2019 – Vote for your favorite peopleIndividualsAutomotive Artist of the Year Chris Bangle Daring and sometimes controversial designer with BMW, Rolls Royce and others. Behind many modern BMW's, including the groundbreaking Z4.Website Ken Eberts Founder of Automotive Fine Arts Society, Ken was chosen by Ford to commemorate the marque's anniversary in 2003 and was awarded a Meguiar's Treasure of the Hobby Award for his lifetime achievements.Website Tom Fritz The work of Tom Fritz, a professional artist with a history illustrating for folks such as Petersen Publishing, appears often at the Automotive Fine Arts Society's exhibit in the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and has received numerous awards for it's loving portrayal of 50's and 60's American car culture.Website Marcello Gandini Lambhorghini designer behind the legendary Miura and Countach, former head of Bertone design.Website Syd Mead Syd Mead spent years as a commercial artist for groups like Ford Motor Company and Phillips electronics, later creating his own company and working on films such as Tron, Blade Runner, Aliens and many more, providing art direction and designing vehicles.WebsiteAutomotive Legends Zora Arkus Duntov Early designer and pioneer of the Corvette for General Motors.Website Giorgetto Giugiaro Legendary artist and designer behind some of the most storied automobiles, including Ferrari's, Lancias, BMW's and VW's.Website Lewis Hamilton Reigning Formula 1 champion and storied F1 driver with a history of success.Website Soichiro Honda The founder of Honda, leading the company into territory synonymous with reliability and engineering prowess.Website Kenny Howard (Von Dutch) Legendary pinstriper and Hot Rod designer whose work continues to inspire in the Hot Rod and low rider scene, as well as clothing.WebsiteCollector of the Year Samuel Ace An early, passionate and prolific contributor to Hot Wheels collectors sites like the Lamley group, Sam spreads passion and joy for collecting that is infectous.Website Jang Birsens Owner of the Matchbox Hinkel museum and collection, boasting thousands of meticulously cared for models and open to the public.Website Roy Friend Collector and member of DiecastNutz.Website Ted Gray Owner of Online Redline Guide, a database and must-have-resource for redline collectors.Website Mark Kearney Founder of Mopartoys.com, a site boasting 19,386 toys with 129,599 pictures, all from Mark's own collection, which has become a hub for collectors.WebsiteModel Builder of the Year Dennis Koleber Dennis Koleber has been a full time professional model builder for over 28 years, and has won more than 600 awards including 42 National Championships.Website Mark Gustavson Leader of the International Model Car Builders Museum, a hub and resource for model kit builders worldwideWebsite Tom Nungester Model Builder featured on sites like Scale Auto, Tom is an Indiana native who has also won numerous awards for his work.Website Karsten Schmidt Double nominee. Master Craftsman with Fine Model Cars, a boutique model maker with a focus on precise detail in European classic model cars.Website Roy R. Sorenson Current editor and publisher with Model Car Builder's online site, published PLASTIC FANATIC magazine, and ran a business selling sought after model car accesories.WebsiteModel Car Customizers Jimi Coppola Jimi Coppola is a diecast customizer under the name Jimi’z Junkyard Kustoms. Coppola specializes in Hot Wheels 1/64 scale models, and works with handmade aluminum parts fabricated by his self.Website John Fox Owner of Your Car in Diecast, a site specializing in tailoring model kits to an owners specific request.Website Yogie Kartono Indonesian customizer with a large Youtube following building and showcasing small scale customs.Website Maarten Van Lith Customizer specializing in replicas of specific cars using existing models.Website John Wood Established builder of custom scale models made to customer specification based on real cars.WebsiteModel Car Designers Sei Cho Designer with Jada Toys in 2003, formerly with Hot Wheels, Sei has worked on some of Jada's now most popular castings, including the Datsun 240.Website Raffi Minasian Selection Committee member and designer for brands both 1:1 and scale, such as Subaru, Toyota, Moal Coachbuilders and The Franklin Mint.Website Alan Pletcher Designer with Playing Mantis / Johnny lightning who helped create some of the brands most iconic castings.Website Alton Takeyasu Prolific designer of Hot Wheels, in 2006 he became the Senior Director for Mattel Toys Wheels Design and went on to design cars like the El Camino, Double Loop Cars and Barrel Roll Buggy.Website Brad Trimmer Designer with Maisto and Bburaggo, formerly a designer with Tech Deck.WebsiteModel Car Entrepreneurs Mark Asbreuk Owner of Matrix Scale Models, producing detailed models from a wide range of manufacturers, including many previously unseen or unheard of.Website Sandy Copeman CEO Amalgam, a top-tier producer of high-end scale cars, focusing on highly collectible race cars, classic cars and exotics.Website Vlad Dragusin Founder and CEO of Candylab, building wood-block model cars with vintage-chic styleWebsite Robert Korunow Bob runs Model Car Garage, an online retailer dedicated to model car accesories.Website Leslie Charles Smith Cofounder of Lesney Toys, later Matchbox, a genre-defining producer of scale vehicles.WebsiteModel Car Historians Tim Boyd Writer and contributer with Scale Auto, reporting on and reviewing models for one of the largest publications in the industry.Website Vincent Espinasse Author and founder of autojauneblog.fr, aka The Auto Yellow Blog. The French native uses the website to depict the history of a variety of scale model cars through photos and detailed write-ups.Website John Kuvakas Auctioneer with diecast.org, a site with a large database of models from many different brands.Website Kris E. Palmer Author of diecast and car books such as 0 to 50 at 1:64 scale, Dream Garages, and automotive articles in his local Minneapolis Star TribuneWebsite Mike Richardson Author of two books on Dinky toys, Dinky Toys & Modelled Miniatures, chronicling models from across the brands long history.WebsiteSlot Car Racer of the Year David Beattie Owner of Slot Mods, building large, extremely detailed slot car tracks to specification.Website Albert Boet Editor of Slot Car Today, a Spanish website dedicated to news and reviews of slot cars with a large following.Website Tony Lester Maintains sizable collection of slot cars, especially Scalextric, documenting his pursuits on YoutubeWebsite Dennis Samson Owner of Samson's Classics, selling slot car accessories in 1/32 and 1/24 scale.Website Alan Smith Owner of Scale Racing, a wholesale and retail company for 1/24 and 1/32 slot cars and accessories, 132 Slot Cars, a brick-and-mortar gathering point for slot car racers in Tacoma, Washington, plus Slot Car Illustrated.Website First Name Last Name Your email Get all the latest news from the Hall
