 1915 Ford T-Roadster which graced the cover of Hot Rod Magazine back in the day when Hot Rod was just getting started. Sponsored by Galpin Ford. It has a ’49 Olds 303 mill now 461 ci displacemet, a Tom Beatty equipped 471 pruned blower, 1937 LaSalle transmission and Hallibrand Quick Change rear end. Brought to the show and owned by Beau Boeckmann of North Hills, California. (Click on the photos to see larger view.)

1934 Ford Rats Glass Roadster for AMBR at the Grand National Roadster Show — Jack and Gail Taylor of Knoxville, Tennessee brought their black 1934 Speedstar Spyder to Pomona to compete in the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster competition. The glass roadster has a perfect body and paint. While most AMBR entrants were built by pro shops, Jack built his glass roadster in one stall of his garage at home. “Everything from the radiator back was done by me,” he told us. The Rats Glass body was transformed to a hidden top cabriolet by cutting and hinging the body section between the cockpit and trunk – it’s power operated. A Mazda Miata top frame was modified to fit. The powertrain is one of a kind. He used Nissan’s 5.6L aluminum DOHC 32-valve motor from the full size trucks (Titan) and mated it to a 6-speed manual via adapter plate. The grill was fab’d using 1/4″ aluminum plate. Hood extended accordingly and is powered. “The IFS is my own engineering using a pair of Helix spindles,” he said. The upper a-arms are fully adjustable where the aftermarket kits are not. (Click on photo of the front end below to see what he means. The IRS is a 5-link built around an Infiniti differential. “The links, inboard brakes, hub carriers, etc was my creation.” We think there out to be a category for home built cars. We applaud Jack for his achievement. (Click the thumbnail photos for larger view.)

Disabili-T, a 1926-27 Ford T Roadster — Disabili-T, a 1927 Ford T-Roadster which took ten years to build. Owner is Bert Diehl, Jr, of Mesa, Arizona. It has a real Model B engine with a Serr-Miller overhead valve conversion with Imagine Injection. All the work was completed by Charly’s Garage. (Click on the photos to see larger view.)

1927 Ford Altered T Roadster — Urban Hirsch of Stanton, California brought his 1927 Ford Roadster to the Grand National Roadster Show to compete in the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster class. This exquisitely done altered turtleback was designed and built by Chopit Kustom. They modified the original steel body, hand formed the altered racing nose and did the Kandy paint. (Click photos to view high resolution pictures.)

1928 Ford Roadster — 1928 Ford Veloce Spyder Track T Roadster has a modified racing theme. It was entered by owner Willard Stryker of Penngrove, California. (Click photos to view larger pictures.)

Robert Hoffman of Stockholm, Sweden had his 1930 Ford Roadster shipped here to compete in the show. He finished it here just three days ago in time for th competition for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster.

A gorgeous 1931 Ford Roadster Pickup was entered in the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster competition by owner Ted Davis of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They call it Ted’s Red Wagon. It was built by Davis and his “Pit Crew.”

Gene and Pat Hetland of Oak Grove, Minnesota brought their 1932 Ford Roadster called the Nickel 3 to the Grand National Roadster Show this weekend. It will be competing for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy. The body and cowl were built to emulate the flowing lines of a ’36 Ford. It has a polished stainless steel top.

1932 Ford Psycho Roadster — Look at that engine. Michael Gordon of San Diego, California had this 1932 Ford Roadster he calls Psycho built to his taste. That incredible 428 ci motor was built out to 1500 horsepower. Our observation: Psycho is a disturbed custom with monster power. (Click photos for a larger view.)

Beautifully designed 1932 Ford Roadster — Per Martinsen is from Oslo, Norway although he had this 1932 Ford Roadster built here in the U.S. Styled like an early Ford racer it has an amazing Flathead V8 engine 284 ci with Navarro heads, polished SCOT supercharger with Stromberg 97s.

1927 Ford Model T called the Mint-T — Dawn and Dustin Smith of Spokane, Washington brought one of the most unusual roadsters to the Grand National Roadster Show. Their 1927 Ford Model T Runabout was built the way they might have done it in the 1940’s. The frame was fabricated with slight kickups but has most of the same dimensions as the original T would have. The 4 cylinder Flathead was from a ’31 Model A and has been rebuilt. Dustin did the paint and body himself. It has unusual leather treatments in the interior. They call it the Mint-T. (Click photos to see larger pictures.)

We found this 1932 Ford Diachuk Roadster setting in one of the best displays here this weekend. The styling on this custom roadster will make you look. The car is owned by Jerry Logan of Hillsboro, Oregon and was built by Bob Diachuk. The car is named in his honor.

The Sun Seeker, a beautiful pearled silver 1932 Ford Roadster Pickup, was built by its owner Steve Lykken of Solvang, California. The interior was done by Sid Chavers. Those are Budnick billet Lyon wheels. (Click on the photos to see larger view.)

1932 Ford Roadster contender for America's Most Beautiful Roadster trophy — The 1932 Ford Rivet Roadster was brought here to the Grand National Roadster Show to compete for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy by Sue and Larry Christensen of Fountain Hills, Arizona. All the rivet panels were done by Frank Wallic. It has a Chrysler 392 ci Hemi motor, Tremec 600 5-speed and a Winters V8 Quick Change rear end. (Click on the photos to see larger view.)

1936 Ford Roadster for America's Most Beautiful Roadster trophy — Ross Meyers of Boyertown, Pennsylvania bought this 1936 Ford Roadster at the age of 13. His dreams of making it a top quality hot rod were dashed when a drunk driver T-boned it. Fourty years later Ross finished the car and brought it to the Grand National Roadster Show to compete for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy. (Click the photos to view larger images.)

1933 Chevy Master Roadster for America's Most Beautiful Roadster — Here is the roadster to beat. A 1933 Chevy Master Roadster with a rumble was entered into the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster competition here at the Grand National Roadster Show by Greg and Dottie Meyer of Tigard, Oregon. The enthusiastic couple brought an entourage of helpers all wearing the “ADMEYER” logo, the nickname of their car. (Click any photo for a larger view.)

1934 Ford Roadster for America's Most Beautiful Roadster trophy — This 1934 Ford Roadster owned by Dale Fode of Redwood City, California was designed and built by Mark Willis and Bob Stewart. The paint is by Mark Willis Custom Painting. It has a Supercharged LS7 and Kugel suspension. It is the only ’34 Ford in the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster competition. (Click any photo for a larger view.)

Other Car Show Categories …

The America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award is just one of the many judged categories at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show. There were more than 500 cars competing in categories such as Custom Hardtop, Radical Custom Hardtop, Radical Custom Convertible and more. Be sure to read our coverage of some of the Top Cars at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show at this link.

This was one of our favorites:

1950-mercury-kustom — Here is a 1950 Mercury Lead Sled with the most extreme chop we’ve even seen. The Merc was called “Tuffenough” and was entered in the Radical Hardtop category. Click here to review other show cars in various categories, including Lowriders and Classic Customs.

While we were here at the Pomona Fairplex we couldn’t resist the opportunity to explore the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. You can’t imagine the feeling of looking at the cars that were the heritage of the California hot rodding hobby. Standing there in the museum was like retracing the beginnings of our American car culture.

NHRA-Museum — Here is a look at one of the new displays at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at the Pomona Fairplex. We visited the museum while covering the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show. Click here to view more of the cars and heritage of California hot rodding.

Our Cars On Line newsletter readers are very aware of the 1935 Chevy Phaeton owned by Wes Rydell which won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award in 2014. It was built by noted street rod and custom designer Troy Trepanier at his Rad Rides by Troy facility in Manteno, Illinois. Rad Rides by Troy is now considered one of the premier hot rod shops in America. This car was in contention for the Barrett-Jackson Cup at Hot August Nights in 2014 (follow this link to read more about the incredible competition at Hot August Nights last year.)

Wes Rydell's 1935 Chevy Phaeton — Wes Rydell’s 1935 Chevy Phaeton was the winner of the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy in 2014. This car was built by Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides by Troy.

Show promoters have really done a great job in bringing thousands of cars to this years event. It is the biggest street rod show in the country. The America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award is one of the most coveted trophies in the street rod hobby.

We were here at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show this weekend to find out which of the 18 contestants would win the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award this year. The venue is the Pomona Fairplex which is also the home of the NHRA Museum so we get a chance to see both when we cover this show. It is the 66th Annual Grand National Roadster Show which was held January 23-25, 2015. It is in its 11th year here at the Fairplex. Previously it had for decades been known as the Oakland Roadster Show.

They say over 500 show vehicles were here to compete for awards inside all of the Fairplex buildings. Show promoters were surprised to find that thousands more vehicles have joined the event Saturday & Sunday for the 9th Annual Grand Daddy Drive-In.

1933 Ford Roadster

2015 Grand National Roadster Show