Best of 2005

2005 Show Summary:

The Second Annual Georgia Tech Auto Show ( April 2, 2005) was planned amongst big expectations from all those that participated the year before. Huibert Mees, a top engineer at Ford, was chosen as the guest speaker due to his recent work leading the chassis, brake, suspension, and steering team of the new Ford GT. He drove a Ford GT down from Michigan and gave a presentation showing the accelerated design process that produced this supercar.  Other Georgia Tech graduates met him in Michigan and drove their vehicles down in a caravan. One of these was a General Motors co-op engineering student named Sandra Kolvick.  She was allowed to drive one of the very first Corvette C6 Z06 cars from the factory to the show. At that time, the Corvette C6 Z06 had not been seen outside of indoor car shows.

Another unique occurrence at the show was the arrival of an original 1960’s Ford GT 40. It was driven to the show on racing slicks. It was nice to see this car and the new Ford GT near each other.

If that wasn’t good enough, there was a Ferrari Formula 1 car brought by Shell Chemical Corporation on display.  Teams of students were allowed to change the tires with air tools in a mock pit-stop and win prizes

Tim Carlton returned again with his Jeep Cherokee, but now all the body was trimmed off except the hood and front fenders.

The trophy for 2005 was a piece of Russian crystal that had been etched with a three dimensional image of a Ferrari Formula 1 race car.

The tee shirt for 2005 was designed by industrial design student, Alfredo Alponte. The Dodge speedometer image on a black shirt sold well.

Certainly another “memorable” aspect of the 2005 Georgia Tech Auto Show was that it started snowing just as the first cars parked. Everyone was laughing because it was just so unexpected. A black cloud appeared in the sky, and snow started falling. Thankfully, the weather cleared up after 40 minutes and soon it was gorgeous.

Winners of the 2005 Georgia Tech Auto Show Judging

Modified, Front and All Wheel Drive

1st Place Kyle Kvalheim Mini Cooper

2nd Place Justin Huo Acura Integra

3rd Place Milo Borhar Suburu WRX

Modified Rear Wheel Drive

1st Place Dick Koch Pantera

2nd Place Chaz Cone Corvette

3rd Place Bruce Lacle Maxi Taxi
Ali Abbasi BMW

Un-modified Pre-1975

1st Place Scott Penner Model T Ford

2nd Place Russell Parrish Original Mini

3rd Place Brown Family Studebaker Golden Hawk

Un-modified 1975 to Present

1st Place William Dunlop Lotus Elise

2nd Place John Evans Evans

3rd Place Keith Bernhardt Lotus Elise

Light Trucks, S.U.V.s, Jeeps

1st Place Tim Carlton Grand Cherokee

2nd Place Alexis Godschaulk Land Rover Discovery TreK

3rd Place Hugh Reilly Land Rover Defender 90

Motorcycles

1st Place Randy Thompson Harley V-Rod

2nd Place Randy Thompson Honda Rune

3rd Place Tim Hollman Honda CBR 600

Competition and Experimental

1st Place Tim Hollman Pulse Jet Powered Kart

2nd Place Jim Downing Kudzu DLM 4

Student “Beaters”

1st Place Josh “Porch” Snead Mercury Di Sable

Guest Vehicles

1st Place Rick Russo Maserati Spyder

2nd Place James Pernikoff Ferrari 328 GTS

Engineering Award Dick Koch Pantera

Design Award Richard Hopson Dodge Stealth