THE AUTO BUILDER

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Old School, Perfected: Blue Ribbon Roadster Is the 2026 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster

At the 2026 Grand National Roadster Show, the spotlight wasn’t just on speed or style—it was on craftsmanship at the highest level. Among nine jaw-dropping roadsters displayed in Building 4, one car quietly—and then undeniably—rose to the top. Nicole Baird’s 1932 Ford Roadster, built by Squeeg’s Kustoms, claimed the coveted America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) title, proving once again that traditional hot rod values, when executed flawlessly, still reign supreme.

Subtle Yet Savage

This 1994 Chevy ½ Ton isn’t just another slammed truck built to win trophies—it’s got a job to do, and it’s built to do it right. Originally started over a decade ago as a hauler for café racers, this single cab, short bed rig morphed into a legit Pro Touring machine. But here’s the twist: the builder didn’t want anything flashy. This truck’s about subtlety, where the real magic reveals itself the closer you get. Every panel, every mod, it’s all dialed in so nothing steals the show—but together, it’s something you won’t forget.

VINTAGE ENGINE REBUILDING

Thirty-five years and $636 ago, we bought an 80,000-mile ’62 fuel-injected Corvette in Fresno, California. Sadly, the car had been stolen once. The fuel injection was gone as well as the T-10 four-speed transmission. A pair of bare 461-X heads was in the trunk. The engine was found to have a rocking rear cam bearing, which caused oil to shut off to the rocker arms at high rpm. At the time, the prognosis was that it could not be fixed, so the motor was replaced with a ’68 350hp 327. Since 1976, the car has been in storage, along with the original engine.

Spotlighter

SUM OF THE PARTS

A Little Of This, A Little Of That And Pretty Soon They Created A Monster Wagon

Jason Whitfield never intended to hot rod a station wagon. It just sort of happened. You see, he had this Mitsubishi Diamante wagon that Rage Performance and NuFormz used as a parts-getter. After a few runs, the guys decided that the car needed some better tunes. As the parts pickup runs got longer, they decided to add TVs. When a few extra parts were lying around—like a Turbonetics T04/T03 turbo and an intercooler—they just sort of made their way onto the car. The parts were already paid for, so why not use them?

Author

Bob Carpenter

Words & Photography

From Stock to Serious Horsepower

Before long the engine was blown—as in scattered. The crew didn’t want to just do a stock rebuild, but thought it should build the engine for strength. For about five minutes, that is.
Since the shop could get good parts cheaply and do the work in-house, there was no reason to build anything under 500 hp. With the car so fast, the crew then had to get better brakes and then some wheels … and why not paint it so that it looks the part of a car of this caliber?
Before they knew it, the parts wagon was a serious car. No one ever expected it to go this far, but we’re sure glad that it did. Maybe the Rage/NuFormz crew is on the leading edge of a new tuner trend and we’ll start seeing more hopped-up wagons. Or maybe this is a one-and-only “use-what-you’ve-got” that can pull it off no matter the body style. Time will tell.

Exterior Styling and Paint Detail

Since the exterior is what everyone sees first, let’s take a look at the car from that perspective. Whitfield at Rage has relied on Jason Gamble at GAMPRO for most of his big projects and every time the results are spectacular. The car was painted Tuscany Silver Metallic on the bottom, contrasted with DuPont Midnight Black on the upper portion. A quarter-inch band of Ferrari Red separates the two body colors.
As a nod to the complete detail that GAMPRO gives to every car, a multitude of parts were painted to match the wagon’s color, including door handles, side mirrors, corner lights and front grille. It makes a big difference when all the details are done right. Case in point: the rear taillights are painted candy-apple red.
Hyper Industries supplied the purple HID kit. Flat black RH Evolution GT-5 wheels are huge 19x8s with a polished lip that really sets them off. The hood, of course, is a major attention-getter too, with the unusual scoop all cockeyed on one side. Everyone who sees the car wants to know what’s going on there and the answer is horsepower. The scoop feeds air into the intercooler that is mounted in the engine compartment.

Under the Hood: Serious Turbo Power

Under the hood, Whitfield installed a Turbonetics T04/T03 turbo with an Accel DFI Gen VII computer to control the 3.0-liter SOHC V-6 engine. MSD’s 6A SCI ignition provides the spark and with 550cc RC injectors fed by an in-tank Holley fuel pump, you know there’s a bunch of fuel flowing through this engine. Crower rods and JE pistons are up to the task of spinning the 520 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. An ACT six-puck clutch ensures that all the power gets to the Mitsubishi 3000 GT five-speed transmission.

Interior Comfort and Entertainment

The interior is very comfortable for those long parts runs. Full gray leather makes the ride nice and it looks good with all the plastic parts painted to match the exterior. Transonic Car Audio took over the task of making the stereo/entertainment system special. A custom center console houses an Alpine TV and DVD player. A 10-inch flip-down TV entertains the backseat passengers and the four Rockford Fosgate 10-inch speakers and dual Rockford Fosgate 1,000-watt amplifiers flood the car with music.

More Than a Parts Wagon

Far from a disjointed collection of odd parts, this Mitsubishi wagon is a well-thought-out car that changes what a lot of us may think a wagon should look like—and drive like. And that’s the idea.