Street Machine of the Year Award
“Understated.” That’s how photo-jounalist Bob Boberg described a 1967 Chevy Nova resto mod custom when it won the 2014 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year title here in Columbus, Ohio this evening. No shiny chrome, no high rise engine sticking out of the hood, no bling! This low key rocket is an exquisite example of today’s modern technology influencing the custom car hobby.
Some of the top names in the hobby were involved with this car. It was painted by Charley Hutton of Charley Hutton Color Studio, famous for his work on many Ridler Award winners. It has a custom one-off interior that was designed by Eric Brockmeyer and fabricated by Extreme Performance. The engine is a NASCAR engine from Rick Hendrick. It is a small block Chevy 355 SB2. Tim Allen told us it was rated at 850 base horsepower at the rear wheels. It uses Precision turbos with custom fabricated manifolds. Click here for an in-depth look at the 1967 Chevy Nova when it was a Great 8 finalist for the Ridler Award.
Miranda Built, a Florida custom car design shop did the design and build. It was their idea to wire the car to be controlled by an iPad or iPhone. The Ride Tech Shock Waves and all the electronics are controlled with an iPad screen in the dash utilizing an ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System. The Budnick Gasser D wheels are custom colored to fit the design and paint of the overall car.
Earlier on Saturday, the 2014 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year top five finalists had been chosen. Here are the Top 5 as given to us by Goodguys Rod & Custom Association:
-Angelo Vespi, St Augustine, FL, 1969 Chevy Camaro
-Steve Smith, Manchester, NH, 1958 Corvette
-JF Launier, Osyoos, BC, 1964 Buick Riviera
-Steve Tornari, Palm City, FL, 1967 Chevy Nova
-Dom & Becky Farbo, Williamsville, NY, 1965 Mustang
About twenty cars were pulled into the indoor display where the Street Machine of the Year award contenders will be announced here on Saturday. We were here at the 2014 Goodguys Columbus Nationals where the tension was mounting for the car owners who entered their custom muscle cars in the Street Machine of the Year Award competition. Five cars were picked for the final judging here by mid-day on Saturday.
Here are more of the top cars we saw in the 2014 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year competition:
