The yearly Las Vegas parts show is no stranger to extravagant concepts and one-offs
For true enthusiasts of speed and beauty, the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, Nev., is a true bucket-list event.
It’s a convention-centrefilled cauldron of parts for sale, with hundreds of trick cars specially modified to show what automakers and aftermarket suppliers alike can do when they decide to go allin. The SEMA Show, which takes place the first week of November every year, is a trade show where corporate buyers do deals with the parts sellers, from running boards, crate engines and shop lifts, to turbochargers, electronics and vinyl-wrap systems.
The show is not open to the public, but it is still enormous. The 2017 SEMA show logged more than 70,000 buyers — 25 per cent of whom came from outside the United States — who flocked to the Las Vegas Convention Center to see new products and trends, and attend educational seminars.
As always, there were loads and loads of white-hot cars and trucks. Following are just a few from that were built in conjunction with automakers.
BMW M3 “30 Years American Edition”
Long a favorite of enthusiasts, the BMW M3 is a nimble and fun-to-drive sports coupe. To celebrate three decades here in North America, BMW built the “30 Years American Edition” with the BMW M3 Competition Package, including a six-speed manual gearbox and trick paint
Hyundai Vaccar Tucson Sport
Utility vehicles remain all the rage with new-vehicle buyers, so why not trick up a version of the popular Hyundai Tucson Sport? That’s exactly what the Korea-based automaker has done in conjunction with custom-car shop Vaccar. The idea was to create something fun, affordable and fast. That means adding a turbocharger, big wheels, upgraded
Toyota C-HR R-Tuned
While the name “C-HR RTuned” is a clumsy tongue twister, it was conceived and built by Toyota with the intention of being the world’s quickest small utility vehicle. The folks at Toyota say this little 600-horsepower ball of fury turned quicker lap times at the Willow Springs International Raceway (Calif.) Big Willow track than a McLaren 650S Spyder, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and Nismo GT-R .