show featured our favorite themed exhibit of all time with 50 of the past AMBR winners (and a selection of Slonaker winners) and a sweet ARP tribute to George Poteet who passed away last year. Bill Ganahl (son of legendary journalist, the late Pat Ganahl) started working at Brizio’s while he was in college. Since then his South City Rod and Custom is quickly becoming the go to place
for cool car builds and was honored as the “Spotlight Builder” this year. The world we live in has changed by leaps and bounds and now the show boasts hundreds of attractions and awards and it’s no longer in Oakland, but it’s still guys and gals bringing cool cars and showing them off for the weekend while we get to drool on their stunning efforts.
Andy Brizio and family had a great time cruising in Andy’s 1915 C-Cab pickup and then so did John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Roy Brizio brought the historic rod that drove to the first two Street Rod Nationals to show in the Brizio booth for the GNRS. The car remains as Andy built it for the 1971 Nationals and even the original Art Himsl graphics are intact.
The 2025 GNRS had a tribute to 100 years of George Barris with a bitchin’ collection of Barris creations, including the “Munster Koach,” Batmobiles, Elvira’s cool ’58 Ford custom and many more, but everybody was crammed around the glowing “Golden Sahara.” We also love the custom that started as a ’53 Lincoln (impressive for a car debuted in 1954), it’s a great early imagining of the bubble top and has over-the-top detailing like real 24k gold trim (plated) and mink carpeting with mysterious glowing tires.
The 75 years of winners’ display had a different meaning for a lot of people as they recalled various cars on display, but my childhood interest in rods began when Magoo slipped a Ferrari engine in one (I was under 10 at the time). Brian Burnett, famous owner of Ferrari of Los Gatos, had the car commissioned in 1977 and it won the AMBR in 1979. The “Deucarri” features a 4-inch stretched frame, a four-inch-drop SuperBell axle, Porsche Indian Red paint, and a 4.4-liter V12 from a Daytona. The latest owner, Rich Hubbard, has got the car ready for cruising (it has 50,000 miles on it) and a few things have changed over the years; the brakes are much newer discs, a Doug Nash five-speed replaces the Muncie, and plenty of little things.
We didn’t realize we were so nostalgic for early ‘80s Hot Rods by Boyd builds until we saw Larry Murray’s ’33 Ford Phantom Phaeton. Vern Luce’s coupe and Jamie Musselman’s AMBR-winning roadster had set the stage for the smooth look, but Murray’s phaeton pushed the limits with anodized billet-aluminum suspension and Steve Fink inspired grille work. Time has told us they make pretty good drivers.
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