CONCORD, N.C. – A son continued his father’s legacy on Sunday at the Pennzoil AutoFair at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when Ronnie Jenkins and his red 1965 Corvair Corsa claimed Walt Hollifield Best of Show honors.

Jenkins, a Rock Hill, S.C., native, restored the car with his late father, Richard. The pair worked on the Corvair in 2006 for a customer; however, in 2015, after the passing of his father, Jenkins knew he had to have it back. Later that year, he purchased it and began touring all over the country in loving memory of his father.

“My dad has had me interested in Corvairs for most of my life,” Jenkins said. “In 2006, we spent eight months together completely restoring the car for a customer. We replaced every nut, bolt and screw on the entire car. In 2015, my pop passed away and I just knew I had to have the car back. It represented the great times my dad and I had together before he passed away.”

The car won best paint in 2017, but he never expected to win Best of Show after a four-day weekend of timeless classic cars, trucks, customs and hot rods.

Jenkins knew his competition was fierce, and he didn’t expect the car could win against such stiff competition until a panel of judges including David Ankin, star of the television show “ToyMakerz,” found Jenkin’s car to be best-in-class.

Jenkins said his Corvair has won awards in the past, but he was humbled to be selected as the Best of Show when competing against more than 50 models of hot rod, muscle cars and classics that made up the Best of Show field at AutoFair.

“It’s one of the top two cars in the country – of Corvairs. But its not a ’55 Chevrolet, Camaros, Mustangs and so forth. (At AutoFair,) they have a totally different standard of judging; it’s much higher.”

The Best of Show award was named for Charlotte-area car expert Walt Hollifield, who has been a valuable part of AutoFair for 40 years. Hollifield presented his eponymous award to Jenkins in the winner’s circle.