Noah Alexander’s 1968 Dodge Charger walked away with the title in the SEMA Battle of the Builders Presented by Mothers competition held at the 2024 SEMA Show.
Alexander won the Hot Rod/Hot Rod Truck category and edged out the other class champions—Bruce Yarnell’s ’65 Aston Martin DB5 (Sport Compact/Import Performance), Rob Lindsay’s ’49 Willys Pickup (4-Wheel Drive & Off-Road), and Connor McElvain’s ’69 Datsun 2000 Roadster (Young Guns)—to secure the overall title.
The victory is a testament to the craftsmanship and fabrication skills of Alexander and the team at Classic Car Studio in St. Louis, Missouri, whose ’68 Dodge Charger faced off against 171 other entries at the 2024 SEMA Show, officials noted.
“The competition from this year’s Battle of the Builders was intense, and to come away with a win is something our shop will never forget,” said Alexander. “Some of the people we look up to the most in the industry have won this award, so to appear alongside those people is really incredible.”
The winning build came to fruition following a chance meeting with the car’s owner, Ed Ganzinotti, in the checkout line at a Barrett-Jackson auction six years ago. After owning the car for 20 years, Ganzinotti, a Houston native, reached out to Alexander about sprucing up the Charger.
“We were going to fix some paint issues, do an interior refresh and rebuild the engine. We said, ‘Ed, before we start, come to our shop, see what we’re capable of, and become somewhat of a regular as we work on this build,’” said Alexander.
After visiting the shop, Ganzinotti commissioned the team to build him “the baddest Charger out there.”
The ’68 Dodge features original sheet metal that was refined with sharpened bodylines, a relocated wheelbase, shaved drip rails, flush-mounted glass, custom hood and trunk skins, and a bespoke belly pan. Built on an altered wheelbase Roadster Shop chassis, all suspension components were body-worked and painted.
The car is powered by the original 440-ci Dick Landy engine with eight-stack fuel injection and a deburred, smoothed block. Inside the vehicle, a custom dash features one-off milled bezels, unique seats and door panels and a package tray with Missouri black walnut accents.
“The best part about the build is that it has incredible drop-down lines from the factory, so we wanted to keep that intact. We set out to modify as much as possible while being subtle and keeping it timeless,” said Alexander. “It’s one of those cars where you have to step back to appreciate everything. There’s lots of crazy metalwork on there, but we wanted to keep it looking like a Charger. It’s a fully functional, nice driving car.”
The annual Battle of the Builders competition is now in its second decade and has become one of the annual highlights of the SEMA Show.
