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.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

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, \n\n \t\t\n\t\t\t\t