A Bobby Alloway-built car painted with PPG Industries automotive refinish products won the 2015 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) award at the Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS), Jan. 23-25 at the Pomona Fairplex in California. The striking 1933 roadster, owned by Larry Olson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was finished by Alloway and drew approval from the show judges and crowd alike. The AMBR, an 8-foot-tall trophy, is awarded annually and regarded as the ultimate recognition of a roadster-style hot rod. It was Alloway’s second time winning the prestigious award; his first was in 2003. Alloway also won Best Rod of the GNRS this year with a 1937 Chevrolet coupe that was in the top 10 in the Builder's Challenge at SEMA this past November.

The GNRS started in 1950 and is the longest-running indoor car show in the world. This year, 18 competitors vied for the AMBR award. Alloway’s winning entry featured his signature black finish embellished with contrasting blazing-orange flames running nearly the entire length of the roadster’s body. Alloway uses PPG products exclusively, and he achieved the car’s outstanding look using DELTRON DBU 9700 Basecoat and DCU 2002 CONCEPT Clearcoat.

Alloway, called the “master of black” because his distinctive cars are almost always painted black, has been building street rods since 1978. His shop, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop in Louisville, Tennessee, opened in 1991 and has consistently turned out award-winning vehicles. He is well-known for cars that feature a commanding, aggressive look obtained through a combination of color, proportion, stance and power.

Along with winning the AMBR and Best Rod honors, Alloway was inducted into the GNRS Roadster Hall of Fame during the show. The Hall of Fame was established in 1960 to recognize “outstanding pioneers in the creative car building sport.” Alloway’s entry was based on his illustrious career building cars that have earned significant awards. In addition to his two AMBR awards, Alloway's cars have won the Goodguys Street Rod and Street Machine of the Year awards, the highly-prized Ridler trophy and others. He also has been welcomed into the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame and honored as Detroit Autorama Builder of the Year.

Other builders who won big at the GNRS included Randy Borchering of Painthouse in Cypress, Texas, and Dave Kindig of Kindig-It Design in Salt Lake City. Borchering’s two-toned 1947 Hudson painted in his custom Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Green Acres Pearl earned First in Class, Outstanding Paint and Outstanding Display accolades. "Winning these awards was awesome," Borchering said. "Winning here is extremely gratifying."

Borchering used Deltron DP90LV Epoxy Primer, VIBRANCE COLLECTION VP2100 Polyester Primer, Deltron Basecoat and GLOBAL REFINISH SYSTEM D8152 Clearcoat to achieve award-worthy results. Borchering has used PPG products for 25 years. Painthouse has been building custom cars for nearly 10 years and has earned a reputation for providing outstanding paint jobs.

Dave Kindig scored with a 1934 Dodge and a 1950 Phantom Fleetside. The Dodge took home First in Class, Outstanding Paint, Outstanding Interior and Outstanding Display awards. The car is painted a custom PPG mix called Dark Desert Sage, which was created using ENVIROBASE High Performance Basecoat and Global Refinish System D8188 Clearcoat. The Phantom Fleetside won the 2015 Al Slonaker Award for being the most innovative vehicle at the show. Its white-over-red paint scheme was also achieved using Envirobase High Performance Basecoat and Global Refinish System D8188 Clearcoat.

”From solvent to water, our customers make our paint shine,” said John Parran, PPG marketing director, automotive refinish. ”We’re proud of our products, but we’re even more impressed by what our customers can do with them. We congratulate these winners on jobs well done and look forward to what they dream up next.”