Posts Tagged ‘ Cool Cars ’

Editor’s Corner: Top Classic Cars of the 2011 SEMA Show

By Ashley Smissen , November 8, 2011 in E-News, Editor's Corner, News & Events, Photo Galleries

The display cars at the SEMA Shownever disappoint, but this year’s crop was possibly the best I’ve seen in my five years of attending the show. From muscle cars to roadsters to completely customized creations, it was impossible to capture all of the amazing cars on film (but I tried!).

While the display cars were eye-catching, it was also good to see the aisles of the shows constantly full. This year’s show was one of the busiest I can remember. This certainly was refreshing to see, as it represents the state of the industry.

Here’s a slideshow of some of my favorite display cars of the 2011 SEMA Show.

Live From the 2011 SEMA Show: Cool Car Gallery

By Ashley Smissen , November 2, 2011 in News & Events, Photo Galleries

The 2011 SEMA Show has officially begun! Hotrod & Restoration will be posting coverage from Las Vegas all this week, showcasing the amazing display cars, new product demonstrations and more.

Here are just a few of the many eye-catching cars located outside of the SEMA Show exhibit halls.

(All photos by Ashley Smissen)

Tags: 2011 Events, 2011 SEMA Show, Cool Cars, Photo Galleries, SEMA, SEMA Show

Featured Vehicle: The Resurrected ‘Blue Angel’ 1965 Corvette

By Ashley Smissen , September 27, 2011 in Rod Shops

(All photos by John Machaqueiro, Luso Speed Photography)

The story of this 1965 Corvette restomod starts in a West Chester, Pennsylvania, field in 1987 when John Puccella, owner of Trappe Automotive, spotted the car in the weeds. He saw the silhouette of the Nassau-blue mid-1960s Corvette and became intrigued. Although the car had been brutalized by weather and parts scavengers during its years in the field, Puccella was determined to bring it back to life and decided to buy the car. This would be the first of many struggles Puccella would face in regard to the Corvette.

The owner of the car was in jail, which forced Puccella to wait two years before he could buy it. After finally hauling it home, he discovered that very little of the car was restorable; only the frame could be saved. Still, Puccella was determined to resurrect the Corvette and rebuilt the front and rear suspension to create a rolling chassis for a body.

In 1990, Puccella scored parts gold when he acquired the body of a 1965 Corvette coupe, as well as three boxes of spare parts at a car show. He went to work, installing a modified 1988 Corvette motor and painting the car its original Nassau blue color.

In 2006, Puccella decided to sell the car to his best friend, who, after purchasing it, became unable to continue its restoration. At a meeting of the Keystone State Corvette Club, Puccella told Randy Hofer, the club’s president at the time, that he knew of a 1965 Corvette for sale.

“Knowing the car well, it took [me] about a second to commit to the purchase of [the] Corvette,” said Hofer. “[Puccella and I] both shared the dream of building a mid-year restomod.”

1939 Buick Wins 2011 America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod Title at West Coast Nationals

By Ashley Smissen , August 30, 2011 in News & Events, Rod Shops

A four-door 1939 Buick owned by Harold Wiley was named the Goodguys 2011 Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod last weekend at the 25^thGoodguys West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton, California. This marks the first time a four-door car has taken the title, according to Goodguys.

The two-tone Buick was built by Kindig-It Design of Salt Lake City and blends traditional classic lines with a low-slung modern street rod stance. The design team didn’t alter any of the car’s factory lines in an effort to keep it as stock as possible, according to Goodguys. Highlights of the car include an updated factory chassis, a RideTech air suspension and 17-inch “Smoothie” wheels by Intro that feature custom retro center caps that were designed in-house by the team at Kin-Dig-It.

Featured Vehicle: Resurrecting Gene Winfield’s ‘Bronze Coated Beauty’

By Ashley Smissen , August 10, 2011 in E-News, Rod Shops

For years, it was nothing more than a beat-up old 1935 Ford pickup collecting dust in an Oregon barn. From the looks of it, no one would have guessed that the old pickup that wound up in a field in Mist, Oregon, was once the original work truck of a hot rodding legend. Nor would anyone have guessed at that time that the truck would one day be restored to its original glory. Enter the team at Hatfield Restorations.

The story of the truck begins in the late 1950s when legendary rod builder Gene Winfield and his friend Rick Lefelt built the truck and painted it its signature bronze color to be shown at a San Mateo, California, car show in January 1960 to help advertise Winfield’s custom shop. The truck was a hit, even landing an appearance in the October 1961 issue of Custom Rodder where it was called “The Bronze Coated Beauty.”

The truck was modified throughout the early 1960s by Winfield and was painted blue. In 1963, Winfield put the truck up for sale in the classified section of Hot Rod magazine, eventually working out a trade and selling it to an Oregon man who would go on to crash the vehicle and later sell it to Don Epling in 1965. After that, the truck essentially “disappeared” for the next 43 years, sitting in Epling’s barn. Winfield had no idea what had happened to his old shop truck.

Featured Vehicle: ‘Great 8′ 1962 Corvette Convertible

By Ashley Smissen , July 26, 2011 in Rod Shops

John Martin and his team at Johnny’s Auto Trim brought home a coveted “Great 8″ award from the 2011 Detroit Autorama for this sleek and smooth 1962 Corvette. The build, which took over 10,000 hours to complete, was quite an undertaking for Martin’s young team.

The story behind this 1962 Corvette convertible started out simple enough. Bruce Milyard came to see his friend, John Martin, in Alamosa, Colorado, to inquire about having a car built for his wife’s 50th birthday. After searching for a suitable car to restore, Milyard and Martin finally found a weathered-looking Corvette in nearby Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“At first glance we knew it was pretty rough, and to build it would definitely be a feat,” said Martin, whose shop you can learn more about here.

Turning the car into a beauty would be no easy task, so Martin went right to work, coming up with a vision for its design with his friend, artist Kris Gosar who created a rendering.

Once the blueprint for the car had been drawn up, the crew began the four-year-long build. Martin and his young crew, which consisted of his daughter, son and nephew, completed all of the car’s extensive body work, including changing the front and rear wheel openings, peaking all of the body lines, and eliminating the rear bumpers.

Featured Vehicle: Micky Helfin’s Award-Winning 1939 Ford Crown Standard

By Ashley Smissen , May 17, 2011 in Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show, Rod Shops

Over 40 hot rods, muscle cars and classic trucks were on display at this year’s Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show, many of which were built at Indianapolis-area shops.

For the first time ever, a People’s Choice Award was given out at the show. The award was created to recognize a car from an Indianapolis-area builder. Thirteen cars were in the running for the award and the winner was chosen online by enthusiasts at www.suedeandchrome.com.

The 2011 People’s Choice Award went to Micky Heflin of Heflin’s Hot Rods in Benton, Kentucky, for his stunning red-and-black 1939 Ford Crown Standard.

Heflin, who built and owns the car, said he definitely didn’t expect to win the award.

“I was surprised,” he said. “When my son checked the voting [online before the show], we didn’t have many votes. There were a lot of cool cars at the show.”

The car, which is one of four classic cars owned by Heflin, took about two years to build.

“This ’39 Crown Standard was a car that I thought would show well if I could get the painted molding and the two-tone paint right,” said Heflin.

The car’s paint job proved to be more complicated than Heflin initially expected.

Featured Vehicle: 1956 Chrysler 300B ‘Passion’

By Ashley Smissen , May 13, 2011 in Rod Shops

Roger and Nancy Ritzow are no strangers to award-winning hot rods. In 2007, their 1932 Ford roadster was named as one of Ford’s “75 Most Significant Roadsters,” in addition to being named as Goodguys’ 2004 Street Rod of the Year.

It’s no surprise that when the Ritzows decided they wanted to expand their brood of one-of-a-kind hot rods to include a larger car, they called on the man who brought their roadster dream to life—Troy Trepanier, the famed builder and owner of Rad Rides by Troy.

“We have the ’32 roadster and other hot rods but [were] always running short on trunk space or seats,” said Roger Ritzow. “We wanted a larger car that had trunk space, power and room for some friends. We decided it would be a 1950s car of some sort, and knew from the start it would be a Rad Rides car and would be Nancy’s.”

The Ritzows brought their request to Trepanier and let his creativity take over. Trepanier suggested that a 1956 Chrysler might fit the Ritzows’ styling requests, and after looking at photos, the couple agreed.

“We let Troy know the things we wanted in the car and then Troy’s talent and creativity, along with his incredible team, took over,” said Ritzow. “The outcome was ‘Passion.’”

Restorer Profile: A Look Inside the Ringbrothers’ Shop

By Devlin Smith , May 10, 2011 in E-News, Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show, Rod Shops

The entire Ringbrothers staff poses with the 1970 Mustang "Dragon," which took home the Golden Builder Award at the 2011 HRR Trade Show.

Alex Stoner had been following Ringbrothers’ work for a few years. A lifelong Mustang lover (Stoner’s first car was the 1967 lime green Fastback his grandmother bought brand-new and passed along to him when he turned 16), the Chandler, Arizona-based Stoner and his partner Jayne Roorda were in the middle of a 1966 Fastback project that wasn’t going well, so they decided to make a call to Spring Green, Wisconsin, to see if Ringbrothers could help. The team’s award-winning “Silver Streak” and “Reactor” Mustangs had caught Stoner’s eye in the past.

“I just thought it would be fun to call the Ringbrothers, knowing that their level of expertise was probably more than we would ever expect to have, but they said … it would be fine if we wanted to bring [the car] up there,” Stoner said. “We trailered it up there and they looked at it and said that they couldn’t take it on because it would be too cost-prohibitive. The work that was done prior that we had paid for was just a waste.”

The 1966 Fastback was put back on the trailer and sent home with Stoner and Roorda, who eventually pieced the vehicle out.

Disappointed but not dissuaded, Stoner and Roorda told Ringbrothers they’d still be interested in having a project built at the shop, but they needed a vehicle.

“There just happened to be a car that they had bought for themselves to work on someday that was just sitting in their shop,” Stoner said. “It was an old 1970 Mustang, [which] I always had a thing for, so we bought it from them and they started working on it.”

Editor’s Corner: Inside Greystone Mansion’s Concours d’Elegance

By Devlin Smith , May 5, 2011 in Editor's Corner, News & Events

Shown here is the archer hood ornament from a 1934 Pierce Arrow, a vehicle that was displayed at Sunday's Greystone Mansion Concours d'Elegance.

Have you ever seen a Pierce Arrow in person? How about a Chrysler Thunderbolt? A Marmon Sixteen? Thanks to the City of Beverly Hills and The Friends of Greystone, I’ve now seen each of those up close, plus an amazing array of American and European vehicles from the pre- and post-war eras, some more than 100 years old.

The second annual Greystone Mansion Concours d’Elegance was held Sunday in Beverly Hills, California, and showcased more than 150 rare, vintage and unique cars and motorcycles on the grounds of the historic, 55-room, 18-acre mansion and city park. Proceeds from the event benefited the Friends of Greystone, an organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration and protection of the estate, which was completed in 1928.