Columbus, Ohio - Roy Pigford and his low slung 1966 Chevy Nova of Pasadena, as in Pasadena, Texas took home the 2005 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year award presented by Baer Brakes. Pigford was selected as the winner over four of the nation's top street machines, accepting the award Saturday evening July 9th at the Goodguys 8th PPG Nationals in Columbus, OH.
It hasn't been an easy road with the car for the body shop owner from Texas. Had things worked out, he would have been in competition last year for the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year crown, but more on that later.
Pigford's Nova made it's national debut at the 2004 Detroit Autorama. It qualified for the historic Ridler award making it all the way to the Great 8 (the 8 Ridler finalists) which is somewhate rare as the Ridler is most often geared towards outstanding street rods.
What makes his story so fascinating is that Pigford did "99%" of the work himself - an anomaly in today's hi-tech hot rodding world. It also marked his first foray into the hi-performance street machine world - "The Troy Trepanier world" he jokes.
Roy originally bought the car from Boyd Coddington's Garage in Southern California for his son Roy Wayne Pigford. The younger Roy drove the car his Junior & Senior year in high school before the current project got going. It came from Coddington with red paint, 17 inch Boyed Wheels and a tweed interior. For Roy Senior - the project was a long time coming. "I've always loved the 66 Chevy Novas and wanted to trick one out. I would have given anything to have the money to buy one back when I was a kid but just didn't"
To start the build, Pigford whacked the top 2 inches, flush mounted the windows, and removed the drip rail. He spent hours upon hours in his Pasadena shop massaging the body which features PPG Lexus Maroon and Ferrari Sandstone basecoat/clearcoat paint system. The two hues were divided with custom airbrush graphics applied by Rodney Hutchersdon of "Total Chaos" paint & graphics. Roy paid extra close attention to the engine compartment which houses a 383 inch Lingenfelter LT1 mill. The 6 speed T-56 tranny puts all that power to the highway through 3.90 cogs.
The wheelbase was altered on the car by moving the front wheels 2 inched forward, the rear wheels 3 inches forward, coming up with a one-inch "shorter than stock" factory wheelbase. The custom made frame features narrowed Corvette suspension pieces, an Air Ride Technologies "Shockwave" suspension, and a Lil' John Buttera custom milled differential housing cover.
The car rools in style on Billet Specialties "Chicayne" wheels which feature 20 x10's out back with 18 x 7 up in front. The plush maroon & tan leather interior was stiched by Southern California's trim guru Gabe Lopez.
As mentioned earlier, It wasn't an easy road to Columbus for Pigford. In 2004 when he was road testing the car to come to this event, the hood blew back, destroying it and severely damaging the fender wells. He had to completely disassemble to entire front of the car and start over. Then last fall, it broke loose in his transporter, smashing and scraping the right rear quarter panel. But this summer - the stars aligned for his victorious trip to Columbus. "This was definitely one of the best days of my life because of the punishment I endured just getting it here. To win over the competition here says a lot. I was selected over some of the world's finest builders which is an honor" he said.
He added, "I need to thank my brother Joe Pigford for all his moral support, 'Super Buff' John Nelson, and to Ron Craft for taking me out of the collision business and starting me down this new car building path."
Goodguys/Baer Brakes 2005 Street Machine of the Year Top Five Finalists
Roy Pigford, Pasadena, TX - 1966 Chevelle
Ken Nester, Rockville, VA - 1970 Dodge Challenger
Scott Whidby, Moultrie, GA - 1969 Camaro
Mike & Jim Ring, Spring Green, WI - 1967 Mustang
Steve Cook, Oklahoma City, OH - 1969 Camaro