Builds
We knew this one was special the moment we first spotted it at the 2024 Grand National Roadster Show. Now it’s official—the 2025 SEMA Battle of the Builders Presented by Mothers Polish has crowned Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides by Troy as the best overall builder of the year with his jaw-dropping Fenderless ’36 Ford Roadster.
Part of the rarity of this car comes in the fact that this is one of the first 12 original Coast to Coast ’39 Ford Convertible bodies to be built. Since that time, a second-generation body has been developed, and while some changes have been made, the overall look is very much the same, and for good reason. While this design certainly captures the appeal of an original ’39 Ford convertible, it also captures the look of the Chip Foose-designed Smoothster built by Hot Rods By Boyd. It’s sleek, it’s innovative, and, unlike the Smoothster, it’s a truly affordable way for the Millards to arrive in style.
You can’t blame Dean Sears for feeling a little confused about his love for cars. You see, he’s spent the past nine years as the head of Sport Trucks by Dean in Moorpark, California. His first car, in fact, was a truck. Well, sort of a truck. It was a ’68 El Camino. Pundits have described this vehicle as neither car nor truck, and often the word “confused” is used. Yes, even in 1978 Sears couldn’t decide between cars and trucks.
From a distance, this roadster appears to be from another place, far from American shores, as much as from another era. On closer approach, the Borrani wire wheels conjure thoughts of European heritage, although the shape borrows as much from past Indy roadsters and Sprinters as it does from the great design houses of Italy. Then there’s the engine, a flat giveaway to the true nature of this amazing crossbreed.
You can bolt all the horsepower in the world under your hood, but if that engine bay looks like a tangle of plastic and wires, it’s still missing something. That’s where the new GEN/3 Coyote Cam Covers come in — from the same team at Pyramid Optimized Design that scored Best New Product in Street Rod/Custom Car at SEMA 2021.
For many hot rodders, the word “custom” conjures up images of chopped, channeled, molded and frenched cars with wild metalflake paint jobs. Such radical customs no doubt helped define the custom movement of the 1950s, along with such phrases as “if it don’t go, chrome it,” but in virtually every town in the USA there was a contingency of mild customs providing their owners with daily transportation, an occasional trip down the dragstrip, and a starring role in the local armory car show a couple of weekends a year. No, most of these cars didn’t hold the local track record, nor did they make it to the ISCA Grand Finale, but they were good examples of shade-tree customizing and hot rodding. Known mostly as a “mild custom,” a term that no doubt originated from car show classes, this style of car was extremely popular.
There’s no question that this ’68 Camaro pushes buttons, limits, and envelopes. This unique creation even pushes our understanding. It’s part nostalgia, part Blade Runner, brought together through a great deal of thought, creativity, and sheer talent.
We all have our own passions and preferences in whatever we do: food, music, dress, sports and cars. And passions can run high, particularly with cars. For some it may be Fords, for others Mopars, and there’s the whole broad spectrum of General Motors products—Cadillacs, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and Chevys, which, of course, have always enjoyed the largest enthusiast following. Yet today more than ever, people looking to separate themselves from the masses are reaching beyond convention to the less-favored among enthusiast cars, but no less admired
nameplates, to satisfy their car needs.
Automobiles and customizing developed simultaneously. There have always been individuals who had a need, a persistent yearning, to personalize their belongings. Some people add their initials to clothing or suitcases, some homeowners paint and landscape their dwellings differently than their neighbors, and some auto enthusiasts customize their automobiles to stand apart from the rest. This quest to be different is what makes the world so unique and why the car manufacturers offered options to suit the whims of each individual buyer.
In its third year, the Triple Crown of Rodding keeps getting smoother, stronger, and more refined—like a finely aged bourbon, each year’s competition distills the craft down to its boldest, most balanced builds. The 2025 event brought a level of intensity and talent that proved just how far the hobby has come. Builders came prepared, and the competition was fierce, with every entry pushing boundaries in creativity, engineering, and execution. This wasn’t just a show—it was a proving ground where only the most exceptional rides could shine.
