Cam Miller, working out of his shop HS Customs in Logan, Utah, took the big prize at the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas, claiming the prestigious 2016 Battle of the Builders award with a PPG-painted brilliant white 1969 Camaro. The award is a major part of the annual SEMA event and was announced Nov. 4 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Camaro, owned by Alex Short of Bluffdale, Utah, and dubbed “Under Pressure,” was painted exclusively with PPG refinish products.
HS Customs painter Cort Sessions gave the car its gleaming finish using PPG’s DELTRON® DBC2000 Basecoat, GLOBAL REFINISH SYSTEM™ D8188 Glamour LV Clearcoat and custom mixes along with other Deltron, VIBRANCE COLLECTION® and ENVIROBASE® High Performance products.
“Winning the Battle of the Builders is obviously a huge honor,” said Miller. “I am humbled, relieved and excited that all our hard work has paid off. And I am grateful for all the wonderful technical support and guidance we received from PPG. Their team of experts made a huge difference.”
Cristina Fronzaglia-Murray, PPG manager, marketing communications responded, “We’re as excited as Cam about this win. We’re constantly impressed with what our customers can do using our products. Supporting Cam and seeing his imagination unleashed is its own reward. Under Pressure is an awesome car.”
The SEMA Show is the world’s premier automotive specialty products trade event. The Battle of the Builders competition is open only to vehicles on exhibit at the SEMA Show and attracts the best builders in the country who come to SEMA to display their talent and creativity. This year’s competition started with 250 vehicles entered by elite car and truck customizers. Industry notables David Freiburger, executive producer, TEN: The Enthusiast Network; Fred Williams, editor-at-large, Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off Road; and RJ de Vera, customer engagement leader, Meguiar’s, Inc., served as the competition’s judges. The Camaro’s lustrous paint and style caught their eyes as they whittled the field down to 10 finalists. The finalists then judged each other’s work and voted to determine the winner of the 2016 SEMA Battle of the Builders.
The Camaro was no stranger to tough competition. Miller unveiled the car at the Detroit Autorama. It then went on to win Utah’s Finest at the Salt Lake City Autorama, finished in the top five for Street Machine of the Year at the PPG-Goodguys event in Columbus, Ohio, and took the Builders Choice award at the Goodguys event in Loveland, Colo. It was a finalist in the Hot August Nights Cup contest in Reno this summer.
PPG-Painted Cars and Trucks Capture Major Awards
PPG was the big winner at the recent SEMA show held Nov. 1–4 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. PPG-painted cars and trucks took color to new heights and claimed an array of prestigious awards and recognition. The wins reinforced PPG’s position as the custom car world’s winning choice in automotive refinish products.
“This has been another great year for PPG at SEMA,” said John Parran, PPG marketing director. “We provide great products, and our customers—these talented builders and painters—do the rest by letting their imaginations go wild. They’re creative, they understand color and they’re inspired to outdo the competition. That’s how they win awards.”
SEMA’s top prize, the 2016 Battle of the Builders award, went to Cam Miller and his shop HS Customs in Logan, Utah, for a 1969 Camaro dubbed “Under Pressure” and owned by Alex Short of Bluffdale, Utah. Cort Sessions gave the car its gleaming finish using PPG’s DELTRON® 2000 DBC Basecoat, GLOBAL REFINISH SYSTEM™ D8188 Glamour LV Clearcoat and custom mixes along with other Deltron, VIBRANCE COLLECTION® and ENVIROBASE® High Performance products. “Winning the Battle of the Builders is obviously a huge honor,” said Miller. “I am humbled, relieved and excited that all our hard work has paid off. And I’m grateful for all the wonderful technical support and guidance we received from PPG.”
The Mothers Shine Award went to “Olds Cool,” a 1939 Oldsmobile owned by Billy and Debbie Thomas of Corpus Christi, Texas. Olds Cool was built by Harold Chapman and the team at Customs & Hot Rods of Andice in Georgetown, Texas. Elite painter Charley Hutton gave the car its Kona Brown finish—a custom color of his own making. Hutton used PPG Envirobase High Performance waterborne basecoat and Global Refinish System D8152 Performance + Glamour Clearcoat and a special custom mix of tints and toners to give Olds Cool its unique coat. Olds Cool took the 2016 Ridler Award and was named the PPG-Goodguys Nationals Street Rod of the Year.
Jeremy and Phil Gerber and the crew at the Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Ill., scooped up key awards. The skilled customizers and painters at the shop turned a 1967 Chevelle, owned by Tom Demrovsky of Wadsworth, Ohio, into a standout winner that took the GM Design Award for Classic Car of the Year and finished in the top 10 in the Battle of the Builders; it also won the Good Guys Muscle Machine of the Year a few months back. Fittingly named “Onyx,” the Chevelle features a classic radiant black paint job achieved with PPG’s Deltron DBC DMD1683 Basecoat Black toner, Global Refinish System D8152 Performance + Glamour Clearcoat and other PPG refinish products. The shop also presented a 1969 Camaro, “Inferno,” owned by John and Nicki Wilkus, that won the Good Guys Rod & Custom Association’s Gold Award and was a top-10 finalist for the Mothers Shine Award. Envirobase High Performance waterborne basecoat, Global Refinish System D8152 Performance + Glamour Clearcoat, OEM formulas McLaren Volcano Yellow (code 937178) and Ferrari Argento Nurburgring Metallic (code 36520), and Deltron DBC DMD1683 Basecoat Black toner gave the car its appealing finish. To top off the honors, the Roadster Shop also received the Hot Rod Industry Alliance Business of the Year award.
Randy Borcherding and his crew at Painthouse, just outside Houston, took Rob Roberts’ 1971 Camaro “Enigma” and helped it win the GM Design Award for Best Crate Engine Build. The car, built by GAP Racing in Houston, was entrusted to Painthouse for bodywork and one of their signature paint jobs. Borcherding’s team created an intense custom color named “Superduper Blue.” Using Deltron 2000 DBC Basecoat, Vibrance Collection VP2050 and VP2100 Primers and CONCEPT® DCU2021 Urethane Clear, the Painthouse crew produced an award-winning finish.
Mark Giambalvo of Creative Rod & Kustom, Womelsdorf, Pa., exhibited a 1968 Chevy Truck he built for Jason Owens, Limerick, Pa. With its dark mocha metallic finish, the pickup looked like a sure winner. The judges agreed and presented the Chevy with the coveted GM Design Award for Best Truck. Giambalvo’s painter, Jason Dunkelberger, gave the truck its rich and smooth finish with Deltron 2000 DBC Basecoat, Concept DCU2021 Urethane Clear and Global Refinish System D8115 Matte Clearcoat.
Dave and Dom Tucci of Tucci Hot Rods and Dom Tucci Design, Marcy, N.Y., displayed their 2016 Fiesta ST and won the Ford Outstanding Achievement in Design and Mothers Choice Excellence in Automotive Design awards. The Fiesta also earned an Optima Batteries Golden Ticket to the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational event held the weekend after SEMA. Painter John Ramsey from John’s Auto Restoration, Rome, N.Y., used Deltron 2000 DBC Basecoat, Ford OEM code 8321 Pure White Basecoat and a combination of Global Refinish System D8115 Matte and D8117 Semi-Gloss Clearcoats to give the Fiesta its remarkable finish.