We asked.
And you responded.
For the past two weeks you’ve given your opinions on everything from the best engines to the best automotive forums and television shows. Those opinions determined the winners of the first annual OnAllCylinders Reader’s Choice Awards, which covered 14 different categories.
As expected, your opinions didn’t always line up with the four nominees in each category. And you weren’t afraid to channel your inner Kanye West and tell us why our choices were wrong, either. That’s why we’ve decided to note some of the top write-in vote-getters with each category below.
The winners are…
Best Big Block Engine
Winner: Big Block Chevrolet (396-454)
Where’s the Boss? What about the big block Buick and Oldsmobile? You sort of cared, but it really didn’t matter because the big block Bowtie reigned supreme over the second place 426 HEMI in this vote.
Nominees (finish): Big block Chevrolet (1), 426 HEMI, (2) Ford FE (3), Chrysler B/RB (4)
Top Write-Ins: Ford Boss 429, Ford 385, Oldsmobile 455
Best 1960s Muscle Car
Winner: 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
Clearly, you liked the Chevrolet Camaro (even if many don’t consider it a muscle car). The many different years and designs–COPO, Yenko, etc.–added up to a second-place finish.
Nominees: 1969 Pontiac GTO “the Judge” (3), 1969 Dodge Charger R/T (1), 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt (5), 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner (4)
Top Write-Ins: 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro, 1969 Chevelle SS396, 1964 Pontiac GTO
Top Automotive Forum
Winner: LS1 Tech
Two things were clear: 1) LS1 Tech was your winner, and 2) you really don’t care about forums as this was our lowest voted-on category.
Nominees: YellowBullet (3), LS1 Tech (1), The H.A.M.B. (2), Pirate 4×4 (4)
Top Write-Ins: Nasty Z/28
Best Power Adder
Winner: Supercharger
“Why is propane injection even on here,” one reader asked. We added it to round out our field of four nominees–and it finished right behind stickers/decals for best power adder.
Nominees: Supercharger (1), turbocharger (2), nitrous oxide (3), propane injection (5)
Top Write-Ins: Stickers/decals
Best Hot Rod Build Style
Winner: Pro Street
Wasn’t Pro Street pronounced dead several years ago? Nope–not according to you. In fact, this genre is still a crowd pleaser, at least among our readers.
Nominees: Pro Street (1), Pro Touring (2), Rat-Rod (3), Restoration (4)
Top Write-Ins: Resto-mod, Gasser
Top Small Block Engine
Winner: Gen I Small Block Chevrolet
It’s not fancy, but the Gen I small block Chevy remains the everyman’s engine. There’s about a gazillion available–roughly one for every vote the venerable engine received by readers.
Nominees: Gen I Chevy (265-400) (1), Ford Windsor (289-302-351) (3) , GM LS (Gen III/IV) (2), Chrysler LA (4)
Top Write-Ins: Ford Cleveland, Ford Coyote 5.0L
Best 70s Muscle Car
Winner: 1970 Chevelle SS454
Thank goodness for 1970. This year gave us the best in 1970s muscle cars–before the gas crisis and emissions rules made things all weird.
Nominees: 1970 Chevelle SS454 (1), 1970 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda (2), 1970 Buick GSX (4), 1972 Chevrolet Nova (3)
Top Write-Ins: 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429, 1970 Pontiac GTO
Best Automotive /Hot Rodding Television Show
Winner: Top Gear BBC
The original Top Gear heads the list of best television shows, according to readers, but we’re still big Rutledge fans around here. Just sayin’.
Nominees: PowerNation (6), Fast n Loud (2), Overhaulin’ (4), Top Gear BBC (1)
Top Write-Ins: Roadkill, Street Outlawz, Counting Cars
Greatest Bolt-On Performance Modification
Winner: Headers
We were going for budget bolt-on modifications here, and you chose headers as the winner. However, many of you astutely pointed out that all four of our nominees together would be the best bang-for-buck modification of all.
Nominees: Cold air intake, cat-back exhaust system, carburetor/throttle body (2), headers (1)
Top Write-Ins: Supercharger, all of the above
Best Late-Model Muscle Car
Winner: Dodge Challenger SRT
Lots of fighting between Ford and Chevy guys, along with the new SRT Hellcat, helped make the Challenger SRT the king of late-model muscle.
Nominees: Dodge Challenger SRT (1), Ford Mustang Boss 302 (2), Chevrolet Camaro SS (3)
Top Write-Ins: Ford Shelby GT500, Camaro Z/28
Most Iconic Aftermarket Brand
Winner: Edelbrock
Is a name more synonymous with hot rodding than Edelbrock? You didn’t think so.
Nominees: Edelbrock (1), Mickey Thompson (3), Offenhauser (4), Isky Racing Cams
Top Write-Ins: Holley, Ford Racing, Hurst
Best Late-Model Truck
Winner: RAM 2500 with Cummins diesel
There are lots of exciting things going on with the pickup truck market, but the RAM 2500 with Cummins diesel engine got you most excited. Not bad for a make that didn’t exist on its own just a decade ago.
Nominees: RAM 2500 with Cummins (1), Ford F-150 Ecoboost, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (3), Dodge RAM 1500 HEMI (4)
Top Write-Ins: Ford non-Ecoboost, Toyota models
Best Current Hot Rod Builder
Winner: Chip Foose
Star power helps. Chip Foose won this thing in a runaway, but guys like Fast n Loud’s Aaron Kaufman, Roadkills’ David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan, and even Danny Koker of Counting Cars fame got significant write-in votes.
Nominees: Chip Foose (1), Troy Trepanier (2), Denny Terzich, Jr. (3), JF Launier (4)
Top Write-Ins: Ring Brothers, Aaron Kaufman, David Freiburger/Mike Finnegan
OnAllCylinders Pioneer Award
Winner: Carroll Shelby
It’s hard to argue with any of our nominees–or your winner, Carroll Shelby. Icon.
Nominees: Carroll Shelby (1), Don Garlits (2), Wally Parks (4), Vic Edelbrock, Sr. (3)
Top Write-Ins: Smokey Yunick, Don Yenko, Henry Ford
Wow! A few surprises in the winners! Too bad there were no Ford products winning in any catagories, but I am glad to see that Chevy didn’t dominate everything!
Chip Foose does not build cars. He draws pictures of cars. He is a very talented artist not an actual car builder.
Have you been drinking??? Chip foose does not build cars?? Hahahahahaahahahaa
Why is it that the big 3, don’t learn from this type if public opinion? The industry is driven by price. The generational engine changes need to stop. The small block chevy is so great because of price, and the aftermarket can support them well because of the long term stability of the market. It would not be hard for the big 3 to restrict all block/head dimensions to a respective single standard.
It is so simple. People want to spend money incrementally. We are all poor for the most part. We don’t spend more than a few hundred dollars at a time until we are 40-60 years old. This is when we buy new cars either for ourselves or our family. Unified engine designes makes performance affordable to us at an early age. This buys brand loyalty, which is going to be key 21st century marketing. The under 30’s generation tunes out conventional advertisement. Unified design is real marketing.