Mississauga, Ontario — July 28, 2015 — Add another major award to Bobby Alloway’s already impressive trophy case. An Alloway-built car won the 2015 Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year award at the 18th annual PPG Goodguys Nationals held July 10 to 12 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. The car, a gleaming 1937 Chevy coupe owned by Chuck Rowe of Millington, Tennessee, was a crowd magnet and featured Alloway’s signature deep black PPG finish and rakish stance. Celebrated as “the master of black,” Alloway almost always paints his custom builds black.
The Chevy was built at Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop where he uses PPG products exclusively. This masterpiece wore its DELTRON DBU 9700 Basecoat and DCU 2002 CONCEPT Clearcoat finish beautifully. It was Alloway’s third time winning the award; in 2001 he took the honours with a ’33 Ford and in 2012 with a ’32 Ford. But multiple wins don’t make the experience any easier.
“The whole thing is nerve-wracking,” says Alloway. “It’s an honour to win, but you’re competing with the top builders in the world, so you can’t relax or get overconfident. You do the best you can, make the car look great and hope the judges recognize your work. I’m thankful they did.”
Alloway has been building timeless street rods since 1978, and his shop in Louisville, Tennessee, has consistently produced award-winning vehicles. He is well respected for cars that sport an aggressive presence obtained through a blend of colour, proportion and pure power—in this case an all-aluminum McLaren Chevrolet Big Block V8.
In addition to the Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year awards, Alloway’s honours include the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year, America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, Autorama Builder of the Year and the Don Ridler Memorial Award. Earlier this year, the Chevy was named Best Hot Rod at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. In recognition of his work, Alloway was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Hall of Fame this year and the Rod & Custom Hall of Fame in 2004.
The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is one of the largest rod and custom associations, with nearly 70,000 members around the world. The association promotes and produces some of the world’s most dynamic automotive events including the annual Nationals show in Columbus, Ohio. The Goodguys Columbus Nationals is the organization’s biggest show of the year, with some of the top cars in the country competing for major awards. PPG is the official paint supplier to the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association. PPG exhibits at every national and many regional Goodguys events, displaying the colours, pigments, special-effect finishes and custom colours showcased in its Deltron products, VIBRANCE COLLECTION and other brands.
