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Grand National Roadster Show

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The Grand National Roadster Show (otherwise known as GNRS, or unofficially as the Oakland Roadster Show),[1] is a showcase of custom cars and hot rods held each year at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, in either late January or early February.

Established in 1950 by Al Slonaker, the GNRS is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in the United States, featuring an estimated 1,500 vehicles annually.[2]

The GNRS is best known as home to the America's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) Award. The AMBR is presented to the best pre-1937 vehicle in show, and has been won by many well-known car designers and builders, such as Blackie Gejeian, Carl Casper, Boyd Coddington, and Chip Foose.[3]

Together, the Grand National Roadster Show and AMBR Award are considered among the two "Crown Jewel" competitions and awards for professional show car builders in North America, alongside the Detroit Autorama and its Don Ridler Memorial Award.[4]

In addition to the AMBR, the GNRS created the Al Slonaker Memorial Award in 1974 to recognize the best "Non-Roadster" in show.[5] The Slonaker Award has too been won by well-known car builders and owners, including rockers Eric Clapton[6] and James Hetfield.[7]

History

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In 1949, while Al Slonaker was preparing for his first automobile show at the Oakland Exposition, an Oakland area hot rod club convinced him to exhibit ten of their cars .[8] The Inaugural show was a massive success, attracting over 100 cars and 27,674 attendees.[9] The next year, Slonaker decided to focus solely on hot rods, but concerned for potential bad press, he promoted it as the "National Roadster Show."[8] In 1962, "Grand" was added to the title, contributing to the show's long-time moniker as "The Grand-Daddy of them All".[2]

In 1967, the show moved to the Oakland Coliseum[10] Between 1998 and 2003, the show was held at a variety of other San Francisco-Bay Area venues[11] before relocating to Southern California's Fairplex in 2004.[12][13]

According to the show promoter, Rod Shows Inc., the GNRS features more than 600 vehicles over seven indoor pavilions,[2] with somewhere between 800 and 1,200 additional vehicles filling the remaining 487-acre Fairplex property.[9][14]

Over seven decades, the GNRS has been covered extensively in national automotive publications, including Hot Rod, Street Rodder, and Rod & Custom, with several AMBR Award winners gracing their covers.[15]

The 2014 AMBR Award Winner: Wes Rydell's 1935 Chevy Phaeton.

Awards

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Main article: America's Most Beautiful Roadster

Since the show's inception in 1950, the grand prize has been the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" or AMBR award.[1][16] It is a 9-foot "megatrophy" with the names of past winners engraved on its base.[17][18]

From 1957 until 1971, there was also a separate "America's Best Competition Car Award" presented at the show.[19]

In 1974, the GNRS created an additional award to recognize the best non-roadster entry: the Al Slonaker Memorial Award. The award is open to all types of vehicles, Rods, Customs, Street Machines, Lowriders, VW's, and Trucks.[5]

In addition to the AMBR and Slonaker Award finalist, the show gives out place awards for more than 100 classes, plus 50 "Special" awards for clubs and outstanding displays.[20]

List of AMBR Award Winners

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See "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" (AMBR) Award

List of Al Slonaker Memorial Award Winners

[edit]
Year[5] Vehicle Owner Builder
1974 1909 Ford C-Cab (Country Butcher) Bob Reed[5]
1975 1926 Ford T Sedan John Buttera[5]
1976 1963 Corvette (The Condor) Jack Walker[5]
1977 1956 Harley Davidson Syd DeSota[5]
1978 1977 Jeep Dusty Santos[5]
1979 1926 Ford Ken Nannenhorn[5]
1980 1964 VW Bug (Spellbound) Ed Papac[5]
1981 1933 Ford Roadster Vern Luce[5]
1982 1932 Ford Roadster (Pinocchio) Jay Ohrberg[5]
1983 1957 Chevy (Gold Nugget) Bob Checchini[5]
1984 1971 Corvette Ed Gonsalves[5]
1985 1932 Ford Sedan Delivery Steve Lykens[5]
1986 1966 Corvette (High Plains Drifter) James Winfrey[5]
1987 1951 Mercury Frank DeRosa[5]
1988 1969 VW Karman Ghia (Rod Buster) Chris Addington[5]
1989 1988 Ford Thunderbird (Pegasus) Jim Thayer[5]
1990 1955 VW Bug (Pink Lady) Bernt Karlsson[5]
1991 1956 Lincoln (Royal Empress) Bill Abate[5]
1992 1992 Harley Davidson Bob Dron[5]
1993 1984 Jeep CJ-7 David Sellers[5]
1994 1932 Ford Woody (Speed Wagon) Dan Fink[5]
1995 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery Richard Mattioli[5]
1996 1940 Ford Coupe (Dominator) Leonard Lopez[5]
1997 1937 Ford Coupe (Aero Coupe) Fred Warren[5]
1998 1954 Corvette Nomad Tom Armstrong[5]
1999 1947 Ford Convertible (Job-One) Dave Crook[5]
2000 1932 Ford Larry Anderson[5]
2001 1933 Ford Bud Meyer[5]
2002 1949 Chevy Coupe (M-80) Chris Williams[5]
2003 1961 Corvette Rich Stadelhofer[5]
2004 1936 Chrysler Jack White[5] Extreme Customs and Tim's Hot Rods.[21]
2005 1936 Ford Coupe Jorge Zaragoza[5]
2006 1932 Ford Track Roadster Zane Cullen[5]
2007 1935 Ford Woody Wagon Jim Noteboom[5]
2008 2006 Caresto V8 Roadster Leif Tufvesson[5]
2009 1939 Ford Woody Wagon Brian Hill[5]
2010 2009 VSR Concept Sports Rod Wayne Cherry[5][22]
2011 1936 Ford Tudor Sedan Andy Barcheck[5] KR Customs[23]
2012 1932 Ford 4 Door Vicky Eric Clapton[5][6] Roy Brizio Street Rods[24]
2013 1939 Ford 2 Door Hard Top Jerry Kjensrud[5] A&M Deluxe Customs[25]
2014 1948 Jaguar Coachbuilt James Hetfield[5][7] Rick Dore Kustoms[7]
2015 1950 Chevy Fleetside PU Craig Moyes[5] Kindig-It Designs[26]
2016 1933 Ford Coupe Wayne Halabura[5] Creative Concepts and Restorations[27]
2017 1957 Chevy Nomad (ShoMad) Ron Maier[5] A&M Deluxe Customs[28]
2018 1929 Ford Tudoor Sedan Mark Marianin[5] Rad Rides By Troy[29]
2019 1957 Chevy (Imagine) Johnny Martin[5]
2020 1936 Willys Pick Up Ron Ernsberger[5] The Tin Man's Garage[30]
2021*[31]
2022 1932 Ford Coupe Pat Gauntt[5] Devlin Rod and Custom[32]
2023 1960 Buick Invicta George Eliacostas[5] CAL Auto Creations[33]
2024 1959 Chevy Impala (Bespoke) David and Robin Rush Steve Cook Creations[34]

See also

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Further reading

[edit]
  • Larivee, Bob. (2010). Show Car Dreams. Oxford, Michigan: DP Publishing. ISBN 9780615387345
  • Gingerelli, Dain; Southard, Jr., Andy. The Oakland Roadster Show:50 Years of Hot Rods And Customs. MBI Publishing.

References

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  1. ^ a b Doeden, Matt (2007). Custom Cars. LernerClassroom. p. 28. ISBN 978-0822590125.
  2. ^ a b c "About Rod Shows". Rod Shows. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  3. ^ "America's Most Beautiful Roadster". Rod Shows. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  4. ^ Detroit: The City of Hot Rods and Muscle Cars". Directed by Keith Famie, Visionalist Media, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az "Al Slonaker Memorial Award". Rod Shows. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  6. ^ a b Brizio, Roy (January 26, 2016). "Eric Clapton's 1932 Ford coupe from Roy Brizio Street Rods debuts at the 2016 Grand National Roadster Show". Hot Rod Network.
  7. ^ a b c Blabbermouth (2014-11-06). "METALLICA Frontman JAMES HETFIELD's 'Black Pearl' To Appear At 2014 LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  8. ^ a b Bertilsson, Bo (1999). Classic Hot Rods. MotorBooks International. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-61060-882-4.
  9. ^ a b "Grand National Roadster Show Recap". TorqTalk. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  10. ^ Bertilsson, Bo (1999). Classic Hot Rods. MotorBooks International. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-61060-882-4.
  11. ^ Staff Writer (May 23, 2003). "Cream Of The Crop at 2003 Grand National Roadster Show". Hot Rod Network.
  12. ^ Breitenstein, Jeff (2004). Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary: A-Bombs to Zoomies. MotorBooks International. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-61059-235-2.
  13. ^ Geiser, Eric (May 4, 2004). "Grand National Roadster Show 2004-Granddad turns 55 and moves south". Hot Rod Network.
  14. ^ "Specific Plan - Fairplex in Pomona". Fairplex. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  15. ^ Handy, James (January 24, 2018). "History of the (Grand) National Roadster Show". Hot Rod Network.
  16. ^ Vaughn, Mark (January 29, 2016). "Who's going to win the 2016 Grand National Roadster Show?". AutoWeek.
  17. ^ Bertilsson, Bo (1999). Classic Hot Rods. MotorBooks International. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-1-61060-882-4.
  18. ^ Breitenstein, Jeff (2004). Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary: A-Bombs to Zoomies. MotorBooks International. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-61059-235-2.
  19. ^ "The History of the Grand National Roadster Show". Grand National Roadster Show. Archived from the original on 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  20. ^ SciortinoDesign (2023-02-07). "2023 Grand National Roadster Show Results". Rod Shows. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  21. ^ "Jack & Sue White - 1936 Chrysler Airflow - 2005 CA&E". www.caraudiojunkies.com. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  22. ^ "61st Grand National Roadster Show". www.hotrodhotline.com. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  23. ^ Lyons QC, Timothy (2018-12-07), "Customs Entry and Declaration", EU Customs Law, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/oso/9780198784029.003.0009, ISBN 978-0-19-878402-9, retrieved 2023-12-31
  24. ^ "Clapton Victoria Sedan". Petersen Automotive Museum. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  25. ^ "1939 Chevrolet 2-Door Hardtop". NorCal Car Culture. 2013-02-23. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  26. ^ Hamilton, Chris (2022-06-03). "1950 Chevy, Kindig-It Design Created a One-of-a-kind Pickup!". Street Trucks. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  27. ^ p-themes. "1933 Ford Three Window". Mothers® Polish. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  28. ^ "1957 Chevy Nomad: One for the Sho and Plenty of Go". Fuel Curve. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  29. ^ Thomas, Dave (2018-06-11). "Rad Ride Revisited: The Mariani Model A". Street Muscle. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  30. ^ "The Winners! AMBR & Slonaker Awards Highlight 71st Grand National Roadster Show". Fuel Curve. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  31. ^ SciortinoDesign (2021-01-12). "Rod Shows Cancellation Release". Rod Shows. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  32. ^ Cruikshank, Dave (2022-02-01). "GNRS 2022 - Meet Your AMBR And Al Slonaker Award Winners". Street Muscle. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  33. ^ Gillogly, Brandan (2023-02-06). "1960 Buick bubbletop earns high honors at Grand National Roadster Show". Hagerty Media. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  34. ^ McGann, James (February 5, 2024). "1959 Chevy Impala Wins the Slonaker Award at the Grand National Roadster Show 2024". Hot Rod Network.
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