The 2012 Ridler Award winner announced at the Detroit Autorama Feb. 26 was the 1955 Ford T-Bird, owned by Dwayne Peace of Tyler, Texas, and painted with BASF’s Glasurit 90-Line Brilliant Red waterborne paint.
"BASF’s Glasurit paint has been on six of the last 11 Ridler award winners," said Vitor Margaronis, marketing director, BASF Coatings Solutions, North America. "We’re very proud of this achievement and the quality of our products."
The list of products used to paint the car included Glasurit’s Epoxy 801-72, Polyester Filler 1006-26, 90-Line Waterborne Basecoat and HS Multi Clear 923-155.
A total of 64 vehicles competed for the award at the Detroit Autorama. Vehicles are judged based on three criteria: creativity, engineering and workmanship.
"The execution of the plan and the quality of the build were outstanding," said Butch Patrico, co-chairman of the Detroit Autorama and Ridler judging supervisor. Patrico also said the process for this build was similar to what a major manufacturer would do to build a prototype. "This was not a normal build. He didn’t follow a cookie cutter process."
The car was painted by Jacob Edens and Jeff Greening of Greening Auto Company in Nashville, Tenn.
"The entire painting process took about six months," said Jesse Greening. "The color helped it show very well."
The Ridler award is named after Don Ridler, who started promoting Autorama in the 1950s. With his expertise, Autorama became one of the top hot rod shows in the country. Following Ridler’s passing in 1963, a decision was made to create an award to honor his memory. The Ridler award has been given out to the best new creations since 1964. Cars must be shown for the first time to be eligible for the award.
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