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It’s the Great 8 – Ridler Award Contenders 2012

2012 Detroit Autorama Ridler Award Contenders

More fun than the republican primary! Vote for your favorite below.

It’s about time. I’ve been grabbing photos from friends for long enough. It’s time for a personal account of the hot rods and custom cars that make up the Detroit Autorama, especially the best of the best, the Ridler cars. For the 60th Anniversary of the Detroit Autorama, the competition is extra tough… Fact is, I couldn’t figure out what cars were the “Great 8″!

Rules for the Ridler are pretty simple: The cars should show: Creativity, Engineering and Workmanship. (What they don’t mention is that the winner typically shows all three of these in a way, most likely, never seen before or done in a way that’ll cause mouths to hit the floor) Just a few other rules, the Ridler contenders must be showing for the very first time and must run, drive and stop in a basic way.

What’s not in the Rilder Rules? Body style, year or anything specifying what kind of car it is… Love that! So let’s mix it up here and see if we vote the same as the judges for the 2012 Ridler Award:

Enjoy the pictures and for any shot, click to see the full-size photo.

Great 8 Ridler Award Contender #1 ~ 1967 Shelby GT500

If you’ve ever seen me at a show, I’m runnin! Media gets in at 9AM so I’m shooting everything I can before the crowds pour in. My plan? Shoot the Ridler contenders first. No problem except the “openess” of the Ridler rules allow a bunch of cars to enter. With so many cars to review, the official Great 8 cars aren’t announced until noon. Still, I had my eye on a few and shot’m up right…

First up is the 1967 Shelby GT500 of Carol and Gordon Phillips rolling in from Quesnel, BC, Canada. I’m going on record now: This is my pick for the Ridler Award.

Built by JF Kustoms, this Mustang has every detail imaginable nailed. After JF Launier nailed it, he chromed it and polished it! The list of one-off details on this car starts with the wheels and the steering wheel, but dig that grille! “Kardiac 500″ is custom machined in by Mike Curtis, designer and fabricator of the billet goodies. Why Kardiac? Part of it is how Gord’s gen-u-ine Shelby gives purists heart palpitations, but the rest? You’ll have to read my feature article coming soon…

The car was originally pulled from a wrecking yard in the 80′s…… it’s come a long way!

Keep your eye on the web for photos, stories and links and wish us luck cuz we’re hoping that we’re going to bring home the 2012 Riddler car!!

Check out our Facebook page for more pics and updates too! Just click here!

JFKtv Logo

Our Producer has been hard at it and has revamped JFKustomsTV!  Take a look, enter the site, hopefully you’ll find the new layout more user friendly and quicker to load.  Sometimes if we get carried away and have a long episode you may still find you have to wait a couple seconds for the video to load but it has been So much improved from what we had before…. I think you’ll be impressed.  The newest episode is loaded too so make sure to take a minute and check it out!  The 55 Chev that we’ve been hard at work on has to leave next week for SEMA and then it may hit one show before it goes home with it’s owner, lots of great footage in this episode covering it’s “Maiden Voyage”!  There’s also a how-we-did-it segment on the Riviera.  Don’t forget you can also check out our YouTube page for all our past episodes.

Red Neck Mustang Jumpin

On the main stage!

It seems like it was only last week but in November of 2009 we took the Wagon to SEMA in Las Vegas.  Once again we managed to get one of the best parking spots in the place.  Parked just beside the stage of Barry Meguiars Car Crazy Central, the wagon became the backdrop to all the interviews that took place throughout the week.  At one point we had to maneuver the wagon up the steep ramps onto the stage for JF’s interview with Barry, something we very carefully practiced during set up earlier in the week.  If you haven’t seen the interview yet, you can catch it on the Car Crazy youtube page by clicking the link below. 

Hopefully you have been able to enjoy your rides this summer, whether it be driving them, working on them or just remembering them.  As for me, the Riviera is coming along, not as quickly as I’d like but fortunately that means I’m busy working on customers cars in the shop.  I’ll get an update on here shortly, maybe even a few pictures to tease you with!!  We’re still toying with dates to debut the Shelby project…  hmmm….  Detroit in the Spring?  Grand National Roadster show maybe?  What are your thoughts? 

Until next time…..                   JF

JF on Car Crazy

The 55's Debut in 2004

Everytime I sit down and try to put together an update I have a hard time knowing where to start!  This time of year brings on all the outdoor shows around here which in turn brings on the visitors to the shop as they trave to and from favourite destinations.  I love the enthusiasm of the folks who get in their cars and drive them to shows… often times we are a pit stop, cool down point, break check station, leaky rad hose repair stop and just a middle ground place to take a brake from the miles of pavement ahead.  Last weekend we hosted a Cruise that came down from the Boyd’s Fathers Day show in Kelowna (a solid 2 hour drive each direction) that brought us 40-50 cars of which there were many we had never seen before.  Over the next month we anticipate a couple other organized Cruise events as Deuce Days in Victoria gets near and car clubs pass through on their way to the Island.  There may still be room to participate in a week long Cruise that takes you from Deuce Days in Victoria, through the Okanagan and then down to the Goodguys Pacific Northwest Nats in Puyallup, Wa. (I’ll post some links below for a couple of the upcoming shows.) For anyone who hasn’t spent much time in BC or Washington, you will pass through some of the most diverse and beautiful country known to man… hmmm… maybe I am a bit biased.  This weekend is Billetproof in Chehalis, Wa. for you Ol’ Skoolers and traditional enthusiasts.  We’re debating hitting the road in the Caddy for it’s maiden voyage but that will be one of those last minute calls.  Regardless of which school of thought you follow, whether your car is driven or trailered to events, whether you built it yourself or had someone do the dirty work for you, get out there and enjoy your ride!  This is the best season for sharing your passion and meeting up with friends, old and new.  See ya down the road!

Billetproof Northwest                  Wenatchee Apple Run                                     River City Rod Run

Deuce Days                               Goodguys Pacific Northwest Nats                   Vintiques Northwest Nats                                         

Sleepy Hollow Rod Run              Goodguys Great Northwest Nats                    Nelson Queen City Cruise

Well for anyone who may not have noticed, we have a new page on our website…  Welcome Cactus Jalopies.  They held a wonderful event here in Osoyoos this weekend which brought some absolutely stunning cars to town.  Check out their page and take a look at their Facebook site when you have a minute.  If you have a pre-73 ride it’s definitely worth checking out next year.

Congrats guys on another successful event!!