2021 Automotive Heritage Awards Winners

2021 Competition Results

A panel of respected journalists led by Csaba Csere evaluated entries according to a carefully designed scoring system, and the best of the best were selected in several categories. We had a few more entries than last year, and of the highest quality as well. Here are the entire awards competition results, including the Journalism Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, Concept Car of the Year, Future Collectible Vehicle of the Year, and the Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation Scholarship.

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Lindsay Brooke – Editor-in-Chief of Automotive Engineering and Autonomous Vehicle Engineering magazines, published by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International). He also produces SAE’s “Eye on Engineering” podcast, aired weekly on Detroit’s WJR 760-AM.

Best Audio or Video Story

• Grand Prize Trophy Winner | Nicholas Roman – The Algar Ferrari Heist: RCR Stories – YouTube
• Silver | Amr Sayour & Erik Maier – Wendell Scott: The First Black American Full-Time NASCAR Driver – Autoblog
• Bronze | Bob Giles – Driving Forward During the 2020 Pandemic – NewCarNewsTV

Best Automotive Heritage Book

• Grand Prize Trophy Winner | Pete Lyons – SHADOW: The Magnificent Machines of a Man of Mystery
• Silver | Harvey Briggs – Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: Making a Legend
• Bronze | Don Prudhomme with Elana Scherr – Don “The Snake” Prudhomme: My Life Beyond 1320
• Bronze | John Nikas – Healey: The Men & the Machines
• Bronze | Adil Jal Darukhanawala – Timeless Mahindra

Best Automotive Travel/Adventure Story

• Silver | Gary Witzenburg – Adventure’s in Mom’s ’57 Ford Fairlane 500 “Thunderbird Special” – Hagerty

Best Car Culture Story

• Gold | Larry Printz – “My Mother the Car” is the Worst Automotive TV Show Ever – Hagerty
• Silver | Richard Taylor – Bullitt Mustangs – SpeedTour Quarterly
• Bronze | Tom Appel – Learning to Drive Stick: A Sordid Tale of Intrigue, Deception, and Personal Triumph – Consumer Guide
• Bronze | Richard Ceppos – My Gold Metalflake Meyers Manx Miracle – Car and Driver
• Bronze | Bruce Troxell – MG TC and TD Breathe Life into the First Corvette – National Corvette Museum
• Bronze | Richard Taylor – Another Chapter of My Life With Cars – Victory Lane

Best Heritage Innovation Story

• Grand Prize Trophy Winner | Karl Ludvigsen – Mercedes Tries Two Wheels – The Star
• Gold | Karl Ludvigsen – Creating Leyland’s Supercar – The Automobile
• Silver | Larry Printz – Turn-by-Turntables: How Drivers Got From Point A to Point B in the Early 1900s – Arstechnica
• Bronze | Daniel Strohl – Had GM Produced the Lean Machine, We’d Now Be Able to Drive the Ultimate Self-Isolation Vehicle – Hemmings
• Bronze | Graham Robson – Brave New World – The Star
• Bronze | Daniel Strohl – Ask a Hemmings Editor: What Gave the Chevrolet Vega Engine Its Bad Reputation – Hemmings
• Bronze | Larry Printz – The Long, Winding Technological Road to GPS in Every Car – Arstechnica

Best Heritage Motorsports Story

• Gold | Karl Ludvigsen – A Most Beautiful Brute – The Star
• Silver | Daniel Strohl – Had It Not Snowed 50 Years Ago, the Blue Flame Might Have Capped Its Land-Speed Record With a Supersonic Run or Two – Hemmings
• Silver | Chris Tonn – Talladega and Zora: The Untold Saga of Yugo’s Endurance Record Attempt – Hagerty
• Bronze | Richard Taylor – Thoroughly Modern Motorcars – SpeedTour Quarterly

Best Marque Specific Story

• Grand Prize Trophy Winner | Karl Ludvigsen – The Lost Supercar – The Star
• Gold | Gary Anderson & Terry Price – Chariot of Fire – The Star
• Silver | Daniel Strohl – Did an Outbreak of Hoof-and-Mouth Disease Lead to the Demise of Stanley and Steam Cars In General – Hemmings
• Silver | Richard Taylor – Jaguar–A Century of Style – SpeedTour Quarterly
• Silver | Terry V. Boyce – 1971-78 Cadillac Eldorado: A Sizable Difference – Collectible Automobile
• Bronze | Mark J. McCourt – With Its Sturdy Construction and Many Safety Features, Volvo’s 144E Helped Lay the Foundation for Volvo’s Reputation – Hemmings
• Bronze | Gary Witzenburg – The Allanté Was Once Envisioned as “The New Spirit of Cadillac” – Hagerty
• Bronze | J. Michael Hemsley – Fastback First–1965 Ford Mustang Fastback, Serial Number 1 – Vintage Racecars and RoadCars

Best Personality Profile

• Grand Prize Trophy Winner | Daniel Strohl – Black Ghost, a Street Racing Cap’s Hemi Challenger R/T, Added National Register of Historic Vehicles – Hemmings
• Gold | Karl Ludvigsen – Lampredi–Creator of Ferrari’s First Championship – The Automobile
• Silver | Burt Levy – John Weinberger–An Amazing Story – Vintage Motorsport
• Silver | Nicholas Roman – Harley Earl and the Corvette – YouTube
• Bronze | Gary Witzenburg – John Schinella: From Hidden Talent to High Profile
• Bronze | Graham Robson – Sir Stirling Moss 1929-2020 – The Star

2021 Concept Vehicle of the Year

• Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR

2021 Future Collectible Vehicle of the Year

• Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500

AWAF Scholarship Recipient

• Kathrine Cowart – Carnegie Mellon University