1960 Buick Invicta Wins SEMA Award

The annual SEMA event has taken place every year since 1967. SEMA stands for The Specialty Equipment Market Association, and it is meant to showcase some of the best and most innovative aftermarket products and solutions for the automotive industry. 

Mother’s Battle of The Builders

Starting in 2015, Mother’s has been sponsoring the Battle of the Builders, a competition that is meant to highlight certain custom vehicles from various builders in the industry. Each year, a group of four finalists are chosen, and from those four, one is picked as the sole winner. The categories that the four finalists are chosen from are 4-Wheel Drive and Off-Road, Hot Rod and Hot Rod Truck, Sport Compact/Import Performance, Luxury and Exotic, as well as Young Guns. For 2023, the winner was a 1960 Buick Invicta Custom X60 built by Andy Leach and Cal Automotive Creations (CAC) for their customers George and Angela Eliacostas. 

A Decade In The Making

The incredible handbuilt Invicta took more than 9 years to complete, as a different shop started the project before arriving at CAC to have everything redone. In 1960, the Buick Invicta was available with a 6.6-liter, 401 cubic-inch Buick Nailhead V8 that produced 325 horsepower and 444 lb-ft of torque when new. The Custom X60 keeps the factory engine and adds a crank-driven supercharger and a blower with one-off brackets to mount in the engine bay. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a General Motors 4L80E 4-speed automatic transmission. 

Custom Suspension

No matter what your preferred style of driving is, the X60 will be comfortable and feel modern with the one-of-a-kind independent rear suspension, plus machined upper and lower front control arms and a set of Penske coilover shocks all around. Overall, the 1960 Invicta Custom X60 is 222 inches long, which is 18.5 feet. To put that into perspective, the GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab with a short box, otherwise the full-size 4-door Sierra 1500, is 19.32 feet long. 

Unique Fabrication

The Invicta Custom X60 was fabricated to make it a vehicle like no other. For instance, the front wheel wells are 1.5 inches closer to the front of the car, and the hood has been lengthened while the cowl is shortened. The cowl is the space between the hood and the windshield. 

At Valley Buick GMC & RV, we pride ourselves in offering the best sales and service possible. With dozens of new and used vehicles available, our incredible sales team and finance department can help you find the best car for you and your family. And our fantastic service department will work hard to maintain your vehicle to the highest standards.

We look forward to serving you.