 Bubba's Inspiration for the Pinewood build. |
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 The build. |
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 The finished Pinewood car. |
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Some of the nation’s best custom-car and hot-rod builders recently took part in the third-annual Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) Pinewood Builders Challenge. Fifteen well-known builders created one-of-a-kind miniature hot rods in the style of Pinewood derby cars. The cars were raced at the annual SEMA Pinewood Drag Races in Pomona, California, with the car built by Derek White of Street Vizions winning the race. All of these cars will be on display at the annual SEMA Show and then placed on eBay for auction from October 30–November 8. All proceeds from the auction will go to support SEMA Cares and its two children’s charities—Childhelp and Victory Junction.
Bubba’s East Coast Rods & Customs was one hot-rod builder that participated in the Pinewood Builders Challenge. Meet Bubba:
Describe the inspirations behind the design of your Pinewood car.
The design of our Pinewood entry is based solely on the ’32 Ford Bubba built for the first episode of our upcoming network TV show. Here, you see a few photos of Bubba and the car when we delivered her to the Andreatos Brothers July 2, 2012, which was unveiled to the public at the big car show July 4, then shot for the magazines July 11.
Describe some of the materials and resources you used to build your car.
From a resources perspective, we relied completely on the TV car. As such, we went to great lengths to ensure she was as accurate from a visual and scale perspective as she could possibly be. In fact, we went so far as to use the actual materials for the interior of the Pinewood car that we used in the TV car. We purchased several different 1/25 scale model kits whose motors, when assembled as one, best represented the actual car. The hand-crafted headers that replicate those of the original car are painted using the exact same high-temp exhaust paint. The headers also serve a two-fold purpose for us; they not only represent the TV car, but they are also used to add weight to our Pinewood car. Additionally, the PPG Oh So Orange and Key Lime colors you will see featured on the Pinewood car are the exact same colors used on the real car.
Why is it important for you to participate in the Pinewood Builders Challenge?
At Bubba's East Coast Rods & Customs, we count the blessings before us every day and we are thankful for all that we have. Charity work is of extreme importance to us, and we are extremely engaged in charitable work for children, women's abuse and animals. Whenever we have the great fortune of being asked to throw our weight behind one of these charities, we will do what we can at every level to participate. We take the opportunity to do so very seriously and, as such, put forth every effort we can just as we do in every car we build to ensure that we make the maximum impact for the charity.