SEMA News—March 2015

RETAILER SPOTLIGHT
By Chad Simon

SP Engineering: Consistently Evolve With the Market

Nissan GT-R—A Game Changer

Business has changed drastically for SP Engineering since the Nissan GT-R launched in 2008. The company previously worked with a mixture of Japanese cars and European exotics, including the 2JZ, RX7, 350Z and V12 Lamborghini. Since 2008, the GT-R has represented about 90% of SP Engineering’s market.

In an effort to further reach consumers, SP Engineering has developed an online retail store for enthusiasts of the GT-R (www.r35tt.com) as well as Lamborghini and McLaren (www.sp-power.com) to inform them that the company still works on these cars and sells products for them.

SP Engineering offers a full build on a variety of cars, handling tuning and the building of engines and transmissions under one roof. Certain specialty parts—fuel cells, for example—are made in-house, while mass-produced parts may be outsourced for manufacture.

The GT-R has gained such wild popularity that SP Engineering largely credits its launch for one of the primary reasons the company survived the 2008 recession.

“All our energy was put toward that,” Rodgers said. “In 2008 with the GT-R, rather than working on a bunch of different cars with all off-the-shelf-type products, it got more into stuff that we do here and a lot of little tricks that don’t get disclosed. If you want it, you have to come to us.”

In addition, the company started doing full packages, including 750-, 950-, 1,000- and 1,200hp packages and up to its Godzilla package, which is 1,600 hp and cannot be replicated, according to Rodgers.

“Other companies offer similar stuff, but it’s not the same,” Rodgers said. “When you have someone who wants to hit a certain number and it’s an array of different parts, it’s hard to figure out lead times and exactly how much money and labor will be put into the car when you have these custom builds. But when you have set packages that we’ve done over and over, you know your exact costs, how much money you’re going to make and when you can deliver the car. Knowing those things and limiting the cars that we work on helps.”

Evolving With the Market

SP Engineering used to do a significant amount of wholesale business that catered to smaller companies, but that died down when manufacturers started opening their doors to everyone after the recession.

According to Rodgers, the company’s biggest challenge is consistently staying up-to-date with the market and having to compete when certain cars get older, such as the GT-R, which is coming into its seventh year. There is an influx of imitations available at lower prices, and second and third owners of these vehicles don’t have the same purchasing power as first owners. More used parts start hitting the shelves. Those factors all affect businesses that are trying to develop new products and stay at the forefront of the market. They can’t bring in the same kind of money because people are getting builds done more cheaply.

“We’re looking at how we can continue to evolve as a business,” Rodgers said. “We’re still going to be focused on the GT-R—that’s what we want to be known for. We’re still going to continue to develop that chassis, but we’re going to open the door to some of the newer stuff coming out right now.”

Take Care of Your Clients

According to Rogers, the way SP Engineering takes care of its clients is what sets it apart from its competitors. The demographic is diverse; for horsepower builds of 1,000 or more, customers generally tend to be business owners in their mid-30s to early 50s. With simple bolt-ons and lift kits, the customer base varies across the board. Regardless, SP Engineering’s technicians take the time to describe to clients the process of what they’re doing.

With some of the higher-end builds, they’re out there with their clients, providing trackside support. Some customers have GT-Rs with 700 hp, and others with 1,500 hp, but they all know each other.

“Because we are a small company, a lot of us here, no matter if we’re on the clock or not, we’re always representing our work. It means a lot to everyone here. They want the business to grow. It’s not about what you can do for yourself; it’s about what you can do for the business. As long as we’re successful, everyone will be taken care of. That mentality translates over to how we take care of the people who choose to work with us, because we know how important every single person is.”

At the same time, Rodgers admitted that the company has to protect itself from liability issues. For instance, if someone brings in a 1,200hp GT-R for tuning that was built somewhere else, SP Engineering may have to turn down the work because the technicians don’t know anything about the car’s history or the people who built it.

“We stick with just the cars that come through with us,” Rodgers said. “We try to live up to the slogan of being an innovator, not an imitator. As long as we keep that kind of mindset, I think we will consistently evolve with the market.”

To maintain relationships with clients, Rodgers advised that businesses hold onto their word and be transparent whenever possible. If you say you’re going to be somewhere, be there. At the end, if everything goes well, everyone wins. On the business side, everyone has to make a buck, he said, but it’s imperative that customers are always happy with what they get.

Looking Ahead

“It depends on what the manufacturers will allow us to do,” Rodgers said. “If we can’t properly tune a car, if all we can do is slap on an exhaust, throw on some wheels or a lift kit, that’s not what we’re about. We’re still going to always have a chassis that we consistently build up and not just offer the basics that everyone else offers. We want to ensure that we make use of the expertise we have here with transmission building, engine building, tuning and be able to offer that on whatever car we choose.”

At the same time, Rodgers said that the company wants to be a large distributor of a few different product lines. It’s necessary to carry inventory, which many companies lack. SP Engineering has to find a way to always stock at least a few lines to keep wait times down so that customers don’t have to wait weeks for certain products. Expansion isn’t out of the question in order to house product appropriately.

Rodgers said that the biggest key to success for retailers just starting out is to know their clients’ likes and wants and deliver on that. If someone wants 800 hp, can it safely be done? Is that going to keep them happy long term?

“Everything is long term; I don’t look at anyone as short term,” Rodgers said. “My goal is to always build as much clientele as I can where they trust me and they can call me and ask me questions and hopefully I’ll always have an answer and can deliver on what it is they want. Looking to make a quick buck will always lead to failure and probably tarnish your name in the end.”

SEMA News—March 2015

RETAILER SPOTLIGHT
By Chad Simon

SP Engineering: Consistently Evolve With the Market

Nissan GT-R—A Game Changer

Business has changed drastically for SP Engineering since the Nissan GT-R launched in 2008. The company previously worked with a mixture of Japanese cars and European exotics, including the 2JZ, RX7, 350Z and V12 Lamborghini. Since 2008, the GT-R has represented about 90% of SP Engineering’s market.

In an effort to further reach consumers, SP Engineering has developed an online retail store for enthusiasts of the GT-R (www.r35tt.com) as well as Lamborghini and McLaren (www.sp-power.com) to inform them that the company still works on these cars and sells products for them.

SP Engineering offers a full build on a variety of cars, handling tuning and the building of engines and transmissions under one roof. Certain specialty parts—fuel cells, for example—are made in-house, while mass-produced parts may be outsourced for manufacture.

The GT-R has gained such wild popularity that SP Engineering largely credits its launch for one of the primary reasons the company survived the 2008 recession.

“All our energy was put toward that,” Rodgers said. “In 2008 with the GT-R, rather than working on a bunch of different cars with all off-the-shelf-type products, it got more into stuff that we do here and a lot of little tricks that don’t get disclosed. If you want it, you have to come to us.”

In addition, the company started doing full packages, including 750-, 950-, 1,000- and 1,200hp packages and up to its Godzilla package, which is 1,600 hp and cannot be replicated, according to Rodgers.

“Other companies offer similar stuff, but it’s not the same,” Rodgers said. “When you have someone who wants to hit a certain number and it’s an array of different parts, it’s hard to figure out lead times and exactly how much money and labor will be put into the car when you have these custom builds. But when you have set packages that we’ve done over and over, you know your exact costs, how much money you’re going to make and when you can deliver the car. Knowing those things and limiting the cars that we work on helps.”

Evolving With the Market

SP Engineering used to do a significant amount of wholesale business that catered to smaller companies, but that died down when manufacturers started opening their doors to everyone after the recession.

According to Rodgers, the company’s biggest challenge is consistently staying up-to-date with the market and having to compete when certain cars get older, such as the GT-R, which is coming into its seventh year. There is an influx of imitations available at lower prices, and second and third owners of these vehicles don’t have the same purchasing power as first owners. More used parts start hitting the shelves. Those factors all affect businesses that are trying to develop new products and stay at the forefront of the market. They can’t bring in the same kind of money because people are getting builds done more cheaply.

“We’re looking at how we can continue to evolve as a business,” Rodgers said. “We’re still going to be focused on the GT-R—that’s what we want to be known for. We’re still going to continue to develop that chassis, but we’re going to open the door to some of the newer stuff coming out right now.”

Take Care of Your Clients

According to Rogers, the way SP Engineering takes care of its clients is what sets it apart from its competitors. The demographic is diverse; for horsepower builds of 1,000 or more, customers generally tend to be business owners in their mid-30s to early 50s. With simple bolt-ons and lift kits, the customer base varies across the board. Regardless, SP Engineering’s technicians take the time to describe to clients the process of what they’re doing.

With some of the higher-end builds, they’re out there with their clients, providing trackside support. Some customers have GT-Rs with 700 hp, and others with 1,500 hp, but they all know each other.

“Because we are a small company, a lot of us here, no matter if we’re on the clock or not, we’re always representing our work. It means a lot to everyone here. They want the business to grow. It’s not about what you can do for yourself; it’s about what you can do for the business. As long as we’re successful, everyone will be taken care of. That mentality translates over to how we take care of the people who choose to work with us, because we know how important every single person is.”

At the same time, Rodgers admitted that the company has to protect itself from liability issues. For instance, if someone brings in a 1,200hp GT-R for tuning that was built somewhere else, SP Engineering may have to turn down the work because the technicians don’t know anything about the car’s history or the people who built it.

“We stick with just the cars that come through with us,” Rodgers said. “We try to live up to the slogan of being an innovator, not an imitator. As long as we keep that kind of mindset, I think we will consistently evolve with the market.”

To maintain relationships with clients, Rodgers advised that businesses hold onto their word and be transparent whenever possible. If you say you’re going to be somewhere, be there. At the end, if everything goes well, everyone wins. On the business side, everyone has to make a buck, he said, but it’s imperative that customers are always happy with what they get.

Looking Ahead

“It depends on what the manufacturers will allow us to do,” Rodgers said. “If we can’t properly tune a car, if all we can do is slap on an exhaust, throw on some wheels or a lift kit, that’s not what we’re about. We’re still going to always have a chassis that we consistently build up and not just offer the basics that everyone else offers. We want to ensure that we make use of the expertise we have here with transmission building, engine building, tuning and be able to offer that on whatever car we choose.”

At the same time, Rodgers said that the company wants to be a large distributor of a few different product lines. It’s necessary to carry inventory, which many companies lack. SP Engineering has to find a way to always stock at least a few lines to keep wait times down so that customers don’t have to wait weeks for certain products. Expansion isn’t out of the question in order to house product appropriately.

Rodgers said that the biggest key to success for retailers just starting out is to know their clients’ likes and wants and deliver on that. If someone wants 800 hp, can it safely be done? Is that going to keep them happy long term?

“Everything is long term; I don’t look at anyone as short term,” Rodgers said. “My goal is to always build as much clientele as I can where they trust me and they can call me and ask me questions and hopefully I’ll always have an answer and can deliver on what it is they want. Looking to make a quick buck will always lead to failure and probably tarnish your name in the end.”

SEMA News—March 2015

CHRIS KERSTING

Pumping Up Consumer Excitement

The first-ever SEMA Ignited event may have looked like a great party and car show, but Ignited was actually much more than that. The event was a way to show off the incredible cars, trucks and specialty equipment that our industry brings to the SEMA Show. It was also a means to interact with consumers, both on-site and through the media. The immediate social-media coverage was awesome, and now we have the longer-lead media pieces coming to fruition.

One important consumer-facing program is set to debut March 8—the one-hour, SEMA-sponsored Velocity Channel special called “SEMA Battle of the Builders.”

The show will provide an insider’s look at how our industry’s automotive designers and craftsmen create their astounding one-of-a-kind vehicles, revealing some of the magic that happens behind the industry-only curtain of the SEMA Show. We know that it will fire up gearheads, but we aim to also give ideas to the peripheral enthusiasts who have not yet gotten inspired to modify their cars.

You’ll see highlights of the inaugural SEMA Ignited event in this issue, and you’ll learn how the Battle of the Builders competition and TV special came about. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of the TV program already, and we think that it’s a good example of how the vehicles and products of the SEMA Show help bring car culture to more of the public in an exciting way. And that will be good for everyone.

We would like to extend our thanks to the 129 vehicle builders who entered 165 vehicles in this trailblazing competition. The contest resulted in tremendous social-media attention, and SEMA is pleased to shine a new spotlight on the efforts of our industry’s talented designers and craftsmen, many of whom have been largely unsung. We plan to amplify these efforts in 2015.

The Battle of the Builders is a centerpiece of content that people will watch, but it was also great to see how many SEMA exhibitors and attendees decided to extend their SEMA Show involvement to take advantage of the first SEMA Ignited event.

Plans for 2015 are already in the works, starting with gathering and reviewing your feedback on these new events. Rest assured that our top priority is to eliminate the traffic problems experienced in the inaugural event! The front-running solution is to bring the SEMA Ignited event to a great site in close proximity to the Convention Center. We’re working on that now.

If you’ve provided feedback on the Ignited event via our recent survey, thank you for your help. If you did not, feel free to send me your thoughts directly at chrisk@sema.org. Your input will help us improve the event and build on something that had tremendous industry participation in its inaugural year.

If you are considering getting involved in SEMA Ignited for 2015, there are several ways SEMA Show exhibitors can gain the benefits of additional media and consumer exposure. If you’re having a vehicle built or are a builder, enter the vehicle in the Battle of the Builders competition. It’s a great way to get recognition for yourself, your company and your products. We will be loading the web-based signup sheet on www.sema.org in the very near future!

Exhibitors should also make plans to join us Friday night of the 2015 SEMA Show and put your booth vehicle in the SEMA Cruise and the SEMA Ignited events. You’ve already made a substantial investment in getting your vehicle to the Show. By taking one more step, you can use it to wow a broad media and consumer audience.

A third way to participate is to have a rig or booth at the SEMA Ignited midway. This is an opportunity to promote your product line, do a little direct retail business, get ideas about new products and get feedback about your brand. Because it falls directly on the heels of the SEMA Show, Ignited is a very efficient opportunity to expose your business to consumers.

We’re excited to offer these new opportunities for SEMA Show participants to gain greater media and consumer exposure while in Las Vegas. And we hope you’ll tune in March 8, for the premier of “SEMA Battle of the Builders.” It will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Discovery’s Velocity Network. Even more important as you complete your schedule for the 2015 SEMA Show, we hope that you’ll build in a plan to join us for Friday night’s SEMA Ignited, the sequel.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

SEMA News—March 2015

CHRIS KERSTING

Pumping Up Consumer Excitement

The first-ever SEMA Ignited event may have looked like a great party and car show, but Ignited was actually much more than that. The event was a way to show off the incredible cars, trucks and specialty equipment that our industry brings to the SEMA Show. It was also a means to interact with consumers, both on-site and through the media. The immediate social-media coverage was awesome, and now we have the longer-lead media pieces coming to fruition.

One important consumer-facing program is set to debut March 8—the one-hour, SEMA-sponsored Velocity Channel special called “SEMA Battle of the Builders.”

The show will provide an insider’s look at how our industry’s automotive designers and craftsmen create their astounding one-of-a-kind vehicles, revealing some of the magic that happens behind the industry-only curtain of the SEMA Show. We know that it will fire up gearheads, but we aim to also give ideas to the peripheral enthusiasts who have not yet gotten inspired to modify their cars.

You’ll see highlights of the inaugural SEMA Ignited event in this issue, and you’ll learn how the Battle of the Builders competition and TV special came about. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of the TV program already, and we think that it’s a good example of how the vehicles and products of the SEMA Show help bring car culture to more of the public in an exciting way. And that will be good for everyone.

We would like to extend our thanks to the 129 vehicle builders who entered 165 vehicles in this trailblazing competition. The contest resulted in tremendous social-media attention, and SEMA is pleased to shine a new spotlight on the efforts of our industry’s talented designers and craftsmen, many of whom have been largely unsung. We plan to amplify these efforts in 2015.

The Battle of the Builders is a centerpiece of content that people will watch, but it was also great to see how many SEMA exhibitors and attendees decided to extend their SEMA Show involvement to take advantage of the first SEMA Ignited event.

Plans for 2015 are already in the works, starting with gathering and reviewing your feedback on these new events. Rest assured that our top priority is to eliminate the traffic problems experienced in the inaugural event! The front-running solution is to bring the SEMA Ignited event to a great site in close proximity to the Convention Center. We’re working on that now.

If you’ve provided feedback on the Ignited event via our recent survey, thank you for your help. If you did not, feel free to send me your thoughts directly at chrisk@sema.org. Your input will help us improve the event and build on something that had tremendous industry participation in its inaugural year.

If you are considering getting involved in SEMA Ignited for 2015, there are several ways SEMA Show exhibitors can gain the benefits of additional media and consumer exposure. If you’re having a vehicle built or are a builder, enter the vehicle in the Battle of the Builders competition. It’s a great way to get recognition for yourself, your company and your products. We will be loading the web-based signup sheet on www.sema.org in the very near future!

Exhibitors should also make plans to join us Friday night of the 2015 SEMA Show and put your booth vehicle in the SEMA Cruise and the SEMA Ignited events. You’ve already made a substantial investment in getting your vehicle to the Show. By taking one more step, you can use it to wow a broad media and consumer audience.

A third way to participate is to have a rig or booth at the SEMA Ignited midway. This is an opportunity to promote your product line, do a little direct retail business, get ideas about new products and get feedback about your brand. Because it falls directly on the heels of the SEMA Show, Ignited is a very efficient opportunity to expose your business to consumers.

We’re excited to offer these new opportunities for SEMA Show participants to gain greater media and consumer exposure while in Las Vegas. And we hope you’ll tune in March 8, for the premier of “SEMA Battle of the Builders.” It will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Discovery’s Velocity Network. Even more important as you complete your schedule for the 2015 SEMA Show, we hope that you’ll build in a plan to join us for Friday night’s SEMA Ignited, the sequel.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

SEMA News—March 2015

CHRIS KERSTING

Pumping Up Consumer Excitement

The first-ever SEMA Ignited event may have looked like a great party and car show, but Ignited was actually much more than that. The event was a way to show off the incredible cars, trucks and specialty equipment that our industry brings to the SEMA Show. It was also a means to interact with consumers, both on-site and through the media. The immediate social-media coverage was awesome, and now we have the longer-lead media pieces coming to fruition.

One important consumer-facing program is set to debut March 8—the one-hour, SEMA-sponsored Velocity Channel special called “SEMA Battle of the Builders.”

The show will provide an insider’s look at how our industry’s automotive designers and craftsmen create their astounding one-of-a-kind vehicles, revealing some of the magic that happens behind the industry-only curtain of the SEMA Show. We know that it will fire up gearheads, but we aim to also give ideas to the peripheral enthusiasts who have not yet gotten inspired to modify their cars.

You’ll see highlights of the inaugural SEMA Ignited event in this issue, and you’ll learn how the Battle of the Builders competition and TV special came about. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of the TV program already, and we think that it’s a good example of how the vehicles and products of the SEMA Show help bring car culture to more of the public in an exciting way. And that will be good for everyone.

We would like to extend our thanks to the 129 vehicle builders who entered 165 vehicles in this trailblazing competition. The contest resulted in tremendous social-media attention, and SEMA is pleased to shine a new spotlight on the efforts of our industry’s talented designers and craftsmen, many of whom have been largely unsung. We plan to amplify these efforts in 2015.

The Battle of the Builders is a centerpiece of content that people will watch, but it was also great to see how many SEMA exhibitors and attendees decided to extend their SEMA Show involvement to take advantage of the first SEMA Ignited event.

Plans for 2015 are already in the works, starting with gathering and reviewing your feedback on these new events. Rest assured that our top priority is to eliminate the traffic problems experienced in the inaugural event! The front-running solution is to bring the SEMA Ignited event to a great site in close proximity to the Convention Center. We’re working on that now.

If you’ve provided feedback on the Ignited event via our recent survey, thank you for your help. If you did not, feel free to send me your thoughts directly at chrisk@sema.org. Your input will help us improve the event and build on something that had tremendous industry participation in its inaugural year.

If you are considering getting involved in SEMA Ignited for 2015, there are several ways SEMA Show exhibitors can gain the benefits of additional media and consumer exposure. If you’re having a vehicle built or are a builder, enter the vehicle in the Battle of the Builders competition. It’s a great way to get recognition for yourself, your company and your products. We will be loading the web-based signup sheet on www.sema.org in the very near future!

Exhibitors should also make plans to join us Friday night of the 2015 SEMA Show and put your booth vehicle in the SEMA Cruise and the SEMA Ignited events. You’ve already made a substantial investment in getting your vehicle to the Show. By taking one more step, you can use it to wow a broad media and consumer audience.

A third way to participate is to have a rig or booth at the SEMA Ignited midway. This is an opportunity to promote your product line, do a little direct retail business, get ideas about new products and get feedback about your brand. Because it falls directly on the heels of the SEMA Show, Ignited is a very efficient opportunity to expose your business to consumers.

We’re excited to offer these new opportunities for SEMA Show participants to gain greater media and consumer exposure while in Las Vegas. And we hope you’ll tune in March 8, for the premier of “SEMA Battle of the Builders.” It will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Discovery’s Velocity Network. Even more important as you complete your schedule for the 2015 SEMA Show, we hope that you’ll build in a plan to join us for Friday night’s SEMA Ignited, the sequel.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

SEMA News—March 2015

CHRIS KERSTING

Pumping Up Consumer Excitement

The first-ever SEMA Ignited event may have looked like a great party and car show, but Ignited was actually much more than that. The event was a way to show off the incredible cars, trucks and specialty equipment that our industry brings to the SEMA Show. It was also a means to interact with consumers, both on-site and through the media. The immediate social-media coverage was awesome, and now we have the longer-lead media pieces coming to fruition.

One important consumer-facing program is set to debut March 8—the one-hour, SEMA-sponsored Velocity Channel special called “SEMA Battle of the Builders.”

The show will provide an insider’s look at how our industry’s automotive designers and craftsmen create their astounding one-of-a-kind vehicles, revealing some of the magic that happens behind the industry-only curtain of the SEMA Show. We know that it will fire up gearheads, but we aim to also give ideas to the peripheral enthusiasts who have not yet gotten inspired to modify their cars.

You’ll see highlights of the inaugural SEMA Ignited event in this issue, and you’ll learn how the Battle of the Builders competition and TV special came about. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of the TV program already, and we think that it’s a good example of how the vehicles and products of the SEMA Show help bring car culture to more of the public in an exciting way. And that will be good for everyone.

We would like to extend our thanks to the 129 vehicle builders who entered 165 vehicles in this trailblazing competition. The contest resulted in tremendous social-media attention, and SEMA is pleased to shine a new spotlight on the efforts of our industry’s talented designers and craftsmen, many of whom have been largely unsung. We plan to amplify these efforts in 2015.

The Battle of the Builders is a centerpiece of content that people will watch, but it was also great to see how many SEMA exhibitors and attendees decided to extend their SEMA Show involvement to take advantage of the first SEMA Ignited event.

Plans for 2015 are already in the works, starting with gathering and reviewing your feedback on these new events. Rest assured that our top priority is to eliminate the traffic problems experienced in the inaugural event! The front-running solution is to bring the SEMA Ignited event to a great site in close proximity to the Convention Center. We’re working on that now.

If you’ve provided feedback on the Ignited event via our recent survey, thank you for your help. If you did not, feel free to send me your thoughts directly at chrisk@sema.org. Your input will help us improve the event and build on something that had tremendous industry participation in its inaugural year.

If you are considering getting involved in SEMA Ignited for 2015, there are several ways SEMA Show exhibitors can gain the benefits of additional media and consumer exposure. If you’re having a vehicle built or are a builder, enter the vehicle in the Battle of the Builders competition. It’s a great way to get recognition for yourself, your company and your products. We will be loading the web-based signup sheet on www.sema.org in the very near future!

Exhibitors should also make plans to join us Friday night of the 2015 SEMA Show and put your booth vehicle in the SEMA Cruise and the SEMA Ignited events. You’ve already made a substantial investment in getting your vehicle to the Show. By taking one more step, you can use it to wow a broad media and consumer audience.

A third way to participate is to have a rig or booth at the SEMA Ignited midway. This is an opportunity to promote your product line, do a little direct retail business, get ideas about new products and get feedback about your brand. Because it falls directly on the heels of the SEMA Show, Ignited is a very efficient opportunity to expose your business to consumers.

We’re excited to offer these new opportunities for SEMA Show participants to gain greater media and consumer exposure while in Las Vegas. And we hope you’ll tune in March 8, for the premier of “SEMA Battle of the Builders.” It will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Discovery’s Velocity Network. Even more important as you complete your schedule for the 2015 SEMA Show, we hope that you’ll build in a plan to join us for Friday night’s SEMA Ignited, the sequel.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

SEMA News—March 2015

CHRIS KERSTING

Pumping Up Consumer Excitement

The first-ever SEMA Ignited event may have looked like a great party and car show, but Ignited was actually much more than that. The event was a way to show off the incredible cars, trucks and specialty equipment that our industry brings to the SEMA Show. It was also a means to interact with consumers, both on-site and through the media. The immediate social-media coverage was awesome, and now we have the longer-lead media pieces coming to fruition.

One important consumer-facing program is set to debut March 8—the one-hour, SEMA-sponsored Velocity Channel special called “SEMA Battle of the Builders.”

The show will provide an insider’s look at how our industry’s automotive designers and craftsmen create their astounding one-of-a-kind vehicles, revealing some of the magic that happens behind the industry-only curtain of the SEMA Show. We know that it will fire up gearheads, but we aim to also give ideas to the peripheral enthusiasts who have not yet gotten inspired to modify their cars.

You’ll see highlights of the inaugural SEMA Ignited event in this issue, and you’ll learn how the Battle of the Builders competition and TV special came about. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of the TV program already, and we think that it’s a good example of how the vehicles and products of the SEMA Show help bring car culture to more of the public in an exciting way. And that will be good for everyone.

We would like to extend our thanks to the 129 vehicle builders who entered 165 vehicles in this trailblazing competition. The contest resulted in tremendous social-media attention, and SEMA is pleased to shine a new spotlight on the efforts of our industry’s talented designers and craftsmen, many of whom have been largely unsung. We plan to amplify these efforts in 2015.

The Battle of the Builders is a centerpiece of content that people will watch, but it was also great to see how many SEMA exhibitors and attendees decided to extend their SEMA Show involvement to take advantage of the first SEMA Ignited event.

Plans for 2015 are already in the works, starting with gathering and reviewing your feedback on these new events. Rest assured that our top priority is to eliminate the traffic problems experienced in the inaugural event! The front-running solution is to bring the SEMA Ignited event to a great site in close proximity to the Convention Center. We’re working on that now.

If you’ve provided feedback on the Ignited event via our recent survey, thank you for your help. If you did not, feel free to send me your thoughts directly at chrisk@sema.org. Your input will help us improve the event and build on something that had tremendous industry participation in its inaugural year.

If you are considering getting involved in SEMA Ignited for 2015, there are several ways SEMA Show exhibitors can gain the benefits of additional media and consumer exposure. If you’re having a vehicle built or are a builder, enter the vehicle in the Battle of the Builders competition. It’s a great way to get recognition for yourself, your company and your products. We will be loading the web-based signup sheet on www.sema.org in the very near future!

Exhibitors should also make plans to join us Friday night of the 2015 SEMA Show and put your booth vehicle in the SEMA Cruise and the SEMA Ignited events. You’ve already made a substantial investment in getting your vehicle to the Show. By taking one more step, you can use it to wow a broad media and consumer audience.

A third way to participate is to have a rig or booth at the SEMA Ignited midway. This is an opportunity to promote your product line, do a little direct retail business, get ideas about new products and get feedback about your brand. Because it falls directly on the heels of the SEMA Show, Ignited is a very efficient opportunity to expose your business to consumers.

We’re excited to offer these new opportunities for SEMA Show participants to gain greater media and consumer exposure while in Las Vegas. And we hope you’ll tune in March 8, for the premier of “SEMA Battle of the Builders.” It will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Discovery’s Velocity Network. Even more important as you complete your schedule for the 2015 SEMA Show, we hope that you’ll build in a plan to join us for Friday night’s SEMA Ignited, the sequel.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

SEMA News—March 2015

EVENTS
By Mike Imlay

SEMA Battle of the Builders

Watch the New Industry Star Vehicle Set to Air on March 8

Warm up your TV and mark your calendar for 8:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 8. That’s the date and time set for the premiere airing of the one-hour SEMA Battle of the Builders program on the Velocity Network—an in-depth TV event promising to focus new consumer attention on the creativity, products and vehicle builds of the annual SEMA Show.

“Our industry is continually looking for fresh new ways to share its passion with the public and ultimately get consumers excited about our car culture and products. When the television audience tunes in to the SEMA Battle of the Builders, they’ll not only get an inside glimpse of what happens at the trade-only SEMA Show, but they’ll also get a special up-close look at the very best of the Show’s hundreds of display vehicles designed to showcase industry innovation and product.”

Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events, noted that there has always been a pent-up interest swirling around the SEMA Show among consumers because it’s closed to the general public.

“The SEMA Battle of the Builders is an unprecedented consumer-awareness initiative and a great touchpoint for our industry,” MacGillivray said. “It’s simultaneously a celebration of the creative minds behind our industry’s products and a way to communicate the SEMA Show magic to millions of consumers through television.”

More than 125 SEMA Show vehicle builders and car customizers were entered into the first-ever SEMA Battle of the Builders, which culminated on the SEMA Ignited stage at The LINQ on Friday, November 7, 2014. The builders represented an elite group of individuals who demonstrated extreme talent, creativity and craftsmanship in modifying cars, trucks and SUVs.

Pouring through the entries, the editors of three leading automotive magazines—Sam Du from Super Street, David Freiburger from Hot Rod and Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road—selected the top 10 builders, who were announced at the SEMA Show on Tuesday, November 4. Those 10 finalists then went on to judge one another and vote together for the ultimate winner of the 2014 SEMA Battle of the Builders, announced at the SEMA Ignited afterparty before a live audience.

The Making of the Show

Brutsman’s multi-media company has produced major-network automotive shows for more than 15 years, including such popular series as “Car Crazy,” “Hot Rod TV,” “Rides” and “Overhaulin’.” He told SEMA News that the annual trade-only SEMA Show has always figured prominently in his work.

“At any one time at the Show each year, we’re producing two to five hours of television,” he said. “This year was no exception. I was working very closely with the executives at SEMA to launch a bunch of my productions at the Show when I was approached by Discovery [parent company to Velocity] and asked what I thought of this SEMA Battle of the Builders idea and could I pull it off at the SEMA Ignited event? I said yes and immediately started planning.”

The logistics were tricky for the BCII-TV team. In addition to the company’s several other productions throughout Show week, an episode of “Overhaulin’” was already set to be filmed on the SEMA Ignited stage on Friday night. Coordinating between “Overhaulin’” and the SEMA Battle of the Builders required careful timing, stage management and a lot of camera turning.

“It was a good little dance for us,” quipped Brutsman, who noted that a great deal of time and attention went into the SEMA Battle of the Builders from start to finish. “The first night [of the SEMA Show], I had to sit down with the judges till 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning as they whittled down more than 100 of SEMA Battle of the Builders applications to the top 10.”

Moreover, Brutsman went on location in the months leading up to the Show to film several builders as they worked on project vehicles for the SEMA Show in their shops and garages, not knowing which, if any, would make the final-10 cut.

One of Brutsman’s lucky guesses was Poison Spyder Customs, in Banning, California, where owner Larry McRae was at work on Crispy, a 3D CAD-designed Ultra4/King of the Hammers off-road racer. Based on a Jeep Wrangler platform, Crispy did ultimately make the judges’ cut for the top 10 finalists.

“We loved working with the film crew,” McRae said. “Some of them we knew from past projects, so it was like working with old friends. We’re very proud of what we do at Poison Spyder, so any time we can host a film crew or any sort of media people, we love having them here and showing off what we do.

“The other builders are legends in building beautiful, show-stopping hot rods and show cars. That the organizers of the SEMA Battle of the Builders felt Crispy was worthy of consideration among such amazing talent was a huge highlight to us.”

McRae sees the upcoming airing of the SEMA Battle of the Builders as a boost not only for his shop but also for the overall specialty-equipment market.

“Obviously, we hope to gain publicity for Poison Spyder, our products and the racing and custom fabrication side of our business,” he said. “But the bigger picture is that our inclusion in the SEMA Battle of the Builders will help raise the profile of off-road motorsports, off-road recreation, Jeeps and 4x4 aftermarket products in general. This show will help bring our sport and hobby to a wider audience, which will be helpful to our entire industry, not just Poison Spyder.”

“We wanted to encourage broad participation,” emphasized MacGillivray. “While there can be only one winner, we celebrate everybody. The judges were encouraged to go beyond who simply did the best restoration and pick winners who were forward-looking and unique. It was all about innovation in showcasing product.”

According to Brutsman, the entire competition makes for compelling television.

“That’s the beauty of SEMA Battle of the Builders,” he said. “It didn’t just do vintage hot rods. We had Camaros in there, vintage hot rods, off-road racing trucks, and we had tuner cars. I think we’re going to get a really good audience mix, because people are going to want to see who won because we are involving the different facets of our sport. It’s
really everybody”

Brutsman said that the television special is designed to take viewers on a journey through the SEMA Show in search of their own dream cars.

“Vendors do it, attendees do it, and now our audience—the general public—gets to pick their favorite car of SEMA,” he said. “Plus, you get to see these guys in their garages.

“Some of them have small garages. They’re just like you and me. Some have extraordinary talents and extraordinary clients, but they’re just regular guys. I think anytime you do these halo vehicles, it really inspires. Anything that is going to spark personalization and customization of a vehicle is going to help consumers.”

Window Into Car Culture

Beyond the excitement of following a competition, Brutsman believes the SEMA Battle of the Builders offers viewers a fresh window into the car culture.

“The SEMA Show gets covered by thousands and thousands of press people throughout the world, and you get videos online and TV shows that kind of glance through it,” he asserted. “This is the only show that I’ve ever been involved with where you actually get to sit down and look at the top 10 cars of the Show. We’ve gone through hundreds of them, and we’ve visited builders at their shops, seen what’s gone into the cars, actually broken things down and watched what they put into them. You really get to understand what a SEMA build is.”

Plus, he said, the television special also has an educational component.

“What was unique to me was the process,” he said. “We had three basic fields of cars coming together—the tuner cars, the four-wheel-drive cars and the custom hot rod cars. We had three distinct judges, David Freiburger from Hot Rod magazine, Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road, and Sam Du from Super Street magazine.

“But here’s what happened—which I thought was incredibly unique for our audience: When we’d go up to an off-road vehicle, our hot rod and tuner guys would take a step back, and our four-wheel guy would step forward and take center stage. Each individual with his different interests would take the lead in explaining why a vehicle [in his niche] was super cool or why it was not so super cool and just normal. Each individual guy was teaching the other two guys the different disciplines. The reason why that’s important for me is that my audience is learning also, while they’re telling each other those things.

“The hard part in television—any type of television—is to teach people in a way that’s not forceful. In the SEMA Battle of the Builders, we get to deliver really good information to people, educate them on our sport and the uniqueness of it, without being heavy handed or sounding cocky. You’re learning something without having the information shoved down your throat.”

The SEMA Battle of the Builders documentary even offers viewers a few interesting twists as it builds up to the naming of the competition’s winner. After seeing some of the builders in their shops, we next watch the judges labor through their piles of photos and entries in search of the SEMA Show’s 10 best vehicles, then visit each of the 10 finalists to let them know they’ve made the cut to appear at the SEMA Ignited event for final judging.

“All of a sudden, we take a left turn,” said Brutsman. “Now we have 10 cars that our judges think are the best cars entered at the SEMA Show. We take those 10 cars, throw them out there, and give those same 10 builders clipboards and tell them, ‘You guys pick the winners.’ They had 10 minutes to tell the other nine judges—who are their competitors—why their car was unique, why it should win. These builders took it so seriously. It was so interesting to watch the whole judging process.”

“A lot of my hot-rodding heroes were in that final 10,” he said. “I just get goosebumps still talking about it. We were crawling under the cars like any gearhead would do—inside the cars, under the cars, in the engine compartments.”

Built for customer Angelo Vespi of St. Augustine, Florida, the Camaro featured numerous complicated modifications, including a supercharged, 800hp Mast LS-7 engine, extensive front hood and sheetmetal work, LED lighting, a high-end AMG-style interior and sound makeover, and a full rollcage integrating Bluetooth technology for phone and stereo. The package was rounded out with navigation and climate-control systems, Recarro seats and fiber-optic lighting in the door panels. In the end, Tucker found his vehicle sharing center stage among the competition’s final three with a ’32 Ford four-door sedan by Jeff Kinsey and a ’66 Chevy Chevelle by Mike and Jim Ring.

“Being up there with Jeff Kinsey and Mike Ring—everything they bring out is so high end,” said Tucker. “Just to be in the mix there on stage with those two—again, I didn’t think it could get any better than that.”

But it did, and viewers of the television special will get to share his excitement at being crowned the winner of the first SEMA Battle of the Builders after an incredible journey that began with the simple desire for greater exposure at the SEMA Show.

“Being an engineering and parts manufacturer and also a car builder, every time you go to the SEMA Show, you like to highlight whatever your latest parts are with your latest car build for a customer, and it’s always the cream of the crop at SEMA, so it’s hard to stand out among all the great cars and everything that people bring,” Tucker explained. “When I heard about the SEMA Battle of the Builders, I thought that was a way to have some extra emphasis and showcase a customer’s car, which we were really excited about bringing out this year.”

He said that the chance to excite consumers through the upcoming television special is like icing on the cake.

“There’s usually all types of trade-only people at SEMA,” he said. “But then, when you take it outside of SEMA and you give the public a peek behind the curtains and allow them to come into that huge afterparty of SEMA Ignited, to have it all culminate with the winner of the SEMA Battle of the Builders—as a manufacturer and a car builder, those are people we probably haven’t reached before. It was neat to have that opportunity.”

SEMA News—March 2015

EVENTS
By Mike Imlay

SEMA Battle of the Builders

Watch the New Industry Star Vehicle Set to Air on March 8

Warm up your TV and mark your calendar for 8:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 8. That’s the date and time set for the premiere airing of the one-hour SEMA Battle of the Builders program on the Velocity Network—an in-depth TV event promising to focus new consumer attention on the creativity, products and vehicle builds of the annual SEMA Show.

“Our industry is continually looking for fresh new ways to share its passion with the public and ultimately get consumers excited about our car culture and products. When the television audience tunes in to the SEMA Battle of the Builders, they’ll not only get an inside glimpse of what happens at the trade-only SEMA Show, but they’ll also get a special up-close look at the very best of the Show’s hundreds of display vehicles designed to showcase industry innovation and product.”

Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events, noted that there has always been a pent-up interest swirling around the SEMA Show among consumers because it’s closed to the general public.

“The SEMA Battle of the Builders is an unprecedented consumer-awareness initiative and a great touchpoint for our industry,” MacGillivray said. “It’s simultaneously a celebration of the creative minds behind our industry’s products and a way to communicate the SEMA Show magic to millions of consumers through television.”

More than 125 SEMA Show vehicle builders and car customizers were entered into the first-ever SEMA Battle of the Builders, which culminated on the SEMA Ignited stage at The LINQ on Friday, November 7, 2014. The builders represented an elite group of individuals who demonstrated extreme talent, creativity and craftsmanship in modifying cars, trucks and SUVs.

Pouring through the entries, the editors of three leading automotive magazines—Sam Du from Super Street, David Freiburger from Hot Rod and Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road—selected the top 10 builders, who were announced at the SEMA Show on Tuesday, November 4. Those 10 finalists then went on to judge one another and vote together for the ultimate winner of the 2014 SEMA Battle of the Builders, announced at the SEMA Ignited afterparty before a live audience.

The Making of the Show

Brutsman’s multi-media company has produced major-network automotive shows for more than 15 years, including such popular series as “Car Crazy,” “Hot Rod TV,” “Rides” and “Overhaulin’.” He told SEMA News that the annual trade-only SEMA Show has always figured prominently in his work.

“At any one time at the Show each year, we’re producing two to five hours of television,” he said. “This year was no exception. I was working very closely with the executives at SEMA to launch a bunch of my productions at the Show when I was approached by Discovery [parent company to Velocity] and asked what I thought of this SEMA Battle of the Builders idea and could I pull it off at the SEMA Ignited event? I said yes and immediately started planning.”

The logistics were tricky for the BCII-TV team. In addition to the company’s several other productions throughout Show week, an episode of “Overhaulin’” was already set to be filmed on the SEMA Ignited stage on Friday night. Coordinating between “Overhaulin’” and the SEMA Battle of the Builders required careful timing, stage management and a lot of camera turning.

“It was a good little dance for us,” quipped Brutsman, who noted that a great deal of time and attention went into the SEMA Battle of the Builders from start to finish. “The first night [of the SEMA Show], I had to sit down with the judges till 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning as they whittled down more than 100 of SEMA Battle of the Builders applications to the top 10.”

Moreover, Brutsman went on location in the months leading up to the Show to film several builders as they worked on project vehicles for the SEMA Show in their shops and garages, not knowing which, if any, would make the final-10 cut.

One of Brutsman’s lucky guesses was Poison Spyder Customs, in Banning, California, where owner Larry McRae was at work on Crispy, a 3D CAD-designed Ultra4/King of the Hammers off-road racer. Based on a Jeep Wrangler platform, Crispy did ultimately make the judges’ cut for the top 10 finalists.

“We loved working with the film crew,” McRae said. “Some of them we knew from past projects, so it was like working with old friends. We’re very proud of what we do at Poison Spyder, so any time we can host a film crew or any sort of media people, we love having them here and showing off what we do.

“The other builders are legends in building beautiful, show-stopping hot rods and show cars. That the organizers of the SEMA Battle of the Builders felt Crispy was worthy of consideration among such amazing talent was a huge highlight to us.”

McRae sees the upcoming airing of the SEMA Battle of the Builders as a boost not only for his shop but also for the overall specialty-equipment market.

“Obviously, we hope to gain publicity for Poison Spyder, our products and the racing and custom fabrication side of our business,” he said. “But the bigger picture is that our inclusion in the SEMA Battle of the Builders will help raise the profile of off-road motorsports, off-road recreation, Jeeps and 4x4 aftermarket products in general. This show will help bring our sport and hobby to a wider audience, which will be helpful to our entire industry, not just Poison Spyder.”

“We wanted to encourage broad participation,” emphasized MacGillivray. “While there can be only one winner, we celebrate everybody. The judges were encouraged to go beyond who simply did the best restoration and pick winners who were forward-looking and unique. It was all about innovation in showcasing product.”

According to Brutsman, the entire competition makes for compelling television.

“That’s the beauty of SEMA Battle of the Builders,” he said. “It didn’t just do vintage hot rods. We had Camaros in there, vintage hot rods, off-road racing trucks, and we had tuner cars. I think we’re going to get a really good audience mix, because people are going to want to see who won because we are involving the different facets of our sport. It’s
really everybody”

Brutsman said that the television special is designed to take viewers on a journey through the SEMA Show in search of their own dream cars.

“Vendors do it, attendees do it, and now our audience—the general public—gets to pick their favorite car of SEMA,” he said. “Plus, you get to see these guys in their garages.

“Some of them have small garages. They’re just like you and me. Some have extraordinary talents and extraordinary clients, but they’re just regular guys. I think anytime you do these halo vehicles, it really inspires. Anything that is going to spark personalization and customization of a vehicle is going to help consumers.”

Window Into Car Culture

Beyond the excitement of following a competition, Brutsman believes the SEMA Battle of the Builders offers viewers a fresh window into the car culture.

“The SEMA Show gets covered by thousands and thousands of press people throughout the world, and you get videos online and TV shows that kind of glance through it,” he asserted. “This is the only show that I’ve ever been involved with where you actually get to sit down and look at the top 10 cars of the Show. We’ve gone through hundreds of them, and we’ve visited builders at their shops, seen what’s gone into the cars, actually broken things down and watched what they put into them. You really get to understand what a SEMA build is.”

Plus, he said, the television special also has an educational component.

“What was unique to me was the process,” he said. “We had three basic fields of cars coming together—the tuner cars, the four-wheel-drive cars and the custom hot rod cars. We had three distinct judges, David Freiburger from Hot Rod magazine, Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road, and Sam Du from Super Street magazine.

“But here’s what happened—which I thought was incredibly unique for our audience: When we’d go up to an off-road vehicle, our hot rod and tuner guys would take a step back, and our four-wheel guy would step forward and take center stage. Each individual with his different interests would take the lead in explaining why a vehicle [in his niche] was super cool or why it was not so super cool and just normal. Each individual guy was teaching the other two guys the different disciplines. The reason why that’s important for me is that my audience is learning also, while they’re telling each other those things.

“The hard part in television—any type of television—is to teach people in a way that’s not forceful. In the SEMA Battle of the Builders, we get to deliver really good information to people, educate them on our sport and the uniqueness of it, without being heavy handed or sounding cocky. You’re learning something without having the information shoved down your throat.”

The SEMA Battle of the Builders documentary even offers viewers a few interesting twists as it builds up to the naming of the competition’s winner. After seeing some of the builders in their shops, we next watch the judges labor through their piles of photos and entries in search of the SEMA Show’s 10 best vehicles, then visit each of the 10 finalists to let them know they’ve made the cut to appear at the SEMA Ignited event for final judging.

“All of a sudden, we take a left turn,” said Brutsman. “Now we have 10 cars that our judges think are the best cars entered at the SEMA Show. We take those 10 cars, throw them out there, and give those same 10 builders clipboards and tell them, ‘You guys pick the winners.’ They had 10 minutes to tell the other nine judges—who are their competitors—why their car was unique, why it should win. These builders took it so seriously. It was so interesting to watch the whole judging process.”

“A lot of my hot-rodding heroes were in that final 10,” he said. “I just get goosebumps still talking about it. We were crawling under the cars like any gearhead would do—inside the cars, under the cars, in the engine compartments.”

Built for customer Angelo Vespi of St. Augustine, Florida, the Camaro featured numerous complicated modifications, including a supercharged, 800hp Mast LS-7 engine, extensive front hood and sheetmetal work, LED lighting, a high-end AMG-style interior and sound makeover, and a full rollcage integrating Bluetooth technology for phone and stereo. The package was rounded out with navigation and climate-control systems, Recarro seats and fiber-optic lighting in the door panels. In the end, Tucker found his vehicle sharing center stage among the competition’s final three with a ’32 Ford four-door sedan by Jeff Kinsey and a ’66 Chevy Chevelle by Mike and Jim Ring.

“Being up there with Jeff Kinsey and Mike Ring—everything they bring out is so high end,” said Tucker. “Just to be in the mix there on stage with those two—again, I didn’t think it could get any better than that.”

But it did, and viewers of the television special will get to share his excitement at being crowned the winner of the first SEMA Battle of the Builders after an incredible journey that began with the simple desire for greater exposure at the SEMA Show.

“Being an engineering and parts manufacturer and also a car builder, every time you go to the SEMA Show, you like to highlight whatever your latest parts are with your latest car build for a customer, and it’s always the cream of the crop at SEMA, so it’s hard to stand out among all the great cars and everything that people bring,” Tucker explained. “When I heard about the SEMA Battle of the Builders, I thought that was a way to have some extra emphasis and showcase a customer’s car, which we were really excited about bringing out this year.”

He said that the chance to excite consumers through the upcoming television special is like icing on the cake.

“There’s usually all types of trade-only people at SEMA,” he said. “But then, when you take it outside of SEMA and you give the public a peek behind the curtains and allow them to come into that huge afterparty of SEMA Ignited, to have it all culminate with the winner of the SEMA Battle of the Builders—as a manufacturer and a car builder, those are people we probably haven’t reached before. It was neat to have that opportunity.”

SEMA News—March 2015

EVENTS
By Mike Imlay

SEMA Battle of the Builders

Watch the New Industry Star Vehicle Set to Air on March 8

Warm up your TV and mark your calendar for 8:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 8. That’s the date and time set for the premiere airing of the one-hour SEMA Battle of the Builders program on the Velocity Network—an in-depth TV event promising to focus new consumer attention on the creativity, products and vehicle builds of the annual SEMA Show.

“Our industry is continually looking for fresh new ways to share its passion with the public and ultimately get consumers excited about our car culture and products. When the television audience tunes in to the SEMA Battle of the Builders, they’ll not only get an inside glimpse of what happens at the trade-only SEMA Show, but they’ll also get a special up-close look at the very best of the Show’s hundreds of display vehicles designed to showcase industry innovation and product.”

Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events, noted that there has always been a pent-up interest swirling around the SEMA Show among consumers because it’s closed to the general public.

“The SEMA Battle of the Builders is an unprecedented consumer-awareness initiative and a great touchpoint for our industry,” MacGillivray said. “It’s simultaneously a celebration of the creative minds behind our industry’s products and a way to communicate the SEMA Show magic to millions of consumers through television.”

More than 125 SEMA Show vehicle builders and car customizers were entered into the first-ever SEMA Battle of the Builders, which culminated on the SEMA Ignited stage at The LINQ on Friday, November 7, 2014. The builders represented an elite group of individuals who demonstrated extreme talent, creativity and craftsmanship in modifying cars, trucks and SUVs.

Pouring through the entries, the editors of three leading automotive magazines—Sam Du from Super Street, David Freiburger from Hot Rod and Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road—selected the top 10 builders, who were announced at the SEMA Show on Tuesday, November 4. Those 10 finalists then went on to judge one another and vote together for the ultimate winner of the 2014 SEMA Battle of the Builders, announced at the SEMA Ignited afterparty before a live audience.

The Making of the Show

Brutsman’s multi-media company has produced major-network automotive shows for more than 15 years, including such popular series as “Car Crazy,” “Hot Rod TV,” “Rides” and “Overhaulin’.” He told SEMA News that the annual trade-only SEMA Show has always figured prominently in his work.

“At any one time at the Show each year, we’re producing two to five hours of television,” he said. “This year was no exception. I was working very closely with the executives at SEMA to launch a bunch of my productions at the Show when I was approached by Discovery [parent company to Velocity] and asked what I thought of this SEMA Battle of the Builders idea and could I pull it off at the SEMA Ignited event? I said yes and immediately started planning.”

The logistics were tricky for the BCII-TV team. In addition to the company’s several other productions throughout Show week, an episode of “Overhaulin’” was already set to be filmed on the SEMA Ignited stage on Friday night. Coordinating between “Overhaulin’” and the SEMA Battle of the Builders required careful timing, stage management and a lot of camera turning.

“It was a good little dance for us,” quipped Brutsman, who noted that a great deal of time and attention went into the SEMA Battle of the Builders from start to finish. “The first night [of the SEMA Show], I had to sit down with the judges till 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning as they whittled down more than 100 of SEMA Battle of the Builders applications to the top 10.”

Moreover, Brutsman went on location in the months leading up to the Show to film several builders as they worked on project vehicles for the SEMA Show in their shops and garages, not knowing which, if any, would make the final-10 cut.

One of Brutsman’s lucky guesses was Poison Spyder Customs, in Banning, California, where owner Larry McRae was at work on Crispy, a 3D CAD-designed Ultra4/King of the Hammers off-road racer. Based on a Jeep Wrangler platform, Crispy did ultimately make the judges’ cut for the top 10 finalists.

“We loved working with the film crew,” McRae said. “Some of them we knew from past projects, so it was like working with old friends. We’re very proud of what we do at Poison Spyder, so any time we can host a film crew or any sort of media people, we love having them here and showing off what we do.

“The other builders are legends in building beautiful, show-stopping hot rods and show cars. That the organizers of the SEMA Battle of the Builders felt Crispy was worthy of consideration among such amazing talent was a huge highlight to us.”

McRae sees the upcoming airing of the SEMA Battle of the Builders as a boost not only for his shop but also for the overall specialty-equipment market.

“Obviously, we hope to gain publicity for Poison Spyder, our products and the racing and custom fabrication side of our business,” he said. “But the bigger picture is that our inclusion in the SEMA Battle of the Builders will help raise the profile of off-road motorsports, off-road recreation, Jeeps and 4x4 aftermarket products in general. This show will help bring our sport and hobby to a wider audience, which will be helpful to our entire industry, not just Poison Spyder.”

“We wanted to encourage broad participation,” emphasized MacGillivray. “While there can be only one winner, we celebrate everybody. The judges were encouraged to go beyond who simply did the best restoration and pick winners who were forward-looking and unique. It was all about innovation in showcasing product.”

According to Brutsman, the entire competition makes for compelling television.

“That’s the beauty of SEMA Battle of the Builders,” he said. “It didn’t just do vintage hot rods. We had Camaros in there, vintage hot rods, off-road racing trucks, and we had tuner cars. I think we’re going to get a really good audience mix, because people are going to want to see who won because we are involving the different facets of our sport. It’s
really everybody”

Brutsman said that the television special is designed to take viewers on a journey through the SEMA Show in search of their own dream cars.

“Vendors do it, attendees do it, and now our audience—the general public—gets to pick their favorite car of SEMA,” he said. “Plus, you get to see these guys in their garages.

“Some of them have small garages. They’re just like you and me. Some have extraordinary talents and extraordinary clients, but they’re just regular guys. I think anytime you do these halo vehicles, it really inspires. Anything that is going to spark personalization and customization of a vehicle is going to help consumers.”

Window Into Car Culture

Beyond the excitement of following a competition, Brutsman believes the SEMA Battle of the Builders offers viewers a fresh window into the car culture.

“The SEMA Show gets covered by thousands and thousands of press people throughout the world, and you get videos online and TV shows that kind of glance through it,” he asserted. “This is the only show that I’ve ever been involved with where you actually get to sit down and look at the top 10 cars of the Show. We’ve gone through hundreds of them, and we’ve visited builders at their shops, seen what’s gone into the cars, actually broken things down and watched what they put into them. You really get to understand what a SEMA build is.”

Plus, he said, the television special also has an educational component.

“What was unique to me was the process,” he said. “We had three basic fields of cars coming together—the tuner cars, the four-wheel-drive cars and the custom hot rod cars. We had three distinct judges, David Freiburger from Hot Rod magazine, Fred Williams from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road, and Sam Du from Super Street magazine.

“But here’s what happened—which I thought was incredibly unique for our audience: When we’d go up to an off-road vehicle, our hot rod and tuner guys would take a step back, and our four-wheel guy would step forward and take center stage. Each individual with his different interests would take the lead in explaining why a vehicle [in his niche] was super cool or why it was not so super cool and just normal. Each individual guy was teaching the other two guys the different disciplines. The reason why that’s important for me is that my audience is learning also, while they’re telling each other those things.

“The hard part in television—any type of television—is to teach people in a way that’s not forceful. In the SEMA Battle of the Builders, we get to deliver really good information to people, educate them on our sport and the uniqueness of it, without being heavy handed or sounding cocky. You’re learning something without having the information shoved down your throat.”

The SEMA Battle of the Builders documentary even offers viewers a few interesting twists as it builds up to the naming of the competition’s winner. After seeing some of the builders in their shops, we next watch the judges labor through their piles of photos and entries in search of the SEMA Show’s 10 best vehicles, then visit each of the 10 finalists to let them know they’ve made the cut to appear at the SEMA Ignited event for final judging.

“All of a sudden, we take a left turn,” said Brutsman. “Now we have 10 cars that our judges think are the best cars entered at the SEMA Show. We take those 10 cars, throw them out there, and give those same 10 builders clipboards and tell them, ‘You guys pick the winners.’ They had 10 minutes to tell the other nine judges—who are their competitors—why their car was unique, why it should win. These builders took it so seriously. It was so interesting to watch the whole judging process.”

“A lot of my hot-rodding heroes were in that final 10,” he said. “I just get goosebumps still talking about it. We were crawling under the cars like any gearhead would do—inside the cars, under the cars, in the engine compartments.”

Built for customer Angelo Vespi of St. Augustine, Florida, the Camaro featured numerous complicated modifications, including a supercharged, 800hp Mast LS-7 engine, extensive front hood and sheetmetal work, LED lighting, a high-end AMG-style interior and sound makeover, and a full rollcage integrating Bluetooth technology for phone and stereo. The package was rounded out with navigation and climate-control systems, Recarro seats and fiber-optic lighting in the door panels. In the end, Tucker found his vehicle sharing center stage among the competition’s final three with a ’32 Ford four-door sedan by Jeff Kinsey and a ’66 Chevy Chevelle by Mike and Jim Ring.

“Being up there with Jeff Kinsey and Mike Ring—everything they bring out is so high end,” said Tucker. “Just to be in the mix there on stage with those two—again, I didn’t think it could get any better than that.”

But it did, and viewers of the television special will get to share his excitement at being crowned the winner of the first SEMA Battle of the Builders after an incredible journey that began with the simple desire for greater exposure at the SEMA Show.

“Being an engineering and parts manufacturer and also a car builder, every time you go to the SEMA Show, you like to highlight whatever your latest parts are with your latest car build for a customer, and it’s always the cream of the crop at SEMA, so it’s hard to stand out among all the great cars and everything that people bring,” Tucker explained. “When I heard about the SEMA Battle of the Builders, I thought that was a way to have some extra emphasis and showcase a customer’s car, which we were really excited about bringing out this year.”

He said that the chance to excite consumers through the upcoming television special is like icing on the cake.

“There’s usually all types of trade-only people at SEMA,” he said. “But then, when you take it outside of SEMA and you give the public a peek behind the curtains and allow them to come into that huge afterparty of SEMA Ignited, to have it all culminate with the winner of the SEMA Battle of the Builders—as a manufacturer and a car builder, those are people we probably haven’t reached before. It was neat to have that opportunity.”