DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!
CARHUNTER even named the dog Ridler and enlisted him this year to make the pick!
After several years of near misses CARHUNTER TEAM got it right!!
LUIGI DERIGGI OF TOMS RIVER NJ
1950 MERCURY TAKES THE 2023 RIDLER AWARD!!
WELL DESERVED!
Now I will stand on my soap box for a minute; In CARHUNTERS opinion there seems to be a different approach to the judging and the winning cars/trucks here. You can take a 67 Nova (sorry, I had to pick 1) build an unreal chassis, engine, interior, etc.., but it still looks like a 67 Nova looking at it from a distance.
CARHUNTERS opinion is the vehicle should look unique enough from a distance to draw you to it, WOW look at that car over there!!!
Being a MOPAR guy maybe I should have used the Super Bee as an example?
Not too far down the road we may see a Honda Civic Tuner as a Great 8 winner!
They put a lot of pressure on the builders for perfection, but dictate that the car must not be seen anywhere before the Autorama ( I think that should be stopped), you have folks putting $100,000's of thousands into a car for that trophy and then hand them a check for $10,000.
I have seen many cars that could be Ridler material at shows like the Grand National Roadster show or even the street rod national events or Shades of the Past.
I think shows like the new Triple Crown of Rodding is going to set a new trend while the Detroit Autorama is moving away from it's roots.
There were no cars older than 1950 which I found odd.
