Hot diggity dog this is one nice rod

Te Puna hot-rod builder John Reid has put New Zealand in the spotlight at the biggest hot rod and custom car show on the US west coast.

The 33 Ford Cabriolet built at Rods by Reid for Manila-based Kiwi Steve Payne was selected for a "winners circle" position at the 25th annual Good Guys West Coast Nationals at Pleasanton, California, last weekend.

About 3500 cars are in attendance at the convention and the "winners circle" is reserved for the top five cars in a competition called "America's Most Beautiful Street Rod".

The steel body 33 Ford Cabriolet was built by John Reid and Nakija Klaus while the "Black Plum" paint job was the work of Tauranga's High Impact Auto Painters.

The cabriolet is powered by an 8.6-litre Keith Black alloy Hemi V8 running twin carburettors.

After more than 4000 hours of work, the car was completed in June and shipped direct to California for the show. The car will eventually reside in the Philippines.

NZ Hot Rod Magazine publisher Paul Grace says the achievement "is the biggest accolade for a Kiwi hot rod builder outside of New Zealand.

"John has rocketed our tiny hot rod industry into the spotlight in hot rodding's homeland."

The success at Pleasanton adds to a long list of New Zealand awards for Reid, who began building hot rods in the mid-1960s and has been a professional car builder for 17 years.