It was more than 30 years ago that I went to my first Grand National Roadster Show, back when it was home in Oakland California, and the electricity and excitement I felt as a young kid is still their today. With America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders and Past Winners on display, plus every other cool car, truck or motorcycle you can imagine, it’s hard not to be excited when you walk in the gate. What’s weird is the fact that I’m just not an indoor car show guy, and yet I still love the Grand National. I think there are a few reasons for that, but the biggest reason has to be the AMBR Award. AMBR stands for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, and has been given out for decades to a variety of very deserving hot rods. What’s crazy about the 12 cars that are chosen each year to compete for the AMBR (said like the name Amber), is the incredible diversity in design. This year is not different.

Below you’ll be able to see a couple of photos of each car in the competition, along with a quick blurb on each. There is also a link to more photos for each car, so click the link and check out some of the details we’ve captured.

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Let us say, we have never had such a hard time deciding on which one would be our choice. The main reason for that this year is the fact that the cars are all very different, and we have a clear emotional connection with one of them. Not that we actually know the guy, in fact we just met him, at the GNRS while shooting his car, for the first time. But after hearing the story, we want to be him.

The 2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) Contenders

 

1. Paul Gommi’s 1932 Ford Phaeton

This car is epic in so many ways, you’ll never get it without seeing it in person. This is our emotional pick for the 2014 AMBR. Unlike any other car we can remember competing in forever, this car ALREADY has 6,000 miles on it. All the rest of these cars have been fired once or twice and moved under their own power for judging only. Not Paul’s. It’s a super rare, less than 1000 originally built, 1932 Ford Phaeton that Paul picked up in Hawaii as a roller that was missing a lot. Little details on this car rock. For example, the fuel pump behind the blower is off of a 1932 Ford School Bus. Why? Because it has two diaphragms in it, one for pumping fuel, and one for creating vacuum. Since the bus might be at wide open going up a hill, full of kids, in the rain, Ford designed the pump to provide vacuum for the windshield wipers at all times. After talking to Paul, there is about a zero chance that we won’t be down at his place in San Pedro so we can go for a cruise in this bad boy and shoot some more photos and explain all the detail. Know that nothing on this car was done because it was easy or pretty. It all has a real purpose, and every part is 1955 or earlier. Way bitchin piece. Totally BangShift approved.

2. Roseville High School’s 1931 Ford Roadster Pickup “Madusa”

The fact that this car was built in just under 6 months is amazing. Most cars that go up for the AMBR award are built over periods of years, not months. What makes it even more amazing is the fact that the build team is made up of the students of Roseville High School in Michigan. Yes, this is a High School Auto Shop Project. Their teacher is one hell of a dude. The truck is very nicely done, the kids are standing around it non stop and ready to answer any questions, and they used some cool custom touches like the rear bumper on this thing. Can you identify it? They know their stuff. They really built this thing. When talking to one particular girl about the project she said that the biggest challenge for them competing for the AMBR was actually getting their credentials to get in. No car had ever had that many people associated with it and that threw the Grand National staff for a loop. Win or lose, these kids kicked ass and deserve serious congratulations.

3. Bill Enderson’s 1923 Ford Model T Roadster “Tub for Two”

Most of you regular BangShifters know that while Brian thinks T-Buckets are cool, I know they are not. This car here is NOT a T-Bucket. It’s a 1923 T hot rod. Ask Freiburger, who is also wrong by the way, and he’ll say that they are the same thing and I will argue until the day I die that they are not. This car, built by the owner Bill Enderson, is a bitchin hot rod. There are a ton of cool details on this car. Details like Ford emblems painted on the frame rails, pinstriped rails, amazing polish and chrome, etc. And the proportions are right. This thing just looks bad ass even standing still. Bill and his lovely wife should be proud.

4. Ronnie And Debra Goodwin Speedster (1932 Ford)

This car is super interesting. The overwhelming thing I heard as spectators clamored around all the AMBR Contenders and came to rest on the Goodwin Speedster was, “This thing looks like any cool ’32 you would see at a cruise, only way nicer.” If I were the Goodwins I’d be taking that as a compliment. There is nothing done to this car that screams show car, which can’t be said about most of the others in the competition, and every single detail makes you think hot rod. That’s what it’s all about when I look at a 1932 Ford, so this one definitely turns my crank.

 

5. Dan Van Auken’s Low Bow Duece No Tech Old School Roadster

This car is the kind a builder either LOVES or HATES to do. There is no in between. The reason is because although their are more details than you can imagine on this car, the average Joe hot rodder may only recognize 1/3 of them. Dan’s Deuce is one of the favorites for the 2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) Award, and with good reason. It’s a really run car to walk around, while trying to recognize all the modifications that have been done, while also imagining driving it down PCH in great sunny weather. And the color. What were they thinking? On any other car this color would be so polarizing as to cause people to come to blows while arguing whether it is good or bad. But on this car, it becomes a neutral canvas that allow the details to shine without overshadowing any of them. A truly beautiful car that has absolutely nothing high tech on it which allows all the fabrication and execution to shine through. We dig it.

6. Wes Rydell’s Black Bowtie 1935 Chevrolet Phaeton

Designed by Foose, and built by Rad Rides by Troy, the Black Bowtie is definitely one of the most talked about cars at the show as well. Super subtle, almost factory in fact, in may ways makes this a car that a lot of people don’t get. The fabrication, design, and execution are what you would expect from names like Foose and Trepanier, and we dig a lot of this car. What also makes it special is the fact that it one of only a few hundred. Some say as little as 200. When a car is that rare, there has to be some serious drinking going on while trying to decide whether to restore it or hot rod it. Obviously in this case hot rodding won out. This is a car you would love to show up at a Hollywood Premier in.

7. Richard Chiarenza’s 1934 Chevrolet Vicky-Phaeton

Another Chevrolet! Since it is so rare to see Chevrolet Street Rods, it is kinda weird that there are TWO of them in the AMBR competition this year. Richard’s is most certainly the in your face hot rod that is a huge hit at any car show, and inspires kids with the zoomies exiting the fenders, big block power, and a skull shifter. In many ways this car is very traditional as well, with Torque Thrusts, perfect gaps, just the right paint, etc. But what really gets folks attention on this one is the Blown Big Block Chevrolet under the hood. We approve!

 

8. The Gerber Special Syclone Motorsports C/STR 1932 Ford

With over 35 runs at more than 200 mph at Bonneville, the Gerber Special is not poser race car. This thing is bad ass fast, and somehow stunningly beautiful at the same time. The 358 inch Dodge NASCAR engine makes a ton of steam, and we love the Jerico behind it. Let’s face it, the likelyhood of a racecar getting the AMBR award is pretty slim. But if it happened, we in the Land Speed Racing community would lose our minds. We do have to give it up to the Gerber Special team, because they have the coolest display in the entire show. The white “salt” carpet, mile markers, etc. make this one a treat to look at. This car just screams bitchin high boy, and is perfect in virtually every way. We’d drive it on, around, to and from the salt in a heartbeat.

9. Larry Maddox Blue Steel 1932 Ford Roadster

Larry Maddox is a local, residing in nearby Hemet, and is the builder of this car. Home built AMBR Contenders are pretty rare, although in recent years there have been more of them. And while all that is interesting, there really are two things that immediately grab you by the throat when walking near the Blue Steel roadster. Depending on the angle, you are either seeing the blinding metal flake in the awesome blue paint, or the blinding shine from all the chrome on the real deal SOHC Ford Hemi! Yeah, a SOHC engine in an AMBR Contender. I’m not sure how long it’s been since that happened, but it can’t be the norm. This car absolutely screams over the top show car detail which is why you stand around it staring into the depths of paint and chrome like you’ve been hypnotized at the carnival.

10. Charlie and Karen Matus’ “The Chocolate Rose” 1927 Ford Roadster

Normally the fact that Charlie and Karen Matus showed up with an AMBR car that actually started out as a factory piece would make them weird. This year there are several factory bodied cars in the competition, but we are pretty sure that the Matus’ have modified theirs more than anyone else. With a built Flatty for power, nestled into a smooth one off custom frame, and one of the coolest exhaust systems we’ve seen in forever, this “Chocolate Rose” is a real looker. Everywhere you look in this car there are more and more details. And things that look like off the shelf parts are far from it. This is a true showcar.

11. Bill Grant’s 1932 Ford Deluxe Roadster

This 1932 Ford Deluxe Roadster looks like it was built 58 years ago and then sealed like a time capsule. The color is perfect, the wheels are perfect, the details are perfect. It’s one of those cars that is honestly WAY nicer than the style would normally dictate, and we love it. This car probably got the most smiles from the spectators who grew up in the late 50’s and 60’s, because this car looks like something they would have dreamed of owning or did. We absolutely hate thing white walls, and yet we wouldn’t take them off of this car. How weird is that? We’d leave the top off of it, which is the truth for most of the cars in the AMBR this year, and then drive the holy hell out of it. This car is seriously bad ass and we dig it.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF OUR PHOTOS FROM THE 2014 GRAND NATIONAL ROADSTER SHOW FEATURING CARS, TRUCKS, RACECARS, LOWRIDERS, STREET RODS, TRADITIONALS, CUSTOMS, AND MORE