America's MOST BILLET Roadster?

She's 36-24-36...she must be the most beautiful. Nevermind that horseface.

 

Maybe it should be renamed look who spent the most money awarded

 

exactly... what kind of a contest is it anyway if all the cars are going to spend their lives in a garage or inside a glass box and never be driven? that's the kind of people that have these stupid checklists

 

It aint about tradition... it's about change, points and ingenuity... and impressive displays.

Style never really entered into show car judging as a major part of accumulating points.

Sam.

 

The HAMB has it own rewards each year that are far greater than any car on a board.
We send in photos of our best and our peers select the best of the best for the H.A.M.B. calendar.

 

Now come on, there's 5 points out of 200 for "innovation, concept and execution" plus another 5 for whatever the judge wants to award it for. What more do you want?

According to the score sheet, innovation concept and execution have the same value as whether the wheels/tires are indexed.

 

That's just sad. But maybe I just shouldn't care because I've talked to a lot of the top "traditional" builders that couldn't give a crap about "indexed wheels/tires" and I love everything about their cars (builders name that rhymes with Gimme Knight- I'm talking about you! ).

 

the process of the judging makes the award irrelevant to me....

the judges look at the car in pieces from 3 inches away to see what it took to make that piece to that standard. I look at a car as a car, from behind the display ropes. I mean, there is no doubt that every hot rod ever built looks better from afar cruizin down the road. Hearing the engine actually run....it all comes together.

It's one of the great things about hot rods. Cars can be to any standard, any shape, any style and they can/will be cool to someone. And to make it even cooler, that opinion varies from person to person.

 

This year is hopefully a turning point for the AMBR. The 9 foot trophy is for 'America's Most Beautiful Roadster' NOT 'America's Best Fit & Finished Roadster' or 'America's MOST BILLET Roadster' as JimA pointed out.

The ISCA judging guidelines should be used but only account for 65-70% of the total, the other 30-35% should be design, Aesthetics & continuity of a theme.

Also the roadster should be debuted at GNRS or if they win the Ridler automatically be invited to GNRS to compete for the AMBR.

 

Very well put. I also feel that the award now,dishonours previous deserving winners. It also dishonours some very talented designer/builders who do build a"beautiful roadster". The key word is "Beautiful'',which most would agree,should be a design that is an inspiring,sensuous,stylistic ideal. I'm not really inspired by customs,but Timebomb and the candy red custom shown in the many photos are "seductive"cars of "beauty",that show incredible planning and forethought of many ideas that work together as a "whole car",not a checklist of parts. Those builders"pay homage to those deserving past artists',and should be proud of their efforts.

 

Jimmy B, I'm sure you know that the GNRS is not an ISCA show, and the ISCA judging is different than those used in the selection of the AMBR.

Mick

 

IMO, YOU NAILED MY WAY OF THINKING EXACTLY!!!

 

G'day Mick, yeah I know GNRS isn't a ISCA show. I was using their rules as part of an example for a possible remedy so the best fit and finish yet ugly roadster doesn't win AMBR.

 

If people want to put high-six or even seven figures into a car project, that's their perogative and some of their results are truly rolling sculpture works of art, but is it hot rodding? Do such $tatement car$ have a place in the rodding hobby?

How did rodding get to a point wherein $1M+ cars are occuring at nearly every major show now and worse yet, how did the organizers and judges allow themselves to reward such efforts which in effect perpetuates these high-buck rolling debutantes?

I do not doubt that the owners of these cars, the builders and the orchestrators of such projects are enthusiasts who in their way love hot rodding but I wish that most of these type of well-heeled enthusiasts would leave the hot rodding to folks who in large part design and build the car themselves...like it was meant to be...Original, Raw, Homebuilt, and most of all, Fun. Most of these well-helled owners rarely if ever look like they're having any fun...To paraphrase Jack Nicholson as the Joker in 'Batman'..." This Hobby needs an enema!!"...

Instead of rodding these well-heeled folks could take up coachbuilding, and as an adjunct to that, I also wish the major Concours D'Elegance organizers would open up their show fields to include something like a modern coachbuilding class so these type of cars and owners compete in a realm more befitting to their efforts, egos and wallets....that's what they are building; modern coachbuilt automobiles, and quite frankly, that's where they belong because they are in that rare stratosphere of wealth that allows them to write checks to create a one-off car that may or may not ever be driven. And that folks, is coachbuilding and not rodding no matter how much horsepower, chrome and billet pieces you laden upon it (FYI, Pebble Beach and Villa D'Este Concours D'Elegance do have a modern coachbuilding class now).

Take a look at the attached pix...it's from Autorama 2006 in the basement wherein you found a lot of HAMBers with their homebuilt rides....Notice the three gentlemen and one lady all in matching khacki shirts? They're from the team that built 'First Love' the well-deserving 2006 Riddler Award winner built by Rad Rides by Troy...(BTW, the 2008 AMBR winner was there too). The 'First Love' Ford was one of the most stupdendous pieces of rolling sculpture I have ever seen, but again I ask..."Is is Rodding?" Here's a simpler question...."Is it driven?"...if not, if it isn't driven, then it's not Rodding.... Notice the enthusiasm the truck's owner has on his face and how animated he is?!?!? You know why that is? That's probably because he carries in his heart and mind all of the knowledge and pride of building his own rod...and not writing a check for it all.

I find this pix very poignant because it shows that no matter what the starting point we all wind up at the same place and our hobby is diverse and open enough that million-dollar car builders and homebuilt owners can all respect one another and respect each other's efforts, but I'd bet the mortgage that the owner of this truck has a lot more fun with his homebuilt than the folks in the khacki shirts!! Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about-Fun?!?

 

America's Most Ricockulous Roadster!

 

I'm waiting for the day when I see an entire car whittled out of one solid aluminum chunk. Then I'll be satisfied.

 

I think we should all voice our displeasure with the car that won. If enough of us do that,something has to happen. I went past that car ( I use that term loosely) so fast I didn't even want to look at it. It turns my stomach to call it a roadster. Thats all I got to say.--TV

 

You are being generous,"DRIVERS" would mean they are driven!

 

Hey TV I think we just have.
From looking at the photos of the car posted in the guys show coverage I'd have to say that so far I haven't seen one idea that I would want to copy.

"Show" cars are pretty much built with the judging sheet pinned to the wall to make sure that they can garner every point even if what is done to get said point doesn't flow with the rest of the car. I'd have to say that the display earned a fair portion of the points and most show goers will rember that long after they can't tell you the color of the car sitting on it.

 

I care about awards and trophys about as much as some fart I let three weeks ago.

 

Show cars aint got no soul.

 

Americas
Most
Pitiful
Roadster

 

high buck, pro built, statement cars will always have a place in rodding even if I/we don't like it. These cars are just the next generation of show cars... Roth built cars that didn't drive or at least didn't drive well and yet these are reviered as legends... what's the difference apart from the cost and the fact it's keeping people in work (and a lot of current show cars have no imagination in them). Ok I don't like most of the billet queens floating round, being pushed in and out of trailers but some will influence what is built and put on the road ....most of the show cars will never be driven in anger and some will just end up in a humidity controlled garage covered with a fitted cover...never to be seen again. who really cares? I don't. Just look at the Chopper thing with OCC and the like. most of the stuff they are building (bespoke stuff) is a tasteless pile of shit you wouldn't be seen dean on but some guy with a shed load of cash wants you to build him a trophy winner are you gona say no? Are you gona try to influence him? probably yes but if that's what he wants, your gona read the rule book and build it to win. The cars being rolled out for AMBR are about as relavant to the HAMB as the current crop of european super cars....over priced and over rated but tick all the right boxes for those with little or no knowledge of real cars or real rods. But if I had a couple of mill to spend building a car it had better be a fooking winner, the difference being any car I had built would be HOT ROD not a pile of expensive shiny things shoved together randomly just to satisfy a rule book.

PS the current ANBR winner just doesn't look "right"...well built, immaculatly finished but overall not right.I it indeed a bunch of expensive parts shoved together to win a prize.....my vote would have gone to the white and purple modified....now that's just right and ticks all the boxs for me

 

Me too, it is tomorrow. (well ok, it's still REALLY early, here at least).

 

T raditional
U nwashed
R etro
D river.......... award!

 

Indoor car show awards are lame. Theyre only good for the big buck owners and pro big buck car builders.Goodguys is getting it right with driving event awards. I was lucky enough to win the 2006 Hot Rod of the Year.I never entered anything before for any award, not even local cruise night stuff. Didnt matter what some judge thought.Entered goodguys HROTY cause they had drag racing as part of the award criteria, and I figured I could make some passes without paying $35 entry fee to race. I cruised the Indy 500 speedway with Rich Guasco's 29 AMBR winner out my right window. I watched Rich take the windshield off his car to make passes down the track. He got so excited he forgot to shift and over revved it.We drove 130 miles on the mandatory cruise.1961 AMBR winner guys.Kirk Jones from Goodguys knows what awards should be and they are doing it. No show car detail crap, its gotta run, and fast, drive without overheating and look like a real hot rod.I'm not defending awards, but they are not created equal.

 

If you can't drive it, it's worthless.

 

or ride, behold the 2007 GNRS World's Most Beautiful Bike