8 Stunning Classics From the 2018 Forged Invitational
A custom car show is so much more than a gathering of cool cars—that's what non-car people don’t understand. The second annual Caffeine and Octane at the Beach reminded us why we love cars. It was a beautiful combination of sights, sounds, people and machinery unlike anywhere else.
Held on Georgia’s Jekyll Island, the weekend featured sub-70 degree temps, blue skies and amazing sunsets. The sights of the cars facing the Atlantic ocean, sounds of V-8s and V-twins echoing off palm trees and the smell of food truck BBQ made the weekend a hot rodder’s dream.
Almost 5,000 attendees and over 350 cars, from rat rods to exotics, graced the park. We focused on the Forged Invitational, which featured 20 cars and 20 motorcycles hand-selected by Bryan and Paige Fuller. It’s a showcase of some of the best fabrication talent in the country.
“I don’t care about the numbers honestly, I’m just excited about the great group of people, and having them all together with cars and bikes,” said Fuller.
Builder Rob Ida took home two big awards from the Forged Invitational: Best in Show with his custom Tucker 48 and People’s Choice for his beautiful Willys straight-axle Gasser. The show also featured a celebrity roundtable, fabrication demonstrations and vendors.
“Other shows have celebrities sitting in booths and it’s awkward. Not only are they just having fun here, but it’s organic. They’re checking out the cars and talking to people,” said Fuller.
While Ida may have taken home the biggest awards, there were plenty of other gorgeous cars. Here are eight of our favorites.
1. BlaspHEMI
Mike Finnegan drove his 1955 Chevy Gasser, nicknamed “BlaspHEMI,” on the YouTube series Roadkill. If you want to see the car in person, it's registered to run in this year’s HOT ROD Magazine Drag Week.
2. Lift the Light
Gordon McGilton owns this black, 2-door 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon built by Greening Automotive. You may notice that there isn't a gas filler lid on the side. That's because Greening moved it to behind the driver's side taillight. When McGilton wants to fill up, he flips up the light and its custom housing. This is one of the most clever modifications we've seen!
3. Red and Chrome Autocrosser
Another Greening Automotive build is this red 1967 Chevy Nova belonging to Jimmy Shaw. With all it’s chrome and show-quality detail, it’s hard to believe this beautiful car was built to be autocrossed.
4. Bryan Fuller's Favorite
Bryan Fuller’s personal pick was this 1936 Ford Custom built by Jon Wright. “That thing’s bad,” said Fuller.
5. The Tarantula
Lee Clayton and Tredwear’s 1939 Chevrolet Modified racecar, nicknamed Tarantula, was a crowd pleaser. The car was found as a rough and neglected open-wheel dirt track car, but now lives as a street-legal monster.
6. Beautiful Blue/White Kaiser
Keith Charvonia’s 1951 Kaiser sits on a late-model Caprice chassis. While he mostly built the car in his garage, it spent a fair amount of time in the famed hot rod builder Gene Winfield’s shop. Gene helped Keith do the body work and paint, taking 22 hours in the paint booth to finish.
7. Flaming Cadillac
This flame-throwing 1956 Cadillac, nicknamed FireMaker, was built by Murray Pfaff over the past 23 years. He found it way back in high school in 1986, and after three versions of the car, he's calling it done.
8. Roadster Shop LS3 Corvette
Built by the Roadster Shop, this stunning 1963 Corvette is powered by a 750hp LS3 that’s topped with an Edelbrock supercharger. The black Forgeline wheels compliment the black bumpers, pulling the whole look together.
