By Thom Taylor, Hot Rod

Lake Tahoe’s Tom Gloy was awarded the Goodguys Tank’s Hot Rod of the Year for 2012 for his channeled Deuce roadster.

Built by Roy Brizio Street Rods in South San Francisco, the traditionally styled roadster is anything but traditional. The body has been narrowed through the cowl, grille and windshield. They also sectioned the radiator shell 3 inches.

To get Gloy down low in the seat, the floorboards were radically lowered – more so than any other hot rod to roll out of Brizio’s shop.

Out back, the rear quarters were filled and smoothed and the rear wheels tucked tightly against the channeled body.

The custom Brizio chassis features torsion bar suspension from Moal Coachbuilders, a Magnum 5-inch dropped axle, Wilwood brakes, custom 18 and 16-inch ET knockoff wheels, a 302-inch, Hilborn EFI Ford crate motor and Tremec 5-speed.

Bay area body & paint specialist Darryl Hollenbeck of Vintage Color Studio shot the mid-1950s Porsche blue that perfectly contrasts the red leather interior stitched by Sid Chavers, also of San Francisco.

Gloy was a racecar driver for over 25 years, having collected a Trans Am World Championship as well as a Formula Atlantic title. He drove in six IndyCar races including a start in the 1984 Indy 500 finishing 14th. He wanted more than a show car, and to prove it he recently drove the roadster over 2,000 miles from his Nevada home to Indy to accept the award.