2017 RIDLER AWARD WINNER
DETROIT / STORY & PHOTOS BY: RICK WALKER
The 2017 65th Annual Meguiar’s Detroit Autorama held in Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit has concluded with the winner of the prestigious Ridler award being announced....and the winner is ( drum roll please )....Buddy Jordan and Steve Frisbie of Steve's Auto Restoration from Portland Oregon and their incredible 1933 Ford Roadster called Renaissance Roadster.
The car was completely hand crafted, with every panel being fabricated from sheet metal or aluminum. The style is distinctly old school Ford, but nothing on the car is off the shelf. Just about every part was customized or completely fabricated from scratch.
The design came from Chris Ito, with additional inspiration from Steve. The car was built in Steve's shop.
HAND CRAFTED BODY PANELS
RENAISSANCE ROADSTER
Tubing and billet were added in between the body panels to trim up the wiring and hydraulic brake lines with style. The fram was hand formed from 3/16 inch steel.
Brakes are Wilwood disc all around, with CNC machined backing plates.
The engine is a big block Chevy from Chevrolet Performance, but it goes beyond that, with the engine being an anniversary edition 427 ( #029), featuring aluminum block and heads. It has an Edelbrock intake mainforld. The exhaust is a custom stainless system.
OLD SCHOOL STYLE
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
THE RENAISSANCE ROADSTER
The headlights are an interesting touch, and originally came from a 1934 Chrysler, but were customized to make the triangular shape work with the overall theme of the car. The rear bumper is fitted with custom LED lighting
The interior is gorgeous with the focal point being a 1930 NASH instrument cluster which hoses a full set of custom gauges with a classic style. It all flows into a hand formed aluminum console and switch panel.
REMOVABLE HARDTOP:
THE RENAISSANCE ROADSTER
DETROIT AUTORAMA
The hardtop is removable, and the window frames are custom CNC machined. The bucket seats and door panels are also customized with a generous amount of leather and cloth details. A 1931 Cadillac Dome light caps off the interior.
There was stiff competition this year, but it was clear from the unveiling of the final eight finalists that the 1933 Renaissance Roadster was going to be the car to beat, and in 2017 it is the winner of what is arguably the most prestigious custom car building trophy in the world....The Ridler Award.
RENAISSANCE ROADSTER
BODY MADE OF ALUMINUM & SHEET METAL
Look for more coverage of this year's Detroit Autorama in overviews and wrap ups through Maverick News ( www.mavericknews.net ) and via the SST Car Show with Rick Walker ( www.sstcarshow.com ).
Full video and report to follow here on the SST Car Show News Site.
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