The PRO Cup Challenge was developed by the PRO select committee just in time to launch at the 2019 SEMA Show. More than a display of talent, a goal of the Challenge is to show restylers how a well-designed restyling “package” can provide both the restyler AND the dealer a fair return on investment and be repeatable over time.
“We want to accurately represent what restylers are all about, putting our formula for success into play and showing restylers how we do that,” said Cristina Jorge, owner of Specialty Automotive Treatments in Miami. “I guarantee you a restyler can take a picture of one of those [Pro Cup Challenge] cars, bring it back to their shop and get a game plan together, remake that package pretty easily and walk out of that dealership with a sale.”
In 2019, four restyling companies each brought a vehicle at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas for display and judging. They had certain parameters to work with such as no more than 20 hours of labor for the complete package, and a $10,000 retail price. Each vehicle was judged by a panel of peers against some additional criteria such as repeatability, profitability and eye appeal. Show attendees voted for the “Fan Favorite” award as well.
At press time the select committee was very close to documenting as many as 25 restyled vehicles built since the SEMA Show that duplicate all or some portion of one of the Challenge builds. Plans PRO Cup 2020 are being finalized, but the plan is push the opportunity out to the restyling community early with some process for restylers to post their ideas and photos for selection to participate at the SEMA Show.
In the meantime you can see photos of the 2019 Challenge vehicles and the build sheet associated with each on the PRO Facebook or PRO Instagram pages. If you have duplicated or used one of the Challenge vehicles as incentive for your own package, please post photos on the PRO Instagram page @_SEMAPRO with the hashtag #semapro or #procupchallenge.