2013 Detroit Autorama – Why Not Ridler Contender?

2013 Detroit Autorama – Voyles’ Picks For Ridler Award

Words and Pics by Chris Voyles

MyRideisMe.com’s show sponsor: Auto Meter Gauges

 

The 2013 Detroit Autorama was a great one indeed with eight cars nominated for the prestigious Ridler Award. These cars where exceptionally nice, but I think it’s safe to say we all said to ourselves, “Hey! Why wasn’t that car nominated?”

 

We’ll Pikesan and I thought the same thing… while he’s still deciding which rides he would have picked, I’m done! Here’s a few of the custom cars I thought were the best of the best, and could have, or should have been nominated.

 

1961 Impala:

This was a very nice done 1961 Chevy Impala owned by Gil & Janet Losi. The body channeled, shaved, nosed, decked and roll pans worked… it flowed very nicely. The chassis on the car was done by Morrison Custom and finished off with Ridetech air suspension. The Impala had a 2,000 hp 540 cubic inch twin turbo motor  by Mike Moran between the fender! Completely stunning car!

1961 Chevy Impala, custom chevy impala,2013 Detroit Autorama
twin turbo chevy, custom impala,2013 Detroit Autorama

 

1934 Ford:

Bill Hughart is the owner of this awesome 1934 Ford hot rod.  It sported a 350 with 425 Horse power. Out back was a 9” rear end with 3:90 gears. Stopping power is provided by 11” disc brakes on all four corners. While it probably lack the extreme amount of details required for a Ridler Award it’s still a mighty fine ride in my book.

1934 Ford, 34 ford hot rod,2013 Detroit Autorama
34 Ford Hot Rod Coupe,2013 Detroit Autorama

 

1937 Ford:

Maggie & Ryan Thomas brought “Relentless” to Autorama this year. This, by far, was the car I was rooting for. Absolutely flawless beauty here! The car is all steel and the more you look at it, the more you see everything that was fabricated to fit and flow throughout the car. Ryan told us the windshield is from an older Saab 900, then showed us how the front portion of the door opens into the body area… Way cool! Builder of this car was Tucci Hot Rods with the House Of Kolor paint being applied by Mike’s Restoration & Customizing. Great car Ryan and I hope to shoot it again someday!

Custom 1937 Ford, hot rod 37 Ford,2013 Detroit Autorama
1937 Ford,2013 Detroit Autorama
This is Ryan. All smiles even though he wasn’t picked.
1937 Ford Coupe,2013 Detroit Autorama

 

1949 Cadillac:

Another great custom car was this 1949 Cadillac owned by Paul & Chris Andrews from Huntington Beach, CA. While a lot of info wasn’t available for the car, it was well worth it to just look at it and see what comes to your head! Outstanding display of workmanship all the way around. Something tells me Chip Foose had his hands on this car.

Custom cadillac, 1949 cadillac,2013 Detroit Autorama
Custom cadillac, 1949 custom cadillac,2013 Detroit Autorama

 

1949 Caddy Wagon:

Wait what? A Caddy wagon you say? Why yes it is! Jim “Bones” Notebloom from Hemet, CA created this wicked ride. This thing was off the charts cool! Check out the trick exhaust exiting behind the rear wheel wells. This car has serious style and deserves to wear the license plate its wearing “1 of 1 CAD”
(Editor’s note: I told Chris this car was displayed at GNRS, so it couldn’t compete for the Ridler)

Custom cadillac wagon, 1949 cadillac wagon,2013 Detroit Autorama
Custom cadillac wagon, 1949 cadillac wagon,2013 Detroit Autorama

 

Agree with Chris? Yes or no, leave a comment to let him know! Also, hat’s off for some great photos!! 

Need more 2013 Detroit Autorama??
32 More Picture of the 2013 Ridler Award Contenders Here

Great 8 – Photos from the Moon

2013 Detroit Autorama – 60 Pictures from the Basement

 Best of 2013 Detroit Autorama Picture Gallery

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