Widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious custom car show, the Detroit Autorama consistently draws astoundingly finished rides. The reason? The quest to first make the Great 8 and from there win the Ridler Award.

First held in 1953 by the newly formed Michigan Hot Rod Association, the Autorama soon took on former NFL player Don Ridler as a promoter. Under his tutelage, the Autorama grew rapidly, necessitating several moves to larger venues. When Ridler died prematurely in 1963, the Best in Show award was renamed the Don Ridler Memorial Award to honour the man who helped make the Autorama what it is today.

This year’s Great 8 was a tough field, with Tom, Christy and Josh Brenahan’s 1955 Chevrolet Nomad emerging as this year’s Ridler Winner.

Dubbed ‘Grey Madder’ the Nomad was built by Southern Comfort Customs out of North Carolina. The car sits on an Art Morrison chassis, featuring hydraulic suspension all ’round. The driveline is nothing out of the ordinary, namely an LS3, 6L90E six-speed overdrive trans and the ever-faithful Ford 9inch diff, but it is the it has been presented and detailed that impressed the judges.

For example, the custom air cleaner/intake apes the style of the early 265ci small-block air cleaners, while also mirroring the design of the one-ff Evod Industries rims – as does the centre of the steering wheel.

Other details include flush glass, custom taillight lenses, billet grille, a centre-mount instrument cluster, and red leather trim galore.