SEMA LAS VEGAS
COME TO THE GARGANTUAN SHOW SEMA AUTOMOTIVE TRADE IN LAS VEGAS, THEY SAID. YOU’LL HAVE FUN, THEY SAID. THEY WERE BLOODY RIGHT!
Our Iain helps build a car in two days, then drives it to Vegas for SEMA. Hunter would be proud
THE 2016 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show was a massive beast of an event, sprawled over more acres of prime Las Vegas real estate than ever before, as 60,000 international buyers and 150,000 trade punters flooded through the doors and car parks each day.
This year SEMA filled not only the colossal Las Vegas Convention Center’s five halls, but also a huge marquee, two outdoor corridors and three car parks that included separate areas for drifting and driving demonstrations. I walked over 50km at SEMA this year, but still only saw about 70 per cent of it.
The huge scale of SEMA demonstrates that the aftermarket industry is in good health at the moment, spurred on by a recovering American economy. This is particularly good news in a year that has seen the US aftermarket withstand potentially devastating new legislation from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) intended to clamp down on building modified cars at home.
Australian companies were well represented, with Haltech, Turbosmart, Whiteline and GFB all having sizeable stands in the central hall, the main location for the biggest companies and wildest cars. Showing how seriously they take what we do Down Under, SEMA held an Anzac-themed seminar outlining the size of the Aussie and Kiwi aftermarkets to interested
I WALKED OVER 50KM AT SEMA THIS YEAR, BUT STILL ONLY SAW ABOUT 70 PER CENT OF IT
companies, and even had a showing of an Aussie-spec Ford Ranger for members to check out and potentially develop new products for.
SEMA 2016 also saw over 3000 brand new products unveiled, from redesigned carburettors to collision repair tools to advanced air suspension systems that place the valves and compressor inside the air tank.
A proud moment for Aussies involved the boys from V12ls.com scoring an invite to display their amazing 12-cylinder LS engine at the show, but it got even better from that point. Shane Corish, one of the lead engineers on the project, explained: “We had an amazing day, as V12ls.com came runner-up for Best Engineered New Product at SEMA 2016 out of thousands of products! We just met Chip Foose and he knows about the engine and Mike’s Camaro [Mike Heim of Pennsylvania’s Quality Custom Rides fitted the V12 LS into his Camaro], so we couldn’t be happier.”
All new products were showcased to exhibitors, buyers and the media, as a key goal of SEMA is to support companies in the worldwide aftermarket. The SEMA organisation aims to represent the entire industry, from the guys developing and manufacturing parts, tools and systems, to the companies wholesaling and retailing parts, through to the people building cars in shops.
Of course, what most punters really froth over is the
cars on the stands, and there were some absolute pearlers in Vegas this year.
Ringbrothers once again had a pair of killer pro tourers to unveil this year: a ’48 Cadillac called Madam V and a ’69 Camaro named G-code.
G-code pushed Ringbrothers’ recipe of super-highend details further than before, with one-off forged wheels; custom-machined bumpers, tail-lights, grille and door handles; plus a 1000hp 416ci Wegner Motorsports supercharged LS up front.
The Ringbrothers Madam V Cadillac was even more ambitious. The big white coupe was pretty much a smoothed-off ’48 Coupe de Ville shell dropped over a 2016 Cadillac ATS-V drivetrain and interior, complete with twin-turbo V6, suspension, big brakes and leather interior featuring touchscreens and all the modern goodies. Carbonfibre bumpers and a fuel filler hidden behind the tail-light were other awesome touches.
Sitting next to it was an unfinished hot rod from Troy Trepanier’s shop, Rad Rides By Troy. Owner Mark Mariani explained more. “It started out as a ’29 Ford Model A two-door sedan that I bought stock and drove straight to Troy’s shop,” he said. “He took it around the block to get some after-work beers and the trailing arm fell out of it.”
Mark says only 10 per cent of the body is original Henry tin, with Adam Banks remaking most of the car in fresh steel. Power comes from a late-model 6.2-litre alloy small-block, with a Legend trans and Halibrand
quick-change rear end backing up the 470hp mill. The Rad Rides By Troy boys made the grille out of the top half of a ’32 shell and the bottom of a ’36 shell, while the Indy-style wheels are completely custom.
The cream of the crop once again cruised out of the show along a crowd-lined, closed-off street to an adjacent car park for SEMA Ignited. Ignited featured all the top builds but was open to the public, unlike SEMA itself, which is for automotive industry workers only. Packed with food trucks, a vintage dragster cacklefest and drifting displays, Ignited also featured the SEMA Battle Of The Builders, where three judges worked out their pick for the top car of SEMA 2016, which was given to the ‘Under Pressure’ 1969 Camaro from HS Customs in Utah.
Dates have already been released for SEMA 2017: 31 October to 3 November. If you’re in the automotive trade, you definitely should put this on your bucket list.
THE HUGE SCALE OF SEMA DEMONSTRATES THAT THE AFTERMARKET INDUSTRY IS IN GOOD HEALTH AT THE MOMENT