Chicago, IL (January 28, 2009)— CleanTools is proud to announce that Gene
and Earlene Elpers of Evansville, IN with their 1946 Chevy Pickup Truck "Ballistic"
were crowned the winners of the 2009 CleanTools Legend Cup award. They
were onsite to accept the $5,000 cash prize along with a stunning perennial trophy
that stands over five feet tall and honors “the best of the best.”
Constructed over a period of 7 years, Ballistic features hundreds of body modifications
ranging from a 1937 Ford-inspired grill to a one-piece molded cab and bed combination.
The truck is powered by a fuel-injected 6.1 Chrysler Hemi V8
and backed by a Chrysler transmission. Gene described the honor
of winning the CleanTools Legend Cup as "Super Good!" and that the key to the truck's
success has been the attention to detail. "Everything had to
be right and had to look just right," Gene added.
"We’ve built our business with only the best of the best," CleanTools Founder Bill
Stuart said. "It’s always an honor each year to present the CleanTools
Legend Cup award to one of the Select Six cars chosen from a field of hundreds of
entries. Vehicles like Ballistic epitomize our best of the best
standard and will be remembered for years to come.”
Over the course of the three-day event, the CleanTools Legend Cup elite advisory
board (consisting of eight of the custom car building industry's most prominent
leaders) slowly narrowed the competition to find “the best of the best.” The Top
20 Entries were announced on Friday, Jan. 23. Then on Saturday,
Jan. 24 these were pared down to a select group of Six Finalists
. Ballistic was chosen as the winner from these six finalists on Sunday, Jan. 25.