At every show, there's always a car we keeping coming back to. In Madison, it was Jerry Markiewicz' Tudor, another beautiful homebuilt rod. The body is in the condition he found it. The driver is equipped with a Weiand-blown flathead and a repro original frame, narrowed and notched. |  | 
There's a lot of history behind Nick Kraly's full-fendered '32 roadster, which was a scrapped five-window when he pulled out of a junkyard 37 years ago. It's '70s-era vintage can be seen in the ET wheels, Pinto IFS, and the wooden boat steering wheel (which operated a turntable during the Manhattan Project). |
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With some sheetmetal shaving, tomato red paint, slammed stance, American five-spokes, and custom white interior, Jerry and Doris Johnson turned their '61 Oldsmobile 88 into a cool mild custom. The Olds went home from Madison with the Preacher's Pick award. | 
Jason Rains found a front-and-center spot on the grass for his butterscotch-flavored '35 Ford Tudor, from Des Moines, Iowa. The LT1 in the mid-to-high tech rod draws air through a custom sheetmetal shroud. Those Budnik rims are a good match to the style of the low sedan. |
Selecting one '32 to win the Deuces Are Wild must've been tough, but Dean Wallarab's traditional highboy, painted Toyota green, was a great choice. The Kilborn bodied roadster rides on slicks and skinnies wrapped around Fish wheels (a one-time Halibrand competitor). |  |  |
I guess George Pfalzgraf likes 'em stock. His '52 Chevy Deluxe still runs a 235 inline-6, the original three-speed, and torque tube driveline, plus a stock suspension. It was going to be painted coral, but he opted for PPG Caramel Brown for this shade of the past. |  |  |
This '58 Rambler American business coupe is one of 185 produced, according to owners Ron and Mary Hartnell, who modified theirs with some '03 Pontiac Sunburst Orange paint, and a Chevy drivetrain, Mustang II front and S-10 rear. Nice job. | 
Lancer caps on a Lancer-that's wild. Terry and Nancy Czeshinski pulled about 800 pounds of chrome off the front of their 360 Dodge-powered '55 Royal Lancer, and extended the factory hood scoop all the way forward. The side pipes, frenched headlights, and LED '59 Caddy taillights are cool, too. | 
What if Chevy had started building El Caminos in 1955? Mike Poskie imagined the result with his "El Nomad" '55 Nomad, cut to keep people guessing. He took a taildragger approach to the problem and filled the engine compartment with a trusty 350. Whad'ya think? |
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Here's another used-to-be coupe that now goes as a '30 roadster. The triangulated 4-bar rear uses quarter-elliptics as the lower bars in Ron Volla's lowboy. Ron mounted '31 Chevy headlights and '41 Chevy taillights. The paint is brushed on Rust-o-leum, with a 3M pad finish |  |
A grille full of Corvette teeth lightens up the look of the grille on Jim Franck's nosed and decked '55 Oldsmobile hardtop. Boat scoops flank the teeth and those wire rims are from Cragar. Jim has been driving the car for three years. |  | 
Tony Nardi from Nardi's Rod & Custom Shop had a hand in a lot of the rods in Madison, including his own '51 Merc. He paid $50 for the car in 1972 and pulled it out of a Missouri farmer's hog pen. Since then, it's been dressed up with purple metalflake and gray scallops, and rolls 'n' pleats everywhere including the wheelwells and under the hood. |