The 75th GNRS is a Wrap – Rad Rides Scores AMBR and CAL Auto Creations Wins the Slonaker
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Grand National Roadster Show, presented by Meguiar’s, wrapped up its 75th showing Sunday evening after three days of serious roadsters, hot rods, and customs from across the country. The grand event provides something for everyone including special displays of past winners, custom cars and so much more. The show accumulates on Sunday night with the awards ceremony including the announcement of two of the most sought after awards in hot rodding – America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) and the Al Slonaker Memorial Award.
America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, the oldest and highly desired recognition in hot rodding, was awarded to the hand-built ’36 Ford Roadster owned by Ross and Beth Myers and built by the talented crew at Rad Rides by Troy. The Myers’ receive prize money from ARP Fasteners and get their names immortalized on the huge, perpetual trophy.
The fenderless ’36 roadster features a scratch-built body with innovative modifications to the car’s shape and proportions. The car is mounted to a custom chassis that features a torsion bar suspension, wishbone-style radius rods and RideTech adjustable shocks. The 1957 McCulloch-supercharged 312 cubic-inch Ford Y-block is backed by a Bowler four-speed transmission and a Winters quick-change rearend. The car is finished in customized Porsche green metallic Glasurit paint with a fully custom and leather interior and a hand-built lift-off top.
In the next building, there were another 11 vehicles vying for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award, in memory of Al and Mary Slonaker who founded the Grand National Roadster Show in 1950. The 2025 award went to Bill Barbato’s golden ’33 Pontiac Sedan built by CAL Auto Creations. Barbato also received a cash award from ARP Fasteners and a billet trophy.
The Pontiac’s design was driven by Barbato’s fascination with Art Deco styling. This incredible build, designed by Gary Ragle and Eric Black, sits on a custom-fabricated frame by Liquid Metalworks. Finished in an attenion grabbing AuraBella Gold paing , every piece of the sedan was hand formed by the CAL Auto Creations team then perfectly finished, including a chopped and sectioned body, custom grille, hood side vents, hand-made running boards and one-off front and rear valances. The interior boasts contoured leather panels with diamond-pattern stitching, a one-off dash with Pontiac-inspired trim, machined crown molding with hidden LED lights, and an Art-Deco-inspired steering wheel.
To celebrate the 75 year milestone, over 50 past AMBR and Slonaker award winners assembled in one hall, a once in a lifetime gathering and an amazing history lesson in hot rodding. (Check out our gallery from day one!) The 76th Grand National Roadster Show returns to the Pomona Fairplex, Jan. 30-Feb 1, 2026 and for a complete list of class winners go to GNRS 2025 award winners.