Strongsville, Ohio—A PPG-painted custom 1932 Kugel Muroc captured the 2020 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) award at the recent Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) held at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
The car’s owner, Monty Belsham of Houston, BC, turned to Squeeg’s Kustoms in Chandler, Ariz., for the work. Painters Doug Jerger and Moose Graczyk at Squeeg’s used an array of PPG paints to give the roadster its black finish with fire-hot flames.
Paint included DELTRON DBC Basecoat Black and DCU2021 CONCEPT Urethane Clearcoat, along with a rainbow of tangerine, apple red and magenta RADIANCE dyes and pearls to emphasize the flames.
The all-metal, limited-production Kugel Muroc was sold in the early 2000s as a package comprising bare body plus chassis. It was up to the buyer to finish the rest of the car. This was Squeeg’s second AMBR win. His first came in 2011 for a 1934 Ford roadster. Other show winners also featured PPG finishes.
The Refinery, a custom paint shop in Manteno, Ill., owned by Adam Krause, took the Al Slonaker Memorial Award for a 1936 Willys pickup owned by Ron and Vicky Ernsberger of Holiday City, Ohio. After the preparation and bodywork was done by Krause and his brother, Tyler, Adam sprayed PPG’s ENVIROBASE High Performance basecoat with ECS65 and ECS67 A-Chromatic Sealers and GLOBAL REFINISH SYSTEM 8152 clearcoat on the body and Global Refinish System D8115 Matte Clearcoat on the inside of the truck bed and bottom side of all the panels to give the truck a classic Ferrari Rosso Mugello (red) finish. The award is given to the best non-roadster on display and honors GNRS founders Al and Mary Slonaker.
“RelentleSS,” a 1970 Chevrolet El Camino, claimed Best Truck, Best in Class and Outstanding Display awards. Honors went to painter Cam Miller and his HS Customs shop in Logan, Utah, and truck owners Scott and Sherrie Cooper of Orland, Calif. Miller’s go-tos were PPG’s Envirobase High Performance basecoat; Ford’s “Kodiak Brown,” which Miller achieved with various toners; and VIBRANCE COLLECTION 5700 clearcoat. The truck debuted last year at the GNRS and won the same three awards.
Dean Livermore of Hot Rods by Dean in Phoenix, Ariz., earned the Best Paint award in the Al Slonaker Class for his bold finish on a rare 1965 Acadian Canso Sport Deluxe owned by Richard and Penny Hammer of Viking, Alberta. The Acadian got its custom color, “Black Brandywine,” courtesy of Livermore’s mixing. He relied on Envirobase High Performance basecoat and finished the look with Deltron DCU2021 Concept Urethane Clearcoat.
Also in the running for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award was “War Paint,” a 1932 Ford roadster pickup painted by Pete “Hot Dog” Finlan for Galpin Auto Sports, Van Nuys, Calif. Finlan painted War Paint, owned by Californians Gary and Deborah DeVine, at his shop Hot Dog Kustoms in Temecula, Calif. He used Envirobase High Performance basecoat with EC550 EN-V Ultra Gloss Clearcoat over a light purple color to give the Ford its distinctive and attractive finish. The pickup took home the 2020 George Barris Memorial Kustom D’Elegance award.
The GNRS, now in its 72nd year, took place Jan. 24–26, and featured nearly 500 roadsters, muscle cars, hot rods, and more.
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