50th to 60th Grand National Roadster Show

Written by Len Stupski

I moved to the Bay area in 1996 and attended the 1997 & 1998 Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS). As good as they were, nothing prepared me for the 50th Anniversary show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco that next year in 1999. As I set my eyes upon the main floor my jaw dropped down to my shoulders. Just about every previous America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) winner right there in one spot. Awesome!!. Then, scattered throughout the rest of the building were more and more dynamite cars, built by guys like Bill Reasoner, Gene Winfield, Dave Crook, Marcos Garcia and many other great craftsmen. Saying hello to Big Daddy Roth was a great highlight of the event. After taking in all the colors, the chrome and history I vowed to be at the 60th show, God willing.

Fast forward ten years and I’m living in Gilbert, AZ, and the show is being held much closer now in Pomona, CA. Pure chance? I don’t think so…. perhaps God shares my love of cars.

Early Saturday morning I pile into Pikesan’s car with my son Brian and new friend Paul “Swanee” and head west on I-10. Along the way we catch up to Jimmy Smith and Boston Mike and caravan into Pomona. We stopped for some much needed coffee, oversized breakfast and a quick lesson in water glass safety. (a story for another time, perhaps) All finished we head to the main gate and wait anxiously in line.

As I pass through the turnstile it’s like “Wow…” I’m the farm kid on his first visit to the big city. The show encompasses eight buildings full of cars and has even more cars parked outside in between all the buildings. We head for building 5, and the first car we stop to look at is the ’52 Buick, “Resilience” designed by my son Brian and built by Tim Strange & the crew from Strange Motion. So, when I finally stopped drooling over this Motorama-styled beauty and shoved my eyes back into their sockets I took off to see the rest of the cars.

So many cars and so little time. Did I mention I was there for two days? This had to be the finest collection of automotive art I have ever witnessed. Masterpieces by Foose, Cotati Speed Shop (talk about fit & finish), D’Agostino et al. blew me away. There was a dynamite ’61 Impala from Stockholm, Sweden, the recovered Orbitron of Roth lore and the fantastic tributes to the late Boyd Coddington, Dick Dean and ‘Lil John Buttera. Then a trip to the “Twice in a Lifetime” display which featured winners from the ’50′s thru the ’00s. It was great to see the late Ermie Immeroso’s multi AMBR winner which I first saw in Buffalo, NY in 1989, the Hansen’s 2005 winner “Seduced” and so many many beautiful cars. I could go on forever.

Sadly it was time to hit the road. During the drive back to Gilbert I took some time to reflect and compare the 50th to the 60th show. And when I really look back and think about how well done the cars shown in 1999 were, the new paint concepts introduced, the styling by the trendsetters of that era, I realized how they had raised the bar of excellence. Then when I look at the things being done today with the tremendous advances in technology, paint, computer driven machinery to make “one off” parts I can say that a new and higher bar has been set. The 60th Anniversary GNRS has surpassed any level previously known to man and automobile. I can’t wait to see what happens at number 70.

Len Stupski

Barrett Jackson Auction’s Salute to Boyd Coddington?

I expect a hot rod driver or builder to know who Boyd Coddington was. Like him or not, there’s no denying his influence on style and the budget of custom cars, especially the one-off rides built for his TV show, “American Hot Rod”. His death almost 1 year ago shocked the custom car world.

It looked like there were alot more hot rods and cars that I’ll call “regular” at the 2009 Barrett Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona this year. What the heck is regular? Well, I just mean they’re somewhat obtainable by more then just wealthy collectors out there. I guy with a dream who’s been saving for a while might have a shot. With the “dreamers” and the collectors all gathered at Barrett Jackson, how many knew who Boyd Coddington? Quite a few!

Case in point are 2 hot rods sold on Saturday at Barret Jackson. The first is this neo-classic styled: chopped, red and flamed but with billet (of course Boyd’s) wheels, 1932 Ford 3 window coupe. A great looking, no-expense-spared car, no doubt, but was it worth the $200k it sold for? (without commissions) Who knows the actual build cost, but that could be said for many cars on the block. From what I heard the auctioneers saying, many cars were being sold for the cost of the “frame off rotisserie” restoration. Not this car, I think it sold for a premium because it was a Boyd car. It’s tough to hear in the video below, but the cheers from the crowd as the price kept rising support that theory. What do you think? (after a short word from their sponsor…)

Also supporting my Boyd buy theory is this Chip and Sam Foose built 29 Ford Sedan. This steel car will be the topic of another blog. I got a chance to chat with the new owner and he was tickled to have such at great car for $50k (without commissions) With 15″ Boyd wheels, this low slung sedan is in fantastic condition and anything with Chip Foose’s name on it, I think, also should fetch a premium. Did it? I think in a few years, it’ll take alot more money to own a car built by Foose. More on this cool 80′s time machine in a future blog.

Finally, I’ll throw out another 32 Ford 3 Window coupe for you to ponder. This is a different, much more nostalgic looking 32, but for years, any steel 32 was fetching big, BIG dollars, weren’t they? This car sold for $58k. Is that right? This car was CHERRY! I checked, it’s a steel car and features a somewhat ordinary 350/350 combo, but with the simple but stylish interior, artillery steelies and whitewalls, this is my style.

So did the Boyd name bump up the price at auction or was it a simple case of 2 guys really wanting the same car?

Boyd Coddington gone at age 63

…has sadly passed on today at the age of 63.Suffice to say, he was a true giant in the industry, and the first builder to truly inspire me to throw my hat in the ring, and do what I love. His approach and design sense changed forever the direction of the modern street rod and custom car, and will be viewed forever as the benchmark of his era. Cars like CadZZilla are world-famous, and his face was easily one of the most recognizable in the industry.

(CadZZilla and the Hirohata Merc at the Oakland Museum of California… sorry for cruddy pic.)

(…and speaking of CadZZilla, how ’bout a cool peek at a gathering of great talent during what just may have been the birth of that car?

Can you name these guys? –that is a young Larry Erickson on the right… only hint I’ll give)

Thanks to a guy who, no matter how hectic his schedule, took time to spend a few moments with me at a show, and review what I was working on at the time. Sadly, as large a page in hot rodding history as he will fill, there’s an equally big footnote with respect to the terrible PR his TV show brought on, the scandals, behind the scenes drama, the mis-management of business dealings…. All of the things that commonly plague uncommonly talented people. Hopefully, history will raise him to his proper place as the man who forged the future of the industry, giving rise to many talented builders, designers and more.

I recall a time when it was so cool to see a set of billet wheels… “Those are BOYD’S, man!!” One-off wheels for one-off creations… pieces of grand sculpture if ever there were such a thing. Hell, my first hot rod shop t-shirt was a Hot Rods by Boyd tee (with Thom Taylor’s killer artwork)… To call this man an inspiration in my career path would be like saying fish enjoy water. His aesthetic and ground-breaking approach to creating a hot rod will always live on, in some way, in all I create.

(how famous is THAT wall?!)

A sad day, indeed. Our sincerest condolences to his family and close friends. Godspeed, Boyd.

Courtesy of Brian over at Problemchildkustoms.com.

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