The new law is the product of months of consultation with the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA), local police departments, regulators, and the local hobbyist community. The HRIA is a SEMA council dedicated to protecting and developing the street-modified hobby, and its members include manufacturers, fabricators, publishers, dealers, and car clubs. SEMA Vice President of Government Affairs Steve McDonald said, "The new laws offer the added benefit of also including qualifying replicas and kit cars in these specialty-vehicle titling and registration classifications." He also added, "The model bill will continue to be pushed by SEMA in states that either don't have registration classifications for these vehicles or have laws that are lacking in some way. Efforts are ongoing this year to work with the state legislature in New York on this initiative, and we hope to add others to that list in the coming legislative sessions." The New York bill was passed by the State Senate Transportation Committee in June and is currently waiting for a vote by the full body.
SEMA, with its 5,222-member companies, represents the $29 billion specialty automotive industry and is the authoritative source of research, data, trends, and market growth information for automakers and the specialty auto products industry. For more information on SEMA or the HRIA, call (909) 396-0289 or visit www.sema.org.
Ridler Award Cash Prize Grows To $10,000Promoters of the Detroit AutoRama, Championship Auto Shows, recently announced they will raise the cash payout to the winner of the Don Ridler Memorial Award, the show's highest tribute, which honors exemplary design and craftsmanship. Starting in 2005, the winner will receive $10,000 in cash, plus the special Ridler award trophy. Recently, Championship also instigated the Ridler Builder Award, handed out to the craftsman who built the winning vehicle. You can get more info on the Detroit AutoRama, plus all of the other shows Championship produces (World of Wheels, Cavalcade of Customs, and the Autorama series) at www.autorama.com.
Club Sandwich NorthFor the third time in as many years, the Chicagoland Replicar Association teamed up with The Grand Touring Sports Car Association at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners (near Kalamazoo, MI), to spend the day kicking tires and talking kits. Perfect weather greeted the 27 participants, who also shared the grounds with the Checker Car Club of America, which was having an event of its own.
The Gilmore Car Museum (home base for the Tucker Historical Collection, as well as many other significant vehicles throughout the history of the automobile) schedules a host of car events during its May to October open time (see www.gilmorecarmuseum.org for more information). The Director's Award, the event's top trophy, went to Ed Stephens for his rebodied Mandarin Orange Fiero that he calls "Feroce." See more of Ed's Feroce featured on page 52 of this issue of KIT CAR.