The July 1960 edition of ‘Hot Rod Magazine’ featured a cover story on what they called ‘America’s Most Beautiful Roadster’.
It was a ’29 Ford called The Emperor, and it earned the title of ‘Best Roadster In The Nation’ at the Oakland National Roadster Show in 1960.
I read this stuff for the historical context on the car hobby history, so I always check out what happened to the car and its builder after all those years.
Jerry Sutherland
In this case The Emperor became a street rod legend, so its history is well-documented. The car project was started by a 21-year-old named Chuck Krikorian at a time when kids were building street rods—not playing video games in their parent’s basement.
Chuck and his buddies started the project in 1959 when they took on the ’29 Ford. They were a custom car building machine because his team won four top national roadster awards for Fresno cars prior to The Emperor.
They used a ’31 Ford chassis, partially boxed it, and completely chromed it. Try getting an estimate on that in 2025.
Kerkorian wanted to build a basic drag car, but his brother-in-lay talked him into building a show car—and a star was born. They used a 365 cubic inch Cadillac V-8 to give the little roadster a big heart. The Caddy engine was bored out to 406 cubic inches, and 6 carbs were added for even more punch.
This car wasn’t 100% show queen. They used a ’48 Ford gearbox and in one run The Emperor hit 106 miles per hour at the strip. That stunt did a number on the Caddy engine, but The Emperor survived.
Krikorian got the car close, but the real cosmetic stuff was handed off to a guy named George Barris. Barris was a legend by 1960 in the street rod world, so he was a natural to add beauty to the beast.
Barris built a tube grille to define The Emperor’s distinctive front end. The headlights were straight out of a ’58 Merc and Barris added the canted look that was becoming more and more popular in custom builds. The custom brass radiator was also completely hand-built.
George Barris was a fanatic about great paint finish, so The Emperor had thirty coats of Cerise and Diamond Dust Pearl lacquer. There’s no doubt the paint played a big role in The Emperor’s first place finish at the 1960 Oakland National Roadster Show.
The interior was also period correct with fiberglass swivel buckets covered in white Naugahyde. The trunk is also another work of art, and the steering wheel was straight out of a ’59 T-bird.
The Emperor went on to a long and legendary life as an icon in the custom street rod world. It appeared in several magazines in the 1960s because it set the world on fire at the Oakland show. The Emperor was so famous it also inspired a line of Johnny Lightning toy cars.
Chuck Krekorian hung onto The Emperor for over twenty years. He kept the car in long-term storage before he sold it to Blackie Gejeian.
Gejeian sold the legendary street rod at the 2019 Mecum Monterey Auction for 115,500 dollars.
A small price to pay for a legend like The Emperor.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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