The Grand National Roadster Show celebrates the 75th anniversary of the 1933-34 roadster with the construction of "Build-A-Rod," a Speed 33 roadster, on stage all three days of the show, January 23-25, 2009, at the Pomona Fairplex.
Emceed by Muscle Car TV host Lou Santiago, the 1933 roadster will be built by Extreme Automotive of Corona, California, and features some of the top hot rod builders in the United States wrenching on stage including Bob Bauder, Roy Brizio, Zane Cullen, Troy Ladd, Dave Lane, Chuck Lombardo, Steve Strope, Scott Sullivan, and more.Manufacturers of components used in the Build-A-Rod roadster will be on hand all three days to discuss their products in a seminar-type format backed by big-screen videos with product info, instruction, manufacturing and design lowdown.
Custom upholsterer Ron Mangus and custom paint legend Pete Santini will also appear to answer questions about their work on the Build-A-Rod project and present other examples of their work.
The roadster features components from top manufacturers like American Speed Company's all-steel 1933 roadster body. A Total Cost Involved chassis features a Speedway Engineering quick-change rearend with Wilwood brakes. Power comes from a Roush 347 fuel-injected engine hooked to a B&M AOD transmission, Lokar shifter, cables and dipsticks, Sanderson headers, Dan Fink grille, US Radiator radiator, ididit steering column, Auto Meter gauges, Billet Specialties wheels, Vintage Air air conditioning, Dynamat sound deadening, Sacramento Vintage Ford reproduction parts, Glide seat, Unisteer rack and pinion steering, Edelbrock shocks, and Meguiar's polish and wax.The tradition of building a hot rod on stage at the GNRS started with the 1958 show, and once more in 1990. 2009 marks only the third time in the history of the show a hot rod will be built before the public.