Reno

Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights

Big Name Cars Show Up at Hot August Nights …

RENO, NV– SATURDAY, August 2, 2014 — The promotion for the announcement of the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights was spectacular. It added a little drama when FOX unveiled each of the Top Five contenders for the Barrett-Jackson Cup during the broadcast of the Barrett-Jackson Reno Tahoe Auction. Each car was then rolled up on the stage.  The final car to be unveiled would be the winner. So the live crowd viewing the event at the Barrett-Jackson Auction went wild when the winner of the Barrett-Jackson Cup rolled up on the stage. It was a beautifully built 1957 Chevy Custom Pickup named “Quicksilver” by its owner Alan Beers of Owasso, Oklahoma. The builders of the car, Jason Smith and his father, Jim Smith, were on hand to accept the award.

Earlier in the week the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights created a buzz in the collector car community when it had been announced that the top show cars in the country were assembling in downtown Reno for the E. 4th Street Show & Shine. That is where the contenders for the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights are chosen by a panel of top judges. But why were all the top cars in the country coming to contend for the Barrett-Jackson Cup? “Huge money,” JF Launier of JK Kustoms told us. The winner of the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights was to win $30,000 in cash and another $27,000 in performance equipment and prizes. That is a total purse of$57,000.

The first time we ever saw the Barrett-Jackson Cup winner, a 1957 Chevy Custom Pickup called “Quicksilver,”  was at the Detroit Autorama in 2012 when it was a Great 8 pick. At that time we wrote, “It may be the finest classic pickup truck build of all time. You can’t stop looking at this 1957 Chevy Pickup owned by Alan Beers of Owasso, Oklahoma.” The bodywork on this incredible custom is stellar with every piece of metal being remolded to its current form. Every inch of the truck is custom refabricated in metal. The motor is a 540 BB Chevy breathing 650 horsepower through the stacked Crower intake. The builders were Hot-Rod Garage out of Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Hot-Rod Garage owners Jason Smith and his father Jim Smith were on hand last night to receive the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights.

Click on the above thumbnail images to see larger view of each photo. (Photos by Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com)

Top name judges such as custom car builder Bobby Alloway had been called in to pick the Top Five finalists. Then the Top Five would be paraded under police escort to the Reno Convention Center where they were to be driven up onto the stage.  The winner of the Barrett-Jackson Cup was announced on national TV on FOX Network channels.

The Top Five finalists for the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights included:

“Rivision” the 2014 Ridler Award winner, a 1964 Buick Riviera Custom.

So much has been written previously here on Cars On Line about the Ridler Award winner, a 1964 Buick Riviera Custom street machine called “Rivision.” When it won the Ridler Award in March 2014 we did a story on it. Click here to review what we wrote about “Rivision” and see photos. Today it will be one of the odds on favorites to win the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights.

Click thumbnail images to view high resolution photos.

1935 Chevy Phaeton, America’s Most Beautiful Roadster winner

Sitting on the corner of E. 4th Street and S. Virginia Street was the 1935 Chevy Phaeton which won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award this year at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. Out west the AMBR is the equivalent of the Ridler Award, reserved only for the “best of the best.” We noticed it was wearing “Finalist” ribbons denoting that it had been picked to contend for the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights. This was the first time in 66 years that a Chevrolet had ever won the AMBR award (all ’32 Fords up until this year.) The ’35 Phaeton belongs to Wes Rydell who commissioned Chip Foose to draw the car, and Troy Trepanier to build it. Those are some pretty good credentials.

Click on the thumbnail images to view larger photos.

1932 Ford Fordor, 2014 Goodguys Street Rod of the Year

Here is another street rod that our newsletter readers will be familiar with … the 1932 Ford Fordor Sedan that just won the 2014 Goodguys Street Rod of the Year award at Columbus. (Click here for the story in our archive section.) It is owned by Don and Carolyn Smith out of Mansfield, Texas. This is a very detailed “old school” street rod. You will notice from the photos below that it uses an old racing style shifting linkage. It preserves the racing heritage that made hot rodding exist today.

Click thumbnail images to view larger photos.

1967 Chevy Nova Resto Mod, 2014 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year

Starting on Saturday morning there were 25 contenders for the Barrett-Jackson Cup award all assembled in the Reno Ballroom on E. 4th Street in downtown Reno. All of the owners of these top 25 cars and trucks told us they were just happy to be in the room and being considered for the award. Here are some of the stunning cars chosen to the top 25 contenders for the Barrett-Jackson Cup.

Doug and Flo Hoppe out of Sioux Center, Iowa brought their fresh 1935 Ford Woodie Sedan to the show. The Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights will be the first time it has been shown anywhere. Of course, their never was a Woodie Sedan. That’s part of the fun of building a resto rod, making it a one-off. Doug had drawings done to build the car by noted designer Eric Brockmeyer of Florida and Brian Stabski of California. Then the build was done by Tracy Weaver at his shop, The Recovery Room in Omaha, Nebraska. When all of the custom metal fabrication was complete, Brad Starks of Kentucky air brushed on the faux “wood look” paint. Custom one-off wheels were made by Greening in Nashville, Tennessee. Advance Plating in Florida did all the brightwork. A custom designed dash was sketched out and sent to Classic Instruments to produce, and then air brushed to match the “wood look.” The steering wheel was from a Mercury wood boat. As a resto rod, this custom was designed to retain its classic look. The headliner is made of actual wood.

Click on the thumbnail images to view larger photos.

Certainly one of the most memorable classic customs to appear at the show was a 1954 Chevy Futurliner, the invention of a Canadian from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Russ Moen brought his incredible custom creation, a 1954 Chevrolet Cabover with a classic styled camper body attached. Although it looks like an Airstream, Russ says it is purely his own creation. He did all the carpentry inside himself. He also did the metal fabrication and created the retro looking dually wheel fender treatment. The truck has a turbocharged 6-cylider diesel motor. The quality of the work and the immense attention to detail caught the eye of the judges for the Barrett-Jackson Cup here as it appeared on E. 4th Street during the 2014 Hot August Nights.

Click thumbnail images above to see larger view of each photo.

Another car built by Troy Trepanier showed up here for the Barrett-Jackson Cup at 2014 Hot August Nights. It is the 1956 Buick 2-Door Post which was selected to the Great 8 in 2013. The Rad Rides by Troy team created a contender for another Ridler Award for owners Mark and Ellen Willman of Davenport, Iowa. Trepanier is a wizard with digital fuel-injection so he put a 413 Buick Nailhead engine in this one with a Twin Turbo package. He also used black nickel plating to create the unusual look. Add in a Bowler transmission and Rad Rides signature Wilwood 6- and 4- piston calipers, and you have a very unusual classic custom. Advanced Plating of Nashville did the unique chrome pieces. You can look at this one for hours and not see all the subtle custom tweaks.

Click thumbnail images above to see larger view of each photo.

A mean looking 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible known as “The Godfather” was chosen as one of the Top 25 finalists in the Barrett-Jackson Cup award competition. It is one of only 30 convertible Max Wedge Plymouths produced.

On Thursday morning the 2014 Ridler Award winner, Rivision, a 1964 Buick Riviera Custom street machine showed up here and caused quite a stir. In addition the 2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award winner, a 1935 Chevy Phaeton built by Troy Trepanier was displayed on E. 4th Street with a “Finalist” ribbon hung inside. Both cars will vie for the Barrett-Jackson Cup today along with recently announced winners of the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year winner and the Goodguys Street Rod of the Year award winners. This is the most high powered custom car competition ever held here in the United States or the world, for that matter.

What brought so many great cars to compete for the Barrett-Jackson Cup award we asked L.F. Launier as he prepped his Rivision, 1964 Buick Riviera Custom, for the show? “Huge money,” was his answer. “For once somebody is offering big money for us to bring our cars. It’s about time.” Launier is referring to the huge purse being offered for winning the Barrett-Jackson Cup this year.  The Barrett-Jackson Cup winner will take home the top prize of $57,000 ($30,000 in cash and $27,000 in high performance equipment.) Second place gets $27,000 (including $18,000 in cash and $9,000 in prize equipment.)

The buzz here in Reno all week has been about the top cars in the country arriving here at Hot August Nights to compete for the Barrett-Jackson Cup. In only its second year, the Barrett-Jackson Cup is already getting more attention than the Ridler Award, America’s Most Beautiful Roadster or the Goodguys’s Street Rod of the Year award. In fact, the 2014 Ridler Award winner, two 2014 Goodguys Car of the Year winners and the 2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award winner all showed up here in Reno for the Barrett-Jackson Cup competition. There is a reason why all of these top show cars are here. Read our  Barrett-Jackson Cup™ story to find out.

Bob Johnson, in charge of promoting the Barrett-Jackson Cup competition, told us they are hoping to make the top prize $100,000 some day. For now, the opportunity to make big money for winning a top award is enough to bring some of the top cars in the country to compete here.

Champion builders in the hobby, Bobby Alloway, Pete Chapouris and Bob Millard,  will judge a total of 25 cars from the downtown Reno “Show and Shine” car shows. The Top Five cars will be announced on Saturday. About 5 o’clock on Saturday they will be paraded to the Reno Convention Center where the Barrett-Jackson Auction will be concluding. The winner of the Barrett-Jackson Cup will be announced on the stage of the Barrett-Jackson Auction with a live TV audience watching. Now, that’s the kind of promotion we like.