For the hot rod and custom world, there are a handful of iconic shows that bring out the best this hobby and lifestyle has to offer. The Grand National Roadster Show is certainly toward the top of that list, as it features hundreds of high end hot rods, customs and more on the grounds of the Pomona Fairplex. The Grand National Roadster Show is home to several highly coveted awards, including the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. This 9-foot trophy is a legendary piece of hot rod history and having your name etched into it is one of the highest achievements any owner or builder can reach. While the AMBR award gets a lot of attention, there are several buildings packed with awesome cars, all with unique features and histories. We always enjoy the Suede Palace, as all of the cars are either historic hot rods or historically accurate to the 1950's and 1960's. This year, the Grand National Roadster Show even had a building full of muscle cars, a new twist for the event. The muscle car
The highly contested America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is something that every hot rodder dreams about. The award is presented each year at the Grand National Roadster Show and the intense level of competition inspires some of the most creative and stylish hot rods in the world. This year, the winner of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is the 1931 Ford roadster, known as the Martin Special. The highly customized roadster is owned by David Martin, and built by Scott Bonowski and crew at Hot Rods & Hobbies in Signal Hill, California. The car features a massaged body, and a chassis that is tweaked and tuned for performance. Before the car was finished, David entered it in the Silver State Classic open-road race in Nevada, running in the 100mph class. The car worked flawlessly, and so it was torn apart to be painted and upholstered. The car has an Ed Pink small block Chevy, making 500 horsepower, and it's putting it to the ground through a set of our
AMBR--it's one of those special type of acronyms that hot rodders know and love. It stands for America's Most Beautiful Roadster. It's an award given out at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California, and it's only given to one car per year. The workmanship and talent displayed in the contenders is always impressive and this year was no different--and you can stay tuned for more updates on the AMBR contenders later this week. For now, we want to announce the AMBR 2016 winner, Darryl and Terri Hollenbeck's 1932 Ford roadster. This car was built by Dan Webb, Cory Taulbert and Darryl himself, with final assembly by Bill Ganahl, South City Rod and Custom, and Jack Stratton. Bodywork and paint is by Darryl Hollenbeck's Vintage Color Studio, while the upholstery is stitched by Sid Chavers. A truly traditional hot rod, the roadster has the perfect stance, which is accompanied by none other than Firestone Deluxe Champion bias ply tires. The fronts are
Every year, we make our way out to the Grand National Roadster Show, held at the Pomona Fairplex in sunny Southern California. It's the place where the America's Most Beautiful Roadster is crowned, and it's also an awesome place to see hot rods, customs, gassers, low riders and more. Although there are some exceptions, nearly everything on the grounds is sitting on tires and/or wheels from Coker Tire, so it's a great place for us to take a bunch of pictures and show off some of our product. Take a look at our 40 favorite photos from the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show and also, watch our Instagram feed and Facebook page for up-to-the-minute posts from the show!
Oh, and you thought we forgot about the Suede Palace at the Grand National Roadster Show? We park our big trailer just outside the door at the Palace, so it's convenient for us to sneak in there and grab pictures from time to time. We got most of our pictures on Friday, because it's tough to get cool pictures of the cars when there is such a big crowd. The Suede Palace is THE place to see the coolest traditional hot rods, customs and gassers, so there is a lot of Coker tires and wheels in there!
We soaked up all of the So-cal goodness we could in the week we spent out there. Our main objectives were to attend the MPMC conference and to meet and greet at our Grand Opening party for the new West Coast facility. However, a bonus for this trip included the Grand National Roadster Show. We set up as a vendor at the show, and it's one of our favorite events of the year, so we made our way around the event to photograph all the cool stuff. Here's what we found!
The America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is one of the most prestigious awards in the hot rod world, and it's given away every year at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. We were on hand for the Roadster Show, and speculated that John Mumford's 1927 Ford Track-T roadster would take home the 8-foot tall trophy, and we were right! John's roadster is top notch in every way, and it fully deserves the AMBR title. Since it wears a set of Firestone Deluxe Champion tires, we figured you might want to see more of it!
Winter time for us southerners is quite tough! We struggle to make it through the winter without getting cabin fever, but Southern California hot rodders can get out all year long! In fact, one of the best hot rod and customs shows in the world happens in January, so it gave us a nice break from the cold. It's called the Grand National Roadster Show, and it's a hotbed for the coolest customs, wildest hot rods and baddest gassers in the country. The best part about it? A huge percentage of the cars roll on Coker Tire products! This year, we attended the event with a camera in hand and grabbed a bunch of great photos for you guys to enjoy!
