2020 SEMA Battle of the Builders Has Been Won by a Chevrolet... Station Wagon

2020 hasn’t been a typical year for the SEMA vehicle builders competition either – due to the one health crisis we all know so very well by now. No matter, because the finalists of the four eligible categories (Hot Rod, Sport Compact, Truck/Off-Road and Young Guns) still gathered round for the awards announcement.

It turns out this odd year was quite auspicious for strange builds, with Brady Ranweiler’s 1963 Chevrolet Full Custom 2 Door Wagon taking both the Hot Rod prize and the top honor in the competition. That’s right, the overall SEMA Battle of the Builders champion is a station wagon.

It was joined for the glory by Chip Foose’s 1974 Jaguar E-Type for the Sport Compact, Mark Giambalvo’s 1965 Chevrolet C10 Pickup in the Truck/Off-Road, and Cody Medeisis’ 1968 Chevrolet Camaro in the Young Guns (aged 27 and below) categories.

Of course, with a competition like SEMA’s BOTB, it’s a big error to label something like this 1963 Chevy as a station wagon and call it a day. This is because the hot rod has also received the prestigious Detroit Autorama Ridler Award earlier this year, after it finally completed a decade-long build process.

Ranweiler is the owner of Show Cars Automotive, a small family-owned custom shop he runs alongside his son and grandson – so it’s even more impressive to see the result of such a long and arduous process take massive honors when faced with those professional, no-expenses-spared custom builds.

According to the creator and owner, the 1963 Chevy looks like a station wagon, but no part from the original has been left untouched – and ended sporting an Art Morrison chassis, a 2-door conversion, and a huge old-school 509 cu. in. Chevrolet big block under the hood...