By SEMA Editors
 West Coast Customs returns to the 2016 SEMA Show with the West Coast Customs Academy Experience, featuring hands-on training from West Coast Customs experts. |
West Coast Customs (WCC) returns to the 2016 SEMA Show with the West Coast Customs Academy Experience (WCCAE), featuring hands-on training from West Coast Customs experts, which will replicate the curriculum being taught at the all-new West Coast Customs Academy opening in Burbank, California, in 2017.
West Coast Customs Founder and CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus has announced that the 2016 WCCAE will be powered by BMW, and feature master classes in five premier vehicle customization categories, including audio and video; interiors; paint and graphics; wrap and tint; and wheels, suspension and accessories. Class participants are doing hands-on work to vehicles that move through each instructional area, with four distinctive BMW customized cars completed and presented at the end of the four-day SEMA Show.
The WCCAE will take place Tuesday–Friday, November 1–4, at the 10,000-sq.-ft. West Coast Customs Academy booth, located in the new Performance Pavilion, outside, adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center, just south of the South Hall.
According to WCC CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus, “We are very happy to be back at SEMA again, and so excited to have the West Coast Customs Academy Experience, powered by BMW this year. SEMA is such an important show for us, and now an even more important platform for us to be able to debut the West Coast Customs Academy. I have been building custom cars from the ground up for the past 27 years, and I have found that finding great talent is sometimes difficult, especially with many high schools not providing wood shop or automotive classes anymore. It is unfortunate, but I feel that high-quality, hand-craftsmanship work is a dying art form. I would like to help bridge that gap, give back to my community, bring in younger generations and build new talent at the West Coast Customs Academy.”
Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events had this to say about the new West Coast Customs Academy Experience, powered by BMW: “The interactive West Coast Customs Academy Experience has been a favorite among SEMA Show buyers for many years, offering up amazing opportunities to get high-quality, professional training from some of the best and most talented installers in the industry. We’re excited to see what Ryan Friedlinghaus and the all-new West Coast Customs Academy has in store for potential students. We encourage all Showgoers to add the West Coast Customs Academy Experience to their list of must-see attractions.”
SEMA participants may sign up for WCCAE 2016 classes now at: www.westcoastcustomsacademy.com. The West Coast Customs Academy Experience, powered by BMW also features daily meet and greets and autograph signings with Friedlinghaus and the WCC crew, from 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m., and vehicle paint demos and live entertainment.
West Coast Customs updates daily live from SEMA on Twitter (@officialWCC), Facebook (westcoastcustoms), Instagram (westcoastcustoms), along with surprise behind-the-scenes video content. Check the #WCCAEpoweredbyBMW.
Industry professionals can register to attend the SEMA Show at www.semashow.com/register.