By Karen Salvaggio
The SEMA Emerging Trends & Technology Network (ETTN) is proud to recognize the 2025 Best Engineered Vehicle of the Year Award recipient: Kyle Kuhnhausen from Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts with a meticulously reimagined 1966 Chevrolet Corvette (nicknamed Serious 66) that exemplifies innovation, integration, and engineering-first thinking.
Designed to spotlight the critical role engineers play in shaping the future of the automotive aftermarket, the Best Engineered Vehicle Award honors a SEMA Show feature vehicle that goes far beyond visual impact. As Jose Escobar, SEMA manager of recognition programs, notes, the award celebrates “the creative minds of builders who implement innovative upgrades and technology that make vehicles perform at the highest standards.”
This year’s winning Corvette stands as a masterclass in resourceful, systems-driven engineering. Rather than relying on a single standout feature, the vehicle reflects a holistic approach where hundreds of engineered components work seamlessly together. Advanced processes such as 3D scanning, reverse engineering, CAD, fluid dynamics analysis, laser cutting, vacuum-formed composites, additive manufacturing, and CNC billet machining were strategically combined to achieve efficiency, precision, and cost control without compromising quality.
Material science played a key role as well. Titanium was used to reduce intake temperatures thanks to its low thermal conductivity, while chromoly steel provided increased stiffness with reduced weight—preserving torsional rigidity throughout the chassis. Much of the vehicle’s most impressive engineering is intentionally hidden, including integrated fuel and oil lines, aerospace-grade plumbing, concealed electrical service panels, and a highly sophisticated cooling system packaged throughout the vehicle’s body structure.
Among the most notable breakthroughs is the drivetrain: a dry-sump, direct-injected LT4 paired with a ZF 8HP70 transmission, one of the first street-proven executions of this combination, complete with electronically actuated manual control. Careful packaging and simulation also enabled race-inspired weight distribution, delivering exceptional balance, grip, and drivability.
This Corvette is not defined by a single innovation, but by how every system works together quietly, efficiently, and intentionally. That cohesion is the hallmark of truly exceptional engineering, and a fitting recipient of the 2025 SEMA Best Engineered Vehicle of the Year Award.