Hot Rods The Howerton & Moal Tulsa Roadster (2019 AMBR Contender)

I'm not with F'thing and I just click on the video Hemi posted and it works no problemo...in fact I click into facebook many times Select Not Now and navigate through many things you don't have to be a member to look at many F'thing posts...

 

The stance and scooped lower grill shell would make it look right at home on Bonneville.
Though that shell doesn't look too streetable at 2" clearance (unless the suspension is adjustable-I didn't watch the video for details). I'd favor a Duvall style windshield.
One things for sure. The execution is off the charts! One glance at it and you know Moal was involved.

 

Love the car! Hate the frame horns...needs a clean and creative nerf bar. Thumbs up to the stretched wheelbase... This is my pick.

 

Wonder who smoothed their Excelsior side walls? I tried to get Diamond Back to do mine and they said the side walls were to thin. Really makes the roadster look better. Win or lose AMBR this car is a winner.

 

^^^^this100%

 

I don't know, the frame horns do give a bit of a Sprint Car look, just glad there are no nerf bars on the sides. Bob

 

Bitchin'

 

I wonder if the lack of a display lost a few points in the judging too. The display on the 36 was a work of art. I'd love to compare the judging sheets on this one and Pinkee's 36. It had to be very close. My idea for a display for Jackie's roadster would be a pickup load of packed dirt on the floor with some old posts and scarred up planks made to look like old dirt track guard rails around it. The Fairplex might not like my idea but it would clean up.

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Looks like a really cool little car. I wish they had continued the red frame rails all the way through to the front horns like in the concept drawings.

 

Well I get this and when I click on it, it says "must log in to continue" :


Edit: OK went back a few days later and the video played. Good stuff.

 

Looks like Wayne Carini's with a few small changes.
I expect better than hitting the copy button over and over from the coach builder !

 

Yep ... the "coachwork" is pretty much a carbon copy :

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I see them as two entirely different cars, from the mechanics to the coachwork.

Phil

 

Isn't the judging and scoring done before the cars are put on display?

 

Here is what they say on their rules for the AMBR:

The AMBR is a special class with awards for Display, Engineering, Undercarriage, Paint, Engine, Interior, and Detail.

I'm not sure if it's included in the final score but the fact that they judge the display make me think it does. I hope an insider with knowledge of that would fill us in.

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I agree, they are as different as a Model A is from a Model 18 is from a Model 40.
How could the Moal/Howerton roadster be considered a "carbon copy" when it's sheet metal was from a Brookville Deuce Roadster? That's like saying all old cars look alike.


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A decade ago The cars were judged strictly on a points basis. After years of questionable styling and building cars for points only the move to more traditional cars took over. A couple of years ago someone in the judging loop came on here and explained the process and if I remember correctly the "pre judging" is for the judges to look over the cars to get a feel of them. To stand back and observe the cars without the distraction of a display. They can talk to the owners/ builders, open the doors, hood and trunk. The car has to run and do all the functions of a street legal car. As far as I know the judges still do a judges sheet on each car after their display is set up. I think the judges have more leeway in their decision to pick AMBR and it is not just the high point car.

 

No they get judged both before and once displayed. Here is a pretty good description from someone who was/is a judge that was written after the rules changed in 2011.

Back to the new AMBR judging on the black carpet… the judges started from 50 feet away. Each car was judged for 10 minutes from every angle. They looked, most importantly, at the overall lines of the car. The engine and interior judging would come later. The fit quality, body gaps and the all important sound of the door closing were closely inspected. After that, the judges each had 10 minutes to interview the car owner or builder to hear the unique, but maybe not so obvious, features of the roadster.

After, the cars were put on display and judging continued during the show. At that time, the judges each had a judge’s sheet to keep notes on the following:

• Visual Detail
• Engineering
• Interior
• Engine
• Paint and Chrome
• Under carriage
• Display

In the end, the judges wrote down a number, 1-12 corresponding to the AMBR contender that was best in each category. Finally, they wrote one number in the box for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. I assumed there was a weighted criteria for the list above or that the roadster with the most votes in any judging criteria would win. NOPE! Vic told me that a car that didn’t “win” any of these could still take home the AMBR award.

 

Thanks for the info!

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I'd really like to know how the 14 contenders get picked in the first place. I was there in 2016 and 2018, and without mentioning any cars know that at least two cars could have been replaced with what looked to be better cars out side or in other buildings. Are there guys applying as I type this for the 2020 GNRS?

 

Bob -

As I understand it, they are not "picked" ... the owners/builders submit an application (& $$$$) to have their car be judged for the AMBR award ... and if accepted, are NOT eligible for awards in other roadster classes (e.g., "Street Roadster - pre-1935", "Altered Street Roadster - pre-1935", "Altered Roadster Pickup - pre-1935", "Touring - pre-1935", etc.).

From the rodshows.com website:

excerpt from the GNRS application form


AMBR "rules"​

NOTE: In addition to the AMBR Achievement Plaque (that all 14 entrants received), the "Howerton & Moal Tulsa Roadster" took home the AMBR Outstanding Engineered award.

 

I prefer this car to Poteet's '36, but I guess there isn't enough "show car" in it. Comparing it to Wayne Carini's car is ridiculous; the only thing they have in common is Steve Moal.

 

I have my Samsung phone here and clicked play and away it goes just like YouTube...I have no logins with either just click and play she does...

 

Kind of a small thing, but the wheels on the Poteet car were ugly. Both cars are mind-blowing.

 

Here's @Boones' awesome photos of the "Howerton & Moal Tulsa Roadster" (pretty much in the order he shot them):

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Every time you see someone else's quality photos of the car you see a few more details you did't see before and the car just grows on you.

 

Here's the "Howerton & Moal Tulsa Roadster" through @Tom davison's lens:

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There you go again. This time the front axle waves and hollers "hey look at me I'm hiding in plain sight so well you never picked up on it before". Went back to Boones Photos that you shared earlier and there it is smiling at you real sneaky like. Blends in so well chrome and all that it doesn't distract the eye from the whole package until you look for it.

 

Good gawd!
Check out the detail on the clutch and throttle control pieces and that firewall/ bulkhead/belhousing/trans cover, you just know there were some sleepless nights for these guys.

 

The transmission cover was a work of art!! And that's just one of the many details that blew my mind. Mike and I talked at length with Jackie Friday morning and he filled us in on even more details on the chassis that we couldn't see. What you are looking at is forty plus years of his experience of chassis fabrication from the dirt tracks of Tulsa to Gasoline Alley at Indy.

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