Don Ridler was the driving force behind keeping the Detroit Autorama relevant for so many years. The Ridler Award was created in his honor to recognize the best of the best hot rods making their worldwide debut at Autorama, the second longest-running indoor car show in America. I’ve been fortunate enough to have cars that I built win the Rider award no fewer than four times.
“Impostor,” at the Detroit Autorama.
A lot of people ask me what it takes to design a car that’s going to take home top hardware at the prestigious Detroit Autorama. I can tell you that taking aim at the Ridler award—and it is indeed something you have to carefully plan for and execute—requires the utmost commitment from myself as a designer, from the customer who has commissioned the car, and from the team putting everything together.
Working on “Impression,” and the perfect styling for a mid-1930s roadster.
Attention to Detail
Part of what makes the Ridler so challenging is how every aspect of the car is subjected to excruciating levels of scrutiny. We have to approach each component as if it were the only piece that was going to be judged, and that mentality affects how we design, fabricate, polish, paint, and assemble even the smallest part.
This requires incredible focus and sophistication during the build process. When we won the Ridler Award in 2005 with “Impression,” only three pieces on that car were sourced from the factory. The remaining 4,000 or so were hand-built in my shop. The first Ridler Award we ever took home, in 2002, came with “Grand Master,” which featured an almost entirely custom steel body with only a few hints of the once-stock panels still visible.
“Impression.”
“Grand Master,” in process.
“Grand Master.”
As you can imagine, the road to the Ridler is a long one, and it’s a close collaboration between myself, my team, and the vehicle owner who must have the kind of passion required to see a project take between three to six years of work.
Inspiration is a funny thing. Some of our Ridler winners come from ideas a customer has been percolating in their head for years—while others spring from a single meeting and a flash of energy that creates a design concept that immediately works. “Stallion,” for example, was based on a 1934 Ford that the owners had raced together as teenagers.
“Stallion,” rolling out of the shop.
“Stallion.”
No matter how a Ridler project begins, it always ends up the same way: the proud work of a group of people passionate about custom cars, and dedicated to bringing their vision to reality—regardless of how long it might take, or how much blood, sweat, and tears must be poured into the project. I consider it a privilege to be able to help customers live out their dreams in glass and steel.
