Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the Autorama continued to grow into one of the most prestigious car shows in the country. To assist in growing, the next generation of professional builders and renowned car owners began to make their way to Cobo every winter in hopes of capturing the much-desired Ridler Award. Among them were California's Bobby Alloway and Boyd Coddington, Memphis' George Poteet, along with many others. The only downside to this growing national attention was Michigan's dwindling presence. As exhibitors started traveling from across the country to fight for the show's top prize, many local Detroit and Michigan entries became less competitive against cars from other states, most of whom were being built with much larger budgets. Though the Alexander Brothers continued to build local cars for the show (including a Great-8 competitor in 2012), to date, Rochester Hills's Dave Emery's '32 Ford Roadster (" Revolver") was in 1997 the last Michigan-built entries to win the Ridler Award.