• For SEMA 2026, Ringbrothers transformed a 1965 Pontiac Tempest into a tribute to a GTO owned by the commissioning client’s mother.
  • Dubbed “Billie,” the Pontiac’s body was widened by five inches and wears a carbon-fiber hood, doors, and lower front and rear bumper pieces.
  • The supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 under the hood sends 650 horsepower through a 10-speed automatic to the rear wheels.

The 2026 SEMA show opened today, celebrating the unbridled imagination of the custom car scene, and, of course, Wisconsin-based Ringbrothers has returned with yet another exquisite creation. This year’s showpiece is a 1965 Pontiac GTO convertible dubbed “Billie,” which enhances the classic muscle car’s assertive styling and packs it with modern power.

Ringbrothers built Billie for a customer who wanted to pay tribute to a GTO his mother once owned. The client originally proposed the name “Goat,” with Ringbrothers suggesting Billie (as in billy goat), a more playful take on the iconic Pontiac’s long-held nickname.

Despite presenting as a GTO, Billie originally started life as a 1965 Pontiac Tempest, before Ringbrothers went to work, widening the body by five inches, reshaping the front fenders, lengthening the rocker panels, and adding carbon-fiber doors. The hood is also fashioned from carbon fiber and wears billet-aluminum inserts and an enlarged scoop to feed air to the engine.

That engine is a Chevy’s LT4 supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, cranking out 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque and hooked up to a Bowler Performance 10-speed automatic transmission. The body is placed atop a Roadster Shop Fast Track Stage III chassis, and Billie also features Fox coil-over springs and six-piston Brembo brakes. The staggered HRE G-Code wheels, measuring 19 inches up front and 20 inches at the rear, are shod in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.

At first glance, Billie looks quite faithful to the original GTO, but look closely, and you’ll notice custom bumpers, new headlight surrounds, and a single-piece machined billet-aluminum taillight panel. Ringbrothers also employed carbon fiber on the lower front end and for the rear bumper section that houses the large exhaust outlets. Adding to the head-turning look is the Billie Goat Blue paint job, a rich, shimmering hue that is contrasted by polished chrome trim.

The cabin is outfitted in gray and blue leather, while the dashboard has been pushed four inches forward and two inches lower. Ringbrothers modernized the instrumentation, fitted a new climate-control system, and added an auto-dimming rearview mirror. There’s also a restored factory radio that now has Bluetooth connectivity, and the aluminum trim is paired with a sweet wood shifter.

Ringbrothers says the entire build took more than 5500 hours. Billie may not be as radical as some of Ringbrothers’ past projects, such as the LT4-powered Rolls-Royce dubbed “Paramount” or “Enyo,” a 1948 Chevy truck turned into an open-wheel race car, but the modified Pontiac is the perfect representation of the company’s expertise in honing the classic lines of vintage muscle cars.

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Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.