SEMA’s Battle of the Builders car-building competition is going into its 11th year at the 2024 SEMA Show, set for Nov. 5-8 in Las Vegas, NV.
The competition has become one of the highlights of the annual show, as it showcases the best car builders and their most innovative builds.
Autobody News recently spoke to three past winners of the Young Guns category, for builders 29 or younger, to find out how competing on such a big stage early in their careers helped them establish themselves in the industry, and what advice they have for other young builders thinking about taking their shot.
'It was like a rocket ship'
Kyle Kuhnhausen grew up working in his dad’s collision shop. After earning a business degree from Oregon State University, he came back to work full-time as a technician at his dad’s shop while opening his own business, Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts, in Creswell, OR.
Kuhnhausen has been attending the SEMA Show with his dad every year since 2012, and paid attention to the Battle of the Builders when it was launched in 2014. He had already started working on a 1972 Datsun 240Z that he planned to take to compete someday.
In 2018, the car was ready, but he wasn’t sure how to get it there. He stumbled upon the Young Guns category -- and a Goodguys car show in three days where he could win a Golden Ticket, which came with transportation of his build to the SEMA Show, along with travel and hotel accommodations.
Kuhnhausen drove the 240Z to the show and parked it in the Young Guns corral. He wasn’t on the pre-registered list to compete, but show organizers pulled some strings once they saw the car. He won the Golden Ticket.
Three weeks before SEMA, Kuhnhausen heard from a company that had a booth in the middle of Central Hall, and they wanted his 240Z displayed there.
Kuhnhausen's 1972 Datsun 240Z.“It was the best placement you could have at the show,” Kuhnhausen said.
Kuhnhausen’s 240Z won the Young Guns category, along with a handful of other awards, and even led the SEMA parade at the end of the show.
The effect on Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts was immediate.
“It was like a rocket ship,” Kuhnhausen said.
“Winning Young Guns put a huge spotlight on me. People across the world are hearing my name and seeing my work,” he said. “The phone rings -- that’s the difference, and it’s all because of SEMA putting that spotlight on me and showing me as someone who’s an expert. Without it, I’d probably still be unknown.”
Within a year of winning, Kuhnhausen had to quit his day job at his dad’s shop to concentrate on Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts and work on the 1964 Corvette he took to compete in the Hot Rod category in 2019.
“I went from a flat-rate tech in 2013 to full-time building restorations in 2019,” he said. “That was the plan, but it happened a lot quicker [after winning Young Guns.]”
The Corvette didn’t win in 2019, but Kuhnhausen perfected it over the next year and brought it back in 2020. That year, the show was virtual-only due to the pandemic, but SEMA still held the Battle of the Builders competition. The Corvette won the Hot Rod category on its second try.
“That showed I not only had chops as a Young Gun, but I could also hang with the big dogs,” Kuhnhausen said.
Those three years of competing also showed Battle of the Builders organizers that Kuhnhausen knew what he was doing and had a good camera presence. They asked him to judge the Young Guns category in 2021.
His advice to young builders thinking about entering the competition is to go for it.
“I was building that Z car since 2012 and debuted it in 2018, but I was thinking it’s not good enough,” Kuhnhausen said. “I won [Young Guns] when I was 27, which at the time was the last year of eligibility. It’s now 29.
“As a judge, I want to find the next me,” he said. “I feel like there’s somebody out there too afraid to enter because they don’t think it’s good enough, but trust me, it’s good enough. I just need them to put their work in the spotlight and be ready to learn.”
Kuhnhausen has stepped down from judging in 2024 so he can compete with a 1966 Corvette he’s been working on since 2020.
“It’s by far and away the best thing I’ve ever built, and I’ve done some OK things,” Kuhnhausen said.
'You Gotta Take the Risk'
Josh Michels of Pewaukee, WI, won the Young Guns competition in 2022 with “Blu My Mind,” a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.
His first foray into restoration was when he was 13 and he bought a 1980 Jeep CJ-7 that needed a lot of work. His dad had experience building cars, so he taught Michels what he knew as they worked together on the Jeep for the next three years.
Michels then bought another Jeep that he restored on his own. Then another, and another. Then he told his dad he wanted to make restoration a full-time job, and they founded Michels Auto Design in 2018.
Josh Michels, left, and his winning Corvette.
Michels said he had been watching the Battle of the Builders since it started. He wanted to compete -- someday.
“I never thought [competing] was a possibility this early on until two years ago,” Michels said, when he attended a July 2022 Goodguys car show, where he met the winner of a previous Young Guns competition.
“I didn’t know [Young Guns] existed,” he said. “I thought I had to be a big-name, well-established builder in the industry [to compete at Battle of the Builders.]”
Michels’ Corvette won a Golden Ticket at that show.
“When I got [to SEMA], it wasn’t like, ‘oh he’s some young guy, he doesn’t know anything’ -- everyone was super supportive and welcoming,” Michels said. “The people in the industry are just amazing.”
When his car started moving up through the elimination rounds, it was “all very surreal for me,” Michels said. Then it was named the winner of the Young Guns category.
“I was just happy to get my foot in the door at SEMA, so it was a really cool experience for me,” he said.
“Just meeting all those people was such a great source of connections,” he said. “You’re not alone in the industry anymore.”
Michels said he can reach out to mentors with questions about everything from handling customers to perfecting his builds. He also found sponsorships with vendors like Miller Welding and Mothers Polish through SEMA that have helped his business grow.
In 2023, he competed in the one of the pro categories with a different build, placing in the top 10 in Hot Rods.
Michels Auto Design is also staying “super busy,” with six or seven projects currently underway and more coming up. Michels plans to return to the Battle of the Builders with a new build in a couple of years.
Winning in 2022 validated his decision to pursue restoration as a full-time job, both in his eyes and those of clients, Michels said.
“I went on a stage in front of the best builders in the world, who judged my vehicle and said yeah, it was top notch,” Michels said.
He said other young builders should do the same.
“Just do it,” he said. “You can say you’re going to do something for the rest of your life, but it’s never gonna happen unless you just get out there and start doing it. You just gotta take the risk, believe in yourself, put a whole lot of work into it and hope for the best.”
'It opened doors for me'
Charles Spencer of Mesa, AZ, won the Young Guns category in 2023 with his 1969 Chevy C10. He was 19 -- the youngest champion to date -- but the truck was a multi-year labor of love he started when he was 14.
Spencer first became interested in restoration when he was 5, working on radio-controlled cars with his dad and helping his dad and grandpa at their shop, Charly’s Garage in Mesa.
Charles Spencer with his winning Chevy C10.
“As I grew up, I got more opportunities to expand my skills,” he said.
Spencer found out about the Young Guns category at Battle of the Builders a few months before he finished his C10.
“I didn’t originally know about this when I started my build, but as soon as I found out about it, I was super excited to go compete against people around my age and show everyone what I was capable of building,” he said.
Competing at SEMA was incredible, Spencer said, and he enjoyed meeting other builders and talking with them about their own builds. He said he also got tips from some of the more experienced builders, as “everyone was very friendly.”
The competition “opened doors for me, getting me the recognition for my build, and helped me make a few connections for possible sponsorships for my future SEMA build,” Spencer said.
Less than a year later, Spencer is working on an associate’s degree in automotive service with an emphasis on science technology at Mesa Community College. He is also working with his dad, brothers and grandparents at Charly’s Garage, adding to his knowledge and skills in the custom car and restoration business. And he’s working on another build for a future SEMA show.
He encouraged fellow young builders to get as much experience as possible because the best way to learn is from successes and mistakes.
“I would also encourage them to look at getting tools at a young age, to take advantage of the deals and discounts that they can get while they are in school, because tools are one of the biggest costs for a technician,” Spencer said.
Abby Andrews