Each year Goodguys awards two Homebuilt Heaven awards to two different cars. The cars are each constructed by the owners, and not a shop project. The candidates for this award are selected at various Goodguys events around the country, then voted on by members of the Goodguys association. The winners of the Speedway Motors Homebuilt Awards were announced on February 1st of this year.

Traditional Homebuilt Winner

Jetter altered much of the body work on his ’55 Caddy giving it a 50’s feel without taking away from the original lines that make the car beautiful to begin with.

This year’s traditional Homebuilt winner belongs to a man who is no stranger to the car hobby or to building his own custom cars. Roger Jetter, a former editor for Primedia, and long time Goodguys Gazette columnist, built this gorgeous ’55 Cadillac Coupe DeVille over the course of five-and-a-half years. He picked the car up after feeling left out when his brother owned a ’54 Caddy, and a close friend started a ’56.

The car started out as a failed project from another builder. Jetter dragged it home and began the multi-year project of constructing his one of a kind “Roadliner” to the beauty you see here. Keeping with a vintage ’50’s theme, Jetter sought to customize the car tastefully, improving where Cadillac had left off, making changes that complimented the beautiful factory lines, rather than diminishing or changing them all together.

Jetter began the build by removing the body from the frame, and grafting in a ’78 Trans Am front clip. This allowed for the use of power steering, and disc brakes, two much needed upgrades for the heavy Caddy. That front clip would later be home to a ’70 Cadillac 500 cubic inch engine. Gear changes come via a TH400 transmission.

Inside the car the original power seats are retained, covered in white naugahyde with amethyst inserts. Grape carpet compliments the exterior paint work nicely as well.

The frame was painted black and the body set back upon it for the major surgery to begin. The exterior mods make up a vast list of cool hot rodding tricks, all of which enhance the appearance of the car, but at the same time are so subtle that to the untrained eye they appear as though the car came this way. The body has been nosed and decked. A peak was added to the hood and trunk to give the large pieces some more dramatic lines.

The signature piece of all the body work is possibly the rear scoops.They were opened up and made functional, their original chrome trim removed and replaced by three chrome spears. The rear bumper is a custom piece constructed from the bumpers of a ‘48, ‘55, and ‘59 Cadillac. The front bumper has been re-chromed, and the grille is laser cut and polished aluminum. Lake pipes and shaved door handles finish out the traditional 50’s motif. Looking also like it could have been the factory hue is the paint job, which is a carefully selected two tone. The colors are a combination of Lollipop Lavendar, and a ’55 Ford Regency Purple.

Jetter takes the car cruising and is a regular at Goodguys events around the western part of the country. The car has also made the cover of Rod and Custom Magazine, among it’s many accolades – and now is the proud bearer of the Traditional Homebuilt Goodguys Choice award.

Homebuilt Heaven Winner

The 2012 Homebuilt Heaven winner belongs to Charles and Dotti Ott, from Santa Maria, CA. In 2005 the Ott’s were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. “I had a ’55 Olds hardtop when we got married, and I told my wife if I could find a ’55 post I’d build us one,” says Charles Ott.

So the retired highway engineer, and gearhead since his high school days began the search. He located and brought home a ’55 Olds a few years later and began a five year long project.

Ott had experience rebuilding totaled cars, “When you have a family and you want extra money that’s not in the paycheck, you find another way to get that money,” he says. So Ott put his skills to use and has been rebuilding wrecked vehicles for a number of years to earn additional income, further providing for his family’s needs as well as his custom wants.

Using his experience as a rebuiider he located a 2005 Corvette with just 2,200 miles to use for a donor. “I always wanted a Corvette, but with a family a two seat car isn’t very practical,” he says.

The Vette gave up nearly everything to supply the Olds with new life. The car sits on the ’05 Vette frame, which has been stretched 16-inches to match the Olds wheelbase. The full Vette suspension, brakes, wheels and tires were all utilized. Ott purchased a set of Corvette shop manuals and set the ride height to the same as OEM giving the car a great stance and adequate ground clearance, while maintaining ride quality.

Power also comes from the ’05 Vette’s original LS2 engine, which now resides between the front fenders of the Olds. We’re sure that more than a few passerbys have scratched their heads when looking under the hood to see not only the LS2 but also the Vette suspension in place of the original GM pieces. Gear changes come via the Vette 4L65E transmission.

Outside you’ll find a host of subtle upgrades that compliment the car’s original lines. The door handles have been shaved, as has much of the exterior chrome. You’ll also notice the ’05 Vette power mirrors have been grafted onto the front doors in place of the original chrome ones. Ott tells an interesting story of those mirrors. He’d cut out the area of the mangled passenger door skin on the Vette where the mirror mounted. He then placed it next to the same side door on the Olds. To his amazement the body contour was identical. “I drilled three holes, put a reinforcing plate on the inside just like the Corvette had, and bolted the mirrors right up to the door,” he says.

Inside the car uses a variety of pieces from the donor Vette including, the dash and instruments. The Vette console was modified for better fitment by cutting it between the raido and air vents, and adding a fiberglass section that Ott fabricated himself. Passengers ride in comfort on Lincoln Mark VIII seats and upholstery by Todd Aho Interior. Everyone is kept comfortable via the Vette’s climate control system which incldues heat and air conditioning. The original Bose stereo complete with Sirius satellite radio and GM Onstar are all there as well.

Congratulations to Roger Jetter and Chalres and Dotti Ott the 2013 Goodguys Homebuilt winners. We’ll be looking forward to seeing their cars at some 2013 Goodguys events, as well as seeing which cars come up for this award at the end of this season.