We chose ten cars from the show that really jumped out and grabbed our attention, and we also picked out our favorite from the show. Read on to see what cars made our list, and which one grabbed the crown.

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1960 Ford Starliner

This 1960 Ford Starliner was built by BS Industries, and what sets it apart is that it has a 5.4 L Ford GT Motor under the hood. That’s right, supercar performance in a classic ride. The reason Bodie Stroud, the owner of BS Industries, stuck the huge GT engine in this Starliner was because he had intended on buying a whole Ford GT, until the bottom dropped out of the economy. The next best thing was to buy the engine and stick it in a car that was wide enough to hold it, and voilà! The “Scarliner” was born.

BS Industries spent a lot of time choosing and installing as many high end, modern components in this Starliner as possible. Included in that list is a GM 200-4R automatic transmission, a Ford GT dash and instruments, custom-built headers, and a 3-inch exhaust.

’68 & ’69 AMX

The American Motors AMX is a musclecar that was overshadowed by the competition from the “Big Three,” but today nobody’s more car-crazy than the AMC faithful. When we found out this pair were the only two AMX’s at the show, they had to make the list. The owners of these cars have been cruising together since 2000 after they met at a car show, and they even started a club for local AMX drivers at www.socalamx.net that has over 85 members.

The red AMX belongs to Mark Melvin and was built back in 1969. Mark has had this car since ’77 and it’s special to him because it was the first car he ever bought. “I wanted an AMX ever since my uncle bought one back in ’68 when I was nine years old,” added Mark. It started out as a daily driver and held that title for seven years, before it was parked and not messed with for another 15 years. When Mark heard that the 2004 National AMX Carshow was coming up, he started stripping it down and building it up. If you’re wondering what powers this AMX, it’s a 401 cubic inch engine backed by a Borg Warner Super T-10 4-speed transmission.

Dave Chick owns the white ’68 AMX that is equipped with a 401 and a Torqueflight trans. Dave bought the car, still in pieces, back in February of ’99. Slowly, he started to put her back together. When he bought the car it had just come back from a fresh coat of paint, Frost White with Matador red stripes to be exact. With the exterior all buttoned up, Dave was able to focus on getting the car put back together mechanically. Once the car was running again, he noticed the tires were almost completely worn down, but what does every car enthusiast do with “almost” worn out tires? Dave decided to take the car down to Irwindale Speedway and make a few passes. With the bad tires, he ran a 9.25 1/8th mile at 78 mph. Not bad, Dave!

57 Bel Air “Sleeper”

“Sleeper” is by far the perfect name for this car. At first glance, this Bel Air is certainly nice, but perhaps not wild enough to make this list. That is until you get a good look under the hood. You seldom see a ’57 Chevy with a fuel injected 540 cubic inch engine built by Mike Moran, complete with twin turbos. With 1,589 horsepower, it is hard to believe that this car is driven on the street but owner (and founder of Red Line Oil) Tim Kerrigan said, “If you don’t get into it too hard, she will drive great.”

This thing was really complete, and there wasn’t much that Kerrigan didn’t go through and revise. An Art Morrison chassis, high end engine management, and extreme attention to detail were all working to make this car one of the best we saw all day – if not all year!

One neat thing we noticed when we were checking this car out was that everyone was staring in the trunk of the car. Back there, you’ll find a dry sump tank disguised as a Hoover vacuum – it even had the Hoover emblem on it! This car is full of clever details, making it more than interesting enough to make it onto the list.

A Pair of Sprint Cars

Sprint Car racing has been around for a long time, and these short-oval warriors are fascinating examples of what happens when you turn ingenious, competitive racers loose. One of the Sprint Cars at the show was the Bogar 99. It was built by Ralph Heintzelman and raced in 1972-73. In ’72 it ran 90 events, winning 75 heat races, and 42 main events. In ’73 it came in second place at the Knoxville Nationals. Powering this Sprint Car to all of those wins is a Hilborn fuel injected Chevy 305 with Halibrand wheels, steering, brakes and rear end. What a great piece of racing history.

The other sprint car was a Roy Morral 880 driven by hall of fame driver Larry “Smokey” Snellbaker. This car raced from ’71-’73 and was the points champion at Hagerstown and Port Royal. Like the Sprint Car above it has a 305-cube Chevy with Hilborn fuel injection. The sprint car racers that campaigned these cars were truly professional drivers. Today’s Sprint Cars run far superior wings, wider tires, and have decades of development behind them. It really makes you appreciate how much skill and courage it took to drive cars like these at the limit and beyond.

Revolution AA/Gas Supercharged car

While the paint on this vintage racer is reminiscent of a bass boat, it’s got some history behind it. The look of this car made us dig deeper for the story behind this one-of-a-kind vehicle. This drag car is a 1969 Corvette, and even though it has a one piece flip-top body like a Funny Car, it represents the final evolution of the AA/Gas Supercharged cars. It was driven by the late Mike “Worlds Fastest Hippie” Mitchell, and was named “America’s Most Beautiful Competition Car” at the ’70 Oakland Roadster Show. This was one of the many interesting cars on display in the “History of the Racecar” display at the event.

1934 Ford Roadster

It was a Mardi Gras theme in one of the buildings, and that is where we found this 1934 Ford Roadster with a little bit of a twist. While it may look like one of hundreds of other ’34 Roadsters at first glance, the insides are a little different. This roadster has a GM LS1 engine with a 4L60E transmission. A few other aftermarket components include some Auto Meter gauges, American Racing Torque Thrust Wheels, and a custom leather interior.

’57 Corvette

Another LS swap that we found happened to be a ’57 Corvette with a LS6 shoved inside. The engine makes 405 horsepower, and taking that power to the wheels is a Tremec 6-speed transmission. One aspect we really liked about this car is the fact that it has stock interior and the original body and frame. There is something about the shape of the body, with soft curves that cannot be found today. A clean build with plenty of power – what’s not to like?

Our Favorite Car

The car that caught our eye the most was a ZR1-powered 1954 Corvette nicknamed “Deathstar 2K10”. A lot of people say this body style is the best looking of all early sports cars and we do have to agree on that one. This car is part old school, part new school, and puts them both into one nice-looking package.

Built by Timeless Kustoms in Camarillo, California, this Corvette is motivated by a GM LS9, the same supercharged powerplant found in the 2010 ZR1. With 10 pounds of intercooled boost, this car makes 640 rear wheel horsepower with 640 foot-pounds of torque, and additional modifications are in the future. They expect to get an extra 200 ponies with increased boost and tuning. The LS9 was installed with a GM Performance Parts LS-Controller engine management system, which incorporates the “Fly-by-Wire” technology into this classic.

Power is regulated through a dual-disc hydraulically operated clutch matched to a modified Tremec 6-speed transmission. To go along with the motor, brakes from the Corvette ZR1 were added to match. The Brembo brakes slow Boze alloy three-piece forged wheels wrapped with Hoosier A-6 tires.

The complete driveline was set back in the chassis for optimum balance and weight distribution. When they got this Corvette finalized, they put it on the scales to see what the distribution of weight looked like. They nearly achieved a perfect 50/50 ratio. With the total weight coming in at 2700 pounds this car has a power-to-weight ratio closer to a superbike than a classic Corvette.

We chose this as our own “Best in Show” because it has a great look to it with a lot of power. It brings back the great look and styling of the ’54 Corvettes, but it has the modern power and capabilities to rival today’s most extreme sports cars.

The 57th Annual Grand National Roadster Show had different cars from many different categories, including everything from muscle cars all the way to old roadsters. In addition to the perfectly polished show cars, it was also great to see cars that were still in the middle of their restoration. All I can say now is that I can’t wait for the 58th Annual Grand National Roadster Show! If you’re anywhere near the West Coast next year, be sure not to miss it. Oh, and wear your running shoes if you want to see it all…

Source:

Courtesy of StreetLegalTV.Com

Grand National Roadster Show
Web: www.rodshows.com/gnrs/
Phone: 877-763-7469