They don't announce the nominees for the 2009 Detroit Autorama Ridler Award until tomorrow, but judging by the attention to detail and gorgeous custom work from Johnson's Hot Rod Shop, the "Deucenberg" is a contender.
A trend we're noticing as we walk the floor with the suspected Ridler contenders is more reverence paid towards traditional hot rodding. There are certainly smoothed and chopped trailer queens still, it comes with the territory, but work on this 1932 Ford B400 is impressive. The car gets a complete reshape, with the intent of creating something which would fit in with the best luxury cars of the era, but a bit more compact. There's a beautifully detailed engine underhood and it even retains the finned drum brake as opposed to big obnoxious discs. The interior even stays true to concept with analog gauges, a wooden shifter handle on a long shifter, and stylish but old-looking seating. If this is the direction high-dollar hot rodding is going we'll be pretty happy.