2010 Grand National Roadster Show

Gotham City '58

The 61st Grand National Roadster Show is one of the longest running auto shows to date. In the Hot Rod world, it is also one of the most prestigious shows of the genre. This premier event features hundreds of the best Hot Rods, Customs, Muscle Cars, Motorcycles, Street Machines, Classic Trucks and Lowriders found anywhere in the world. These indoor shows offer a great opportunity to reminisce about the past, enjoy the present, and look into the future of the automotive culture, as the best of the best attend this long time established show.

The three-day show kicked off on a Friday with over ten halls of custom vehicles on display, one of which featured a tribute to vintage old school customs. The show has evolved as the market has changed, and currently features one hall dedicated to the Greaser lifestyle, or the Rock-a-Billy crowd, as they are sometimes referred to. The main hall of the show might as well have been the Lowrider hall, as it was one of the most trafficked halls in the entire event.

The participants of this year's event spent the few days prior to the show setting up, with the majority moving in on Thursday before the show. Now, of course, a show would not be a show without any drama, but not between contestants. The trials and tribulations we are talking about were all car-related, for instance the car that won the Grand National Roadster Show's AMBR division (AMBR stands for America's Most Beautiful Roadster, the most prestigious class of that show) almost never made it to the show, as anything and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. In fact, the owner barely made it to the show, with only minutes to spare before the gate closed on him.

This was also the case for the Lowrider hall, as the show promoter waited on the last car to pull up to the show. Once the mysterious '58 Impala showed up, everybody would finally be able to setup their cars for display. Luckily, everybody had a few hours left to get their displays together.

The Lowrider hall had Premier Car Club repping strong with a few different cars, including Maclovio's 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible, "World Premier," that made its debut at that show. They also had Joey Jimenez' Nomad and Chris Fields' 1962 Chevrolet Impala, which featured a clean old school hydraulic system. Elite's line up included Rollin's Monte Carlo, "Southern Blues," Albert De Alba's '79 Monte Carlo, and the Lowrider Euro "The Passion," which was also on jack stands representing. The lowrider Hall of famer Mario De Alba Sr. displayed his '36 Chevrolet, wrapping up the club's line up.

Michael Grey of UCE represented his club well, as he came in from Las Vegas with his "Sin Sixty." Epstein also busted out a clean Nomad wagon, which looked brand new. Lifestyle had a few new cars, including the '58 Impala "Gotham," which showed people how to pattern down a classy Impala. Bobby Flores' Cotton Candy displayed elegance and style, while Samson Ramirez' 1966 Impala featured a new custom interior.

The cars that represented at the show featured a select few, all of whom represented Lowriding as one. Last year we brought you "Us and Them," which was a look at the crossover culture. This year, we will not tell you how they tried to be like us, instead, we will just bring you some of the hottest ideas that can cross over, and some images of some of the cars that put it down for the Lowrider Nation!

Winner's List

Conservative Lowrider Custom 1949-1954
1st - 262 Roberto Casas Montclair, CA
1953 Chevrolet Bel Air, Brown
2nd - 288 Oscar Ruelas Whittier, CA
1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, Gold & Tan

Lowrider Custom 1955-1959
1st - 297 Mark Machado La Puente, CA
1958 Chevrolet Impala, Black & Blue

Mild Lowrider Custom 1955-1959
1st - 234 Danny Arriaga Saugus, CA
1958 Chevrolet Impala, Yellow

Conservative Lowrider Custom 1960-1969
1st - 296 Mark Machado La Puente, CA
1961 Chevrolet Impala, Black & Green

Mild Lowrider Custom 1960-1969
1st - 233 Chris Fields Northridge, CA
1962 Chevrolet Impala, Yellow
2nd - 231 Ruben Muro Fowler, CA
1967 Chevrolet Caprice, Blue

Semi Lowrider Custom 1960-1969
1st - 255 Audie Munoz Covina, CA
1965 Buick Riviera, Pink

Conservative Lowrider Custom 1970-1979
1st - 261 Albert De Alba Jr Montclair, CA
1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Blue

Mild Lowrider Custom 1970-1979
1st - 248 Frank Melendez La Puente, CA
1978 Ford Thunderbird, Red Flake

Full Lowrider Custom 1970-1979
1st - 254 Bobby Flores La Puente, CA
1979 Cadillac Coupe, Pink

Conservative Lowrider Custom 1980-1989
1st - 2002 Jose Garcia
1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Blue

Full Lowrider Custom 1980-1989
1st - 259 Roland Loucel Montclair, CA
1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Blue

Full Lowrider Compact Custom
1st - 260 Amo Barot Montclair, CA
1988 Volkswagen Jetta, Orange

Full Lowrider Convertible 1960-1969
1st - 250 Michael Grey Henderson, NV
1960 Chevrolet Impala, Red

2nd - 274 Albert Gonzalez La Puente, CA
1963 Chevrolet Convertible, Orange

Full Lowrider Convertible 1970-1989
1st - 238 Maclovio Garcia Northridge, CA
1975 Chevrolet Caprice, Blue

Conservative Lowrider Wagon 1955-1979
1st - 232 Joey Jimenez Alta Loma, CA
1956 Chevrolet Nomad, Plum & White