Steele, a custom motorcycle builder by trade, explained after the awards ceremony that this was his first whole hearted attempt at designing a hot rod. The car came to Indy with only 25 miles on it but Steele was more than happy to drive it during the competition and thrash it a little on the drag strip. The award criteria calls for all participants to make a lap around the famed Indy Brickyard, a 100-mile roundtrip run up to Sharpsville then back to O’Reilly Raceway Park for an 1/8th mile time trial on the drag strip.

Steele’s chopped coupe combines masterful build quality with traditional styling – a trend that has been predominant over the past several years in the hot rodding scene. The little coupe features a 331-inch hemi with a custom hand made intake complete with” four 2’s”, handmade headers, hand made bomber style seats and black artillery wheels. The paint is a unique blend of brown suede with gloss black accents.

This was by far the finest field of cars ever assembled for the Hot Rod of the Year competition. In total, fourty-five cars entered the competition. Here’s a look at the top 5 finalists: Don Smith, Mansville, TX ’32 Ford Sedan, Jim Martin, Mentor, OH, ’32 Ford Coupe, Bill Steele, 1930 Ford Model A Coupe, Bart Grange, 1932 Ford Coupe and Dick Stevens, 1928 Ford Model A Sedan.

To see more of Steele's coupe, check it out at next month’s 12th PPG Nationals July 10-12 in Columbus, OH. It will also be featured extensively in the September issue of the Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette!