This awesome roadster was crowned America's Most Beautiful Roadster for 2012 earlier this year at the 63rd annual Grand National Roadster Show. The custom 1927 Ford Track T Roadster, better known as the "Indy Speedster," is owned by Bill Lindig of Houston, Texas, and was built by SoCal Speed Shop in Pomona, California. The craftsmanship that went into this roadster is absolutely amazing. It features an Art Chrisman built small block engine. The 352ci Ford makes over 450HP and is mated to a Tremec T5 five-speed transmission. And don't think for a second this is just a show car; Bill actually does drive the Indy Speedster.

The Indy Speedster project goes back 16 years. Bill’s friend, Indy car driver Jack Howerton, wanted a racecar-inspired hot rod like the old sprint cars he used to drive. About 12 years ago, Jack started the Chrome-moly chassis, but never finished. Later, he brought in Moal Coachbuilders, and they made some progress, but the car was still very far from complete. Finally, Bill asked Jack to sell him the roadster, and promised him it would get finished. Jack sold the car to Bill, Bill took it to SoCal Speedshop, and the rest is history. As you can tell from the video, no corners were cut and this hot rod->ke1663 was done right.

The Grand National Roadster Show, once known as the Oakland Roadster Show, is the longest running indoor car show in the world. It was held at the Fairplex in Pomona, California for the ninth consecutive year. The show features the best of the best when it comes to roadsters, and this year the Indy Speedster proved to be the absolute best.

Hit the jump to watch America's Most Beautiful Roadster for 2012 on HOT ROD Unlimited