I met Bob Spilos, builder of the hot rod, Gearheads, through my friend, Ray Talley.

In my opinion, Spilos is a true, original car builder. He has a knack for seeing a part from one car, then morphing it into another, and somehow it all goes so well.

I assume Gene Winfield saw the same thing in Spilos and awarded him with his own prize, the Gene Winfield Extreme Award.

Unfortunately, I missed the award ceremony, but managed to interview Bob later at his home.

Gearheads also appeared in the December 2009 issue of Hot Rod magazine, after I first took its picture at the Harper Charity Cruise in a suburb of Detroit.

I'm not one for remembering the exact year of many models except in more familiar cases like a '55-'57 Chevy. Fact is, I thought this Ford Thunderbird might be older than 1955, but was unsure. It's been a year since I took this picture, and my notes failed me.

Now I'm sure my buddies Ray and Glenn will correct me. And if they don't, then I know they didn't read the article. LOL.

Fact is, the Preservation Award is set apart for the Ridler; and there is only one in any given show year.

In 2009, it was the 1932 Ford Roadster called Redster, that had been stolen decades ago after one of the shows. It eventually made the rounds over the years and all the previous owners got together to support its return; a great story!

I can only imagine working on a car for years and to find out you made the Great Eight but did not win the Ridler Award at Detroit's Autorama.

Point is, each entry deserved praise and recognition for just making it.

Release the Kraken! This was the second of two '34 Ford coupe entries that made the Great Eight.

This approachm though, was much more conservative than the blue car with red flames. Neither won the Ridler.

The blue paint and red flames of this 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe called Absolute Madness was unique among the Great Eight finalists. However, the show did not provide details as to why this car did not win.

For sure, I'll press the show owners for that level of detail this year.