Four Street Rods That Lost to a Kansas Roadster, and Why Any of Them Could Have Won

In July, John and Jennifer Fairleigh's Kansas-built 1933 Ford roadster won Goodguys' 2026 Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year in Columbus. That is the headline. The better story might be the four cars it beat. Over four days in October, Goodguys' Fuel Curve profiled each of the other Top 5 finalists, and together they read like a map of where the street rod is going: a fenderless '32 roadster on dirt-track tires, a chopped '32 three-window with an Olds J2, a blown 1933 Pontiac shaped by two well-known designers, and a channeled 1940 Ford coupe with an LS and a five-speed.

The winner sets the bar. According to The Shop, the Fairleighs' roadster was built by Mike Kellar and the team at Big Creek Restoration in Ellis, Kansas, and runs a Jon Kaase Racing Boss 520 with an eight-stack Borla injection manifold, rated at more than 800 hp. Goodguys called its stance "the perfect street rod stance." It has also done a Goodguys 100-mile reliability run and a few drag strip passes. Here is who it had to get past.

Norman Caetano's 1932 Ford roadster, Steadfast Manufacturing

Steadfast Manufacturing of Bellville, Ohio, built Caetano's roadster on a steel Brookville body, and the subtle work is everywhere. The fuel tank was relocated and a new roll pan formed. The rear spreader bar was tucked and curved. The hood was slightly wedge-sectioned and the cowl reshaped so the windshield could lay back on custom stanchions. Lighting is '33 Ford commercial headlights up front and Greening Auto Company taillights out back, all under deep black PPG paint sprayed in-house.

Underneath is a custom frame with a 5.5-inch dropped axle, Steadfast's own curved hairpins, Borgeson steering, a Winters quick-change with 4.30 gears and Baer discs in custom Steadfast front housings. It sits on Schott wheels, 16x5 in front and 18x7 in back, with skinny Firestones up front and larger Firestone dirt-track tires in the rear. Power is a 430-hp, 347-cubic-inch Prestige Motorsports V8 with aluminum heads, Steadfast valve covers and a Borla eight-stack EFI system, backed by a Gearstar 4R70.

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The result is a hot rod that looks fast standing still and captures the spirit of the early customizers.

Harold Chapman's 1932 Ford coupe, CHRA

Chapman's '32 three-window has the best backstory of the group. Fuel Curve reports it began as a restored stock coupe that served as the reference vehicle for Franklin Mint diecast replicas. Chapman's own Texas shop, Customs and Hot Rods of Andice, turned it into an aggressive, traditional-style hot rod. Rex Rod & Chassis restored the original Henry steel body and chopped the top, and CHRA did the final bodywork and a custom-mixed metallic bronze PPG.

The engine is the showstopper: a 394-cubic-inch Olds J2 from Ross Racing Engines, rated at more than 450 hp, with Ross aluminum heads and a Nicson dual-quad intake topped with Holley EFI throttle bodies. It shifts through a Tremec TKO five-speed. The chassis is a Pinkee's Rod frame with sectioned rails, a 5-inch dropped axle, Posies leaf springs and an early Ford rear with a Rodsville quick-change center, stopped by Boling Brothers Ford-style drums. Johnson's Hot Rod Shop knock-off magnesium wheels wear Coker Excelsior tires.

CAL Auto Creations' 1933 Pontiac sedan, Aurabella

The Pontiac is the most radical car in the group, and the only one that is not a Ford. Fuel Curve says the design direction came from Eric Black and Gary Ragle, and the body changes are long: a wedge section removed, a wedge chop on the top, raised rear fenders, reshaped fronts, shortened quarter windows, a laid-back reshaped grille with custom bars, louvered hood side panels, a reshaped rear and custom lights in '34 Olds buckets. Randy Borcherding at Painthouse sprayed the AuraBella Gold.

Mechanically it is pure machined art. Liquid Metalworks built the frame, CAL fabricated the crossmembers and machined independent front and rear suspension pieces, and the custom brakes take inspiration from 1950s Maxwell Indy car parts. A 400-cubic-inch Pontiac V8 built by Roy Anaia at South State Speed Shop wears an 8-71 BDS blower fed by four CAL-designed EFI throttle bodies, and a Bowler-built 4L80 sits behind it. Aurabella debuted at the 2025 Grand National Roadster Show, where it won the Al Slonaker Memorial Award.

Scotty Hooper's 1940 Ford coupe, Greening Auto Company

Hooper's '40 Ford is the driver of the bunch. Jesse Greening's Greening Auto Company built it from renderings by Eric Brockmeyer Design that called for a lower stance, bigger wheels and green paint. The body is channeled about 3 inches, the door handles are shaved, and the original trim and two-piece windshield stay. It rides on a Roadster Shop REVO chassis with coilovers, rack-and-pinion steering, sway bars and Wilwood brakes, on custom Curtis Speed wheels, 18 inches in front and 20 in back.

Power is an LS376 crate engine, the 6.2-liter GM small-block, dressed with a vintage-style individual runner intake and run by Haltech EFI, with a Tremec five-speed. Inside, M&M Hot Rod Interiors stitched brown leather seats with diamond inserts. Fuel Curve says the car also ran the TANKS, Inc. Hot Rod of the Year Reliability Run in Nashville in May before earning its Top 5 spot in Columbus.

What the five say about the street rod

Look at the powertrains and the trend is obvious. Every one of these cars uses electronic fuel injection, and most dress it in period style: Borla stacks on the Caetano roadster, Holley EFI throttle bodies on a Nicson dual-quad intake on the Chapman coupe, CAL's own throttle bodies under the Pontiac's blower, a vintage-style runner intake on Hooper's LS. The winner's Kaase Boss 520 also breathes through Borla stacks. Old-school looks, modern drivability.

The engine choices are just as telling. An Olds J2 and a blown Pontiac 400 show the pull of period-correct, brand-specific power, while Hooper's LS376 shows how normal a GM crate engine has become in a show-level '40 Ford. Among the four runners-up, two shift for themselves through Tremec five-speeds and two run quick-change rear ends, hardware that rewards people who actually drive. The street rod is still a street car. The best ones just happen to be built to concours standards.