28 ❘ August 29, 2019 http://www.oldcarsweekly.com
it up for the judges’ drive-up inspection.
This car’s gleaming light brown fi nish, a
melted Hershey’s chocolate hue by Travis
Hess, looked good enough to eat.
It was a miracle that they’d made it.The Hilton team had worked their tails
off right through Thanksgiving and
Christmas. When I saw the “car” in late
December in Travis’ West Virginia shop,
the paint was still wet on the body. About
1,000 miles away, Tony was dyno-ing the
Ardun; Mikey had constructed the seats
without the body present; and Bobby was
plumbing the chassis in his garage. Mi-
raculously, it all came together in Tony’s
Ohio shop with just enough time to fi n-
ish assembly, loading and tag team-drive
through a blizzard across the Midwest. A
tired but exhilarated “Team Hilton” ar-
rived in Pomona with minutes to spare
on preview Wednesday. But the road-
ster looked great and attracted admiring
crowds all weekend.
“We’re just glad to be here, man,”said Bobby, “and now that we know the
ropes, you better believe we’ll be back
next year.”
Competition for the AMBR awarddoesn’t mean you have to have a $1 mil-
lion car, although there are always some
of those. Cory Taulbert and his wife Ash-
ley (her dad is Ridler Award-winning
builder Dan Webb) drove their Deuce
highboy over 17,000 miles to events
across the country such as the Lone Star
Roundup and the Colorado Hill Climb
before bringing it to Darrell Hollenbeck’s
shop for some serious sprucing up be-
fore competing for the AMBR. They won
the Brizio family Award, given annually
to the owners of a car that’s defi nitely
driven. A perfectly proportioned jet-
black Deuce with a tough 4-inch chop,
the much-traveled and perfectly detailed
Taulbert roadster showed beautifully—a
credit to the careful prep work.
Chad Adams from Adams’ Hot Rod
Shop in Calhoun, Ga., was back for the
second time with a full-fendered ’32 on
big-and-little tires on traditional Ford-
style wires. It had a killer stance and
packed a vintage 312-cid T-Bird V-8 with
triple carbs. Resplendent in a dark blue-
black mix with a radically slanted Stanley
Wanlass-designed chopped windshield,
this car impressed a lot of people as a
build that could be built somewhat rea-
sonably with head-turning good looks
and no apologies needed.
The AMBR winner this year wasno surprise. Eric Perratt and Pinkee’s
Hot Rod Shop in Windsor, Colo., had
an open checkbook from famed Land
Speed Bonneville racer George Poteet
and design help from the incomparable
Eric Black, and the results showed. On
an extended wheelbase and with every
panel stretched and massaged, the “Three
Penny” Chocolate ’36 Ford roadster was
the undisputed star of the show. This was
a seven-fi gure build powered by a Ford
Windsor V-8. From its distinctively low
top, sensuous reshaping, luscious interior
and paint to its one-off custom wheels,
this lovely car just exuded class. You
could spend days inspecting all the modi-
fi cations, some so subtle as to be nearly
invisible. Some years, a simple car can
win, but nothing on the fl oor came close
to this major effort—and the award was
very well deserved.
Chip Foose was named “Builder of
the Decade” and there was a display of his
groundbreaking and top award-winning
cars. He gave a gracious speech, honoring
his dad, the late Sam Foose, and crediting
the many people who’d helped him along
the way. Chip is one of hot rodding’s class
acts. I remember a few years ago, at the
SEMA Show, seeing a really long line of
people waiting to have posters signed. I
walked alongside to the front, expecting
to see a show babe in a low-cut top, and
to my surprise, it was Chip Foose, doing
the signing.
There were so many great stories
here, such as Jim Govros from Drip-
ping Springs, Texas, competing for the
AMBR in “Tweety Bird,” the bright yel-
low Caddy-powered, chopped and chan-
neled full-fendered ’32 Ford roadster
he had in high school. Featured in Rod-
ding and Re-styling in 1959, it was lost
for years, found, and restored by Keith
Tardel, and the crew from Rex Rod and
Chassis in Austin, along with an impres-
sive list of builders who all pitched in
and donated their time to help Jim make
the big show.
Space won’t permit me to tell you ev-
erything that was on display; you’ll just
have to come to Pomona next year.
I know I will be there.This 1929 Model A – one of the 107 great historic A’s in a special display, belonged
to the late Bill Burnham, a monthly columnist for Street Rodder Magazine and the
closest thing to a cracker barrel philosopher that hot rodding ever had. His droll
and witty column, “In Bill’s Eye,” was the fi rst thing I read each month in SRM.
Bill’s well-traveled old car is now owned by Harry Daviess.