I grew up going to the Grand National Roadster Show when it was in Oakland. And I remember looking at the Roadsters that were competing for the title of America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. Man, things have changed. In my early years, I didn’t have enough appreciation for the subtleties that each competitor brought to the table, but I can remember how different the style of cars were back then. Take Lil John Buttera’s 1980 AMBR Winner. That car was so simple by today’s styling standards, but knowing Lil John’s reputation, I’m sure it had waaaayyyyyyy more fab work in it than I could appreciate at age 7. Today’s AMBR contenders may have more styling variety than we’ve ever seen before.

With a cast of characters that includes the proverbial ’32 Ford, fendered and fenderless roadsters, a ’29 A Lakes Modified pickup thing, and even a ’31 Marmon, you can’t find much more variety no matter how hard to try. It’s a class of characters that have show goers scratching their heads wondering just what some of these are, and what the hell is powering them. Our favorite point of confusion among show goers, judges, and the press is the engine powering Dennis Varni’s, Steve Moal built, “Livin’ the Dream” 1933 Ford. Read below to find out what it is!

While all Ten of the 2012 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster contenders are killer rides, we are going to rattle off the BangShift Top Five. If you want to see more photos of each one,

Dennis Varni’s “Living the Dream” 1933 Ford

Our favorite, which will surprise some of you, is Dennis Varni’s “Living the Dream” 1933 Ford. It might surprise you because it has full fenders, wire wheels, and a top. All three of which are not our normal favorites. We are a little prejudiced with this one though not only because we hung out at builder Steve Moal’s shop during final assembly, but also because it is powered by an SB2 headed Small Block Chevrolet with a roots blower that was built by Dan Brewer. YES PLEASE!!!!! The car is incredibly nice, especially when you consider it has one of the most sedate color schemes in the field. We dig it.

Tom Gloy’s “Speed Racer” 1932 Ford

Second on the list would be the “Speed Racer” 1932 Ford owned by Tom Gloy. Roy Brizio, who needs no introduction, built it in his South San Francisco shop, and this one is meant to be driven. We dig that too. Some of the Bonneville inspired tricks on this one really got us going, and the simple sedate pain color, mixed with killer Sid Chavers interior, really draws you in for a closer look. Plus, we give him credit for putting a Ford motor in it and backing it with a stick.

Paul Shaughnessy’s “Sylvester II” 1932 Ford

Our third pick is the “Sylvester III” 1932 Ford owned by Paul Shaughnessy. It’s the 3rd, because this bad boy has been built multiple times. The cool part is the original 1932 Ford sheetmetal and the story behind Paul getting it. He answered an ad on Craigslist for an engine and ended up seeing this thing in the garage where the engine was stored. They did a cool job on this bad boy and the serious channel job, wide white slicks, and zoomies really turn us on. It must be cool, because normally a Buick Nailhead is enough to make us hate anything, but not on this one. Before you get all “Nailheads are cool!” on me, understand that as a GM guy I am embarrassed that some GM engineer would have thought up an engine that has a valvetrain this bad. I’ve built them, I hate them, get over it. The car though, is way way cool.

Larry Reynolds’ ” ’29 A Lakes Modified”

Fourth on the BangShift Top Five list is Larry Reynolds’ “’29 A Lakes Modified”, who’s name doesn’t really describe it. Sure, we can see the things that would immediately fit that name, but there is much more to this crazy little ’29. In fact, we stood looking at this thing scratching our heads at the small details for quite some time. If you had told us that you were going to run this wheel and tire combo from the start, we would have said you were nuts, but they work. The flathead Merc is bad assed, and may have the coolest Flathead headers ever. The paint is something PPG, with something Lamborghini, and we like it. The interior is truly unique and again something we wouldn’t have been able to picture as cool. But it works and works well. We like this one a lot too.

Hayden Groendyke’s 1931 Marmon V16

Fifth on our list is arguably the least likely car you would expect to see on the AMBR contenders list, and that is why we picked it. Well that and we know the owner. First off, who decides to enter a 1931, V16 powered, Marmon for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster? Hayden Groendyke, that’s who. Knowing Hayden makes this a much less surprising choice for the AMBR competition because Hayden quite frankly marches to the beat of a different drummer. A drummer we happen to love by the way. You have to remember, Hayden and the crew at Hot Rod Garage have built cool things together in the past and Hayden drives on incredibly double throw down bad assed early ’50’s Caddilac ROAD RACE CAR. Yes, he road races it. And wins. Including the La Carrera Panamericana. The guy is nuts, and I expect that this one will also see some great road action once the show season winds down.

There are several other competitors that have a great chance at the 2012 AMBR award, and we are by no means saying that our Top Five have any better chance than the others, but they are our favorites. Will we be right? Only time will tell. Sunday evening is when the awards happen. We’ll keep you posted.