2011 Detroit Autorama: You Choose the Ridler
2011 Ridler Award Contenders from World of Wheels
Update! Details and more pictures of the 2011 Ridler Winner
I was right!! Picked to win early thanks to my psychic friends… 2011 Ridler Winner prediction
Story & Pictures by: Megan Boyd
The 2011 Detroit Autorama is off to another sizzling start in snowy Detroit, Michigan. No worries, a little snow never slows the dedicated hot rodders that make their way to one of the nation’s best known indoor hot rod and custom car show.
At this year’s 59th Annual Detroit Autorama, the best of the best have again gathered in the Cobo Center to compete for one of the top custom car award in the land, the coveted, “Ridler Award”. (To learn more about the Ridler Award, click here)
Take a look at these first shots and tell us what you think!
Which car’s your favorite? Vote down below…
Why? (Your opinion counts!)
How do this year’s car’s compare to last year’s? Check the 2010 Ridler Award “Great 8”
Now the Contenders (in no particular order):
“Cooper Head” – 1940 Ford Hardtop owned by Kenneth Tallent of McKinney, TX
Class: Radical Custom Rod Coupe 1935-1948
1939 Ford Custom owned by Mike and Rose Lethert of Roseville, MN
Class: Radical Custom Rod Convertible 1935-1948 (Click the picture to see it full size)
“N Veee” – 1947 Chevy Roadster Pick Up owned by Tim and Marianna Gunsalus of West Alexandria, OH
Class: Radical Pick Up
“Business Edition” – 1951 Chevy Business Coupe owned by Derick Samson of Marshall, MO
Class: Radical Hardtop
“Suncammer” – 1956 Ford Sunliner Convertible owned by Bruce & Judy Ricks of Sapulpa, OK
Class: (all it’s own? it’s not shown…)
“Assassin” – 1957 Chevrolet 210 Sedan owned by Kenny Frederic of Dutchtown, LA
Class: Semi Hardtop
1962 Corvette owned by Bruce and Torie Milyaid of Grand Junction, CO
Class: Full Sport
1963 Buick Riviera owned by Jim Marciniak of Andover, MN
Class: Radical Hardtop
There you have it! The best of the best from the Detroit Autorama. For more info on this show and all the World of Wheels car shows click here.
Stay tuned to for the Ridler Award winner!
Now choose your favorite. Vote here (and don’t forget to say WHY below):
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I`m glad to see that we have the good taste to choose the 56.
Super clean and classy!!!!!
that 51 Ford looks like it has the goods to take home the Ridler this year. In my opinion it looks to be the most original,well thought out, handcrafted beauty of the bunch! Steel is real! fiberglass cars shouldn’t be eligible to win the Ridler IMO.
Boo Yaa!
Beautiful 56 and not seen enough..
I voted for the 51. It was the cleanest. Too much going on with these rides.
Love the 1940 hard top,
Wow what a pretty car, 1940 hard top all the way.
The 1940 Ford Hardtop is the best by far!!!!! Enough said!!!
thats a nice looking 1940 ford hard top
Oh my god that ’47 Chevy Pickup is fugly!
The 40 model hard top was built by Jesse Hackler. He deserves to win this award!
1940 Ford ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1940 Hard Top just wonderful
1940 hard top is where its at
1940 Ford – No Doubt it is Awesome. Should win hands down. Check out all the detailed work done on this baby!!!
I voted for this 1940 Ford for its clean lines and great color choice !!!
Beautiful car should win everything!
I was waiting for this… I hate to say it, but I agree with you. The only thing I hoped for was that it was better in person?
40 Ford great looking and wonderful color..
I voted for the Riv…I rode in 2 like that growing up…it was real class..swanky..all the other cars above have been done before and you don’t see the Riv too often….I haven’t seen one out there in years. The 1st car was big in the 70s and so was the 57. Roadsters are big now..but you know I like different.
I think the 56 ford,having said that I think the engine falls a little short.
The best coupe i have ever laid my eyes on, This is a great peice of American history. 1940 model coupe all the way!
Good looking 40 model coupe! Best i’ve ever seen.
The 1940 Ford Coupe was the best looking car at the 2011 Detroit Autorama. The owner, Kenneth Tallent from McKinney, Texas definitely deserves to win the Riddler award!! Jesse Hackler with J & J Rod and Custom in Anna, Texas did a great job on this car.
Can’t beat that 1940 Ford Hard Top!!!!!
The 6 years worth of details on the Sunliner wins 2011 handsdown. That SOHC motor is ridiculous!!!!!
MOBYCAT
sorry guys if it were me I would pick the 51 chevy
the convert is nice but past the engine and the louvered belly pan I am bored.
the 40′ nice car but I see lots of catalog parts – past the paint, big deal
57 is nice, but you see lots of 57’s and vettes running around
vette is nice too, but you see it and go wow nice and walk away, nothing there to suck you in to wanna see more
sorry the riv, the green truck and the purple car (purple? really??) do nothing for me
the 51 is not a car you see alot of to this level of detail, the paint is impeccable, the interior flawless and has enough custom mods to keep you looking for more and it delivers – I dig it because it is sooo subtle, it’s classic
How can a Ford SOHC fall short? No way Don.
Love the 40′ hard top. Great job Jesse Hackler!!
The 40 Hard Top built by Jesse Hackler is best looking of all the cars
All of the Great 8 are beautiful rides, but being a lifelong Corvette owner it’s nice to see a Vette in the running for a change. The attention to detail on this car is second to none! The builder of this car and his crew deserve a ton of credit for the nearly 4 years it took to complete this project. Best of luck to John and his Family!
The 1940 Foed Coupe is the Best I’ve seen in a great while…………should win hands down………..Great Job !!!!!!!!
The suncammer is a perfect mix of the best of the old and new. Unreal workmanship and the engine choice is brilliant
I spent about 40 min going over the 56 yesterday and I have to say that it is flawless, well worthy of the Ridler Award. It would be great to see a mid 50s win this award.
Going from (in my opinion) worst to best:
8) Purple ’39 Coast to Coast. Nice car, nice “driver quality”, but in no way a Ridler car. unpainted engine/trans, blue AC Delco oil filter, 11″ stock metric GM disc brakes etc.
7) The Riv. It looked like it was lowered a little bit, Had a semi custom interior, still using stock finned drum brakes, did have a stainless mesh grille.
6) The ’47 Chevy truck. Same green as the Udell’s “Timeless” ’32 from last year, there were so many things that had no continuity on this truck it’s hard to list them all.
5) The ’40 Ford hardtop. The way the doors were cut was just wrong. it had “slide in” rear quarter glass, it needed 2 hydraulic rams plus a regular generic prop rod to hold the hood open. Basic SBC/4bbl set up. The exhaust tips didn’t fit the cut outs in the running boards and were hung unevenly.
4) The red ’57 Chevy 210. Yep, a 210…. Nice car, strait. Lots of red, maybe too much, no real major mods done to the car.
Tie for 2nd)
The brown ’51 Chevy. Cool little business mans coupe. The guy that built it is 26. He and his crew of 4 guys, plus upholstery guy built it in 4 months. It was the owner’s car since he was 12. Really personable young man. Cool little cues. I thought it needed a little chrome though.
The silver/pewter Vette. Nice subtle mods, maybe too subtle. I had to read the judges book to see them. Unfortunately, the car didn’t really have any kind of contrast to it, and it made it a little blah. The silver and chrome blended together.
The winner 1) The ’56 Ford Suncammer. Man there were so many unnoticed mods on this car, from being pie sectioned from zero at the rear wheel well to 4″ at the front fender, custom rocker panels, custom made CNC milled side trim, a “One off” custom made cross ram style intake complete with experimental Ford part numbers, firing order and the Ford logo cast into the intake. Custom made grille to match the reworked grille opening, both bumped rec’d a nip/tuck/flip. This car just “worked”
Awesome Comment Grilleguy! Did you take any pictures? You should be writing at MyRideisMe.com!! I’m adding the comment about Suncammer to the “I’m pyschic” story that has just a few details about the car.
I need more pictures of the Ridler Winner 1956 Ford Sunliner. Anyone that wants to help, email moc.emsiedirymnull@nimda
Thanks again!
All i have to say is that this show was a joke! The 56 ford wouldnt even crank up…Looks like you failed to leave that part out “Grilleguy”. In the rules it states in order to win the Ridler the car must crank and drive for X Amount of feet. By far the worst AutoRama by far. Detroit= Bad car shows and an even worse Football team! At least the 40 model hard top fired up like a TRUE CHAMP! The 40 model still has my vote, Piss on the 56. That “SOHC” Motor is a big peice of cow dookie. Them texas boys sure know how to build a good lookin muscle car! The 56 is and always be over rated!
The one and only
Kid Rock
You might have had some respect for your comment if you left out the “dookie” part…
Hey Grilleguy!
I seen your icon at new members..it says Bellwood, PA….I spent many vacations visiting my grandparents in Altoona. My Aunt and Uncle lived in Bellwood. Cool place! I can’t wait to see the pics you post!
Well, we all know that wasn’t Kid Rock leaving that message! What kind of fool would even think that? First of all, Kid Rock wouldn’t be saying “dookie”! He has a better choice of words than that!
I wasn’t there on move in day, so I didn’t see ANY of the cars start/drive. I know it’s a requirement to run for the Ridler that the car move under it’s own power. Because it was in the Great 8, I figured it did.
I had no connections to any of the cars that were in the competition this year, unlike last year when 4 of the 8 had my inserts installed. With your “ill feelings” towards a superior car (the ’56) and all the “compliments” aimed at the ’40, me thinks you might have some connection to it??? I dunno.
Were you even at Detroit?
The ’40, apart from the poorly done hardtop conversion looked to me like a 1-800 street rod, from the tacky Cool Flex radiator hose, extra hood prop to the poorly fitting SQUARE exhaust tips on a “round” car, this car didn’t “work” like the ’56.
BTW, the ’56 had fabricated steel pipes that were nickel plated that bolted to the motor then to a short hose for it’s radiator “hoses”. Compared to a Cool Fle…… How many other parts do you want to compare to each other between these two? SBC to a Cammer? 8″ or 9″ to a Quick Change? A box stock Drake repop grille to a Custom fabbed grille? Case closed…
I’ve been to almost every Auto Rama at Detroit since the mid 70s, and I thought this was a little weak. I personally thought that the Vette and the 56 ford were by far the best of the 8. I’ve personally have restored solid axle Vettes,and the attention to detail and the one of trim on the 62 were incredible. The Ford was amazing also, everywhere you looked at that car was custom fabrication. That grill was beautiful,the chop work on the convertible top, quick change, and what can you not be said about finding a cammer under the hood. The car was gorgeous, and deserved to win. I don’t know about not being able to be able to start up, but it must have ran at some point at the show, or it would have been disqualified.
I was there with a car from our shop. This show was weak to say the least. I have a big problem with the judging at this show. The car that won the Ridler did not start! It was pushed to and from the location on the floor. Sorry, but this is the fault of the judges. Get your heads out of the sand. Follow your our set of rules and this will not happen.
Own, sorry.
Look her grillegur you gat a problem come to texas and say it to their face i bet you are jellos and you will not say it to their face ealtheir
Wow Frank. Resorting to name calling and with poor spelling too? Geez, I think I struck a nerve!
I don’t seem to be the one with the problem, I think you do though. Like I said, I had no connection to ANY of the cars in this years competition. You still haven’t said whether you do or not?
Jealous (correct spelling by the way), not really. Was the ’40 a nice car? Yea, kinda. Was it a Ridler contender? Ehh, like others have said (and I as well) it was a weak year for cars competing. I never said anything to the affect that the ’40 was a piece of junk. I just pointed out that apart from the hard top conversion, I couldn’t see many other true custom modifications. I looked for a judges book, but didn’t see any around the ’40.
With regards to saying it “to their face”, yep, I would. All my comments about that car (and other finalists) are right here on the big ol’ world wide web for all to see.
If the builders/owners didn’t want guys like me to critique their car, they should have left it at home. As with any kind if competition, there will be a winner (the ’56) and losers (the other 7 finalists) not including all the other cars that showed up and didn’t even make it into the Great 8. Personal preference is a subjective thing. I guess that’s why they make Fords, Chevys, Dodges, Willys, etc as well as black cars, red cars, blue cars and any other color the owner wants.
With regards to whether the ’56 started/ran or not, guess you gotta take that up with the Autorama judges and not me, I have nothing to do with them and no association with them other than being a vendor at that show 4 or 5 years ago.
grillguy you dont know what you are talking about. if the show had ben honest the 40 ford would have won hands down.you would not make agood smut mag. writer.
I’ll refer everyone back to my last paragraph in my last post. I’m not in any way associated to any cars competing this year nor do I have any association with ISCA or the Autorama. I’m a guy that builds grilles. I voiced my opinion, just like the other members that posted on this thread. Suddenly everyone else is an expert, and I’m a backstabber that’s not good enough to write for a smut magazine! Goodness gracious. Grow up and get over it. You seem to be taking your anger that the ’40 didn’t win out on me, a spectator at the show. Maybe you all should vent your frustrations to somebody with the Autorama that could actually do something about it.
I’ll only respond to future posts that are reasonable adult posts. The name calling and innuendo are not flattering to those who do so. Go back and re-read my posts, I’ve not insulted or attacked anyone.
I critiqued ALL the cars in the Grest 8, but for some reason the ’40 has struck a nerve. I don’t see anybody commenting about the ’47 Chevy truck or the black corvette with the dragons all over it and the cemetery fence around it.
I’ll be brief. I was there and looked at all the great 8 cars in person. It was an off year. I had a difficult time picking 8 cars that were eligible. I couldn’t do it. It is my understanding that a lot builders are planning to debut cars at next years Autorama for the 60th. I believe (without a doubt) they chose the right car in the 56′. My sentimental favorite was the young guy with the 51′ Chevy, he just had a good story.
The love fest with the 40′ Ford and the boys from Texas on this forum is humorous. To compare the 40′ Ford to the 56′ Ford or the Vette or even the 51′ Chevy
is laughable.
My picks.
1. 56 Ford
2. Vette
3. 51 Chevy
4. 57 Chevy
5. 40 Ford
6. Riviera
7. ugly truck
8. Coast to Coast car
What a great selection of cars! Having had the oppertunity to have judged the the Detroit show in the past allows me to really appreciate the “Top 8”. The 56′ Ford gets my vote and the 51′ Chevy looks like a 2nd. GREAT JOB ON ALL!