SEMA 2012: ASIA’S FINEST OFFERINGS
In recent years the SEMA show has seemed to have had a steady decline in the amount of Japanese vehicles
In recent years the SEMA show has seemed to have had a steady decline in the amount of Japanese vehicles
SEMA first and foremost is about the aftermarket. It’s about company demo vehicles, new products, networking, and all the craziness that comes with the world of vehicle customization. More and more though, SEMA is becoming a place where the automobile manufacturers themselves connect with the enthusiast market, and that’s what I’d like to touch on in this part of my SEMA coverage.
It’s raining outside. It’s also quite cold and generally miserable. Luckily enough, I’ve been so enthralled by your submissions to
So that was the World GT1 Championship. Sadly the series is already past tense, after three seasons and 29 championship races around the globe. The positives were the two extra seasons we got to witness the last hurrahs of the fire-breathing GT1 monsters, a respite for the big cars in the face of spiralling costs and manufacturer disinterest. The circuits that World GT1 visited were again generally all high quality and included some classic tracks (Interlagos, Spa, Brno, Yas Marina) and some epic gladiatorial races where drivers seemed to think they were competing on short-track demolition derbies rather than in million-dollar supercar racers! 2010 was a classic year, when Speedhunters followed the Sumo Power team’s pair of Nissan GT-Rs and quartet of drivers as they chased the inaugural world title.
In the eyes of a Speedhunter, the SEMA Show is absolute overload. There are likely hundreds of cars spread across the show which could all be deemed spotlight-worthy, but part of the challenge is narrowing it down to the cars absolutely need to be shared. Sean, Larry, and myself have plenty of SEMA spotlight specials to come, but I’d like to begin with a look at once machine that grabbed my attention as I passed by the Toyo Tire booth this morning.
There isn’t much at the SEMA show that isn’t built to completely devastate the braincells of passers by. Today the
I suppose it’s only fitting that we begin our main SEMA Show event coverage with a look at the car displays located outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. In the years past we’ve always found that the machines sitting outside to be just as interesting as the ones within the display halls, and this year is no different.
I think a lot of people out there are still a little bit apprehensive about certain social media sites. Thankfully
Productivity is vastly overrated. I’ve been trying to put together the next #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER post for the last couple of hours, but in-between sorting through the hundreds of submissions, I keep finding myself wandering onto YouTube seeking out another fix of speed.
If I’ve seen this video once, I must have seen it a hundred times since I was a kid on a VHS my father had (and still has). I wasn’t even alive when Derek Bell piloted his 956 down the old Mulsanne straight (sans-chicanes of course) but that hasn’t stopped me trying to relive the moment on a regular basis. Prepare for your eyes to bleed as Bell absorbs all 3.7 miles of the famous Le Mans straightaway in little over a minute.
Good evening from Sin City everyone. The 2012 SEMA Show does not officially open until Tuesday morning, but Monday of SEMA Week is an extremely busy day nonetheless. I made the six hour drive into Las Vegas this morning and I’ll soon be joined here by Sean Klingelhoefer, Larry Chen, and of course our fearless leader Rod Chong – who’s probably on a jumbo jet somewhere as I write this.
The SEMA Show hasn’t even started yet, and already it’s clear that the Scion FR-S will be one of the
Autumn has been my favorite time of year for as long as I can remember. There’s something refreshing about the
I cannot remember the last time that I was as excited about a car as I am the FR-S you’re
In just a few short days, the 2012 SEMA Show will kick off in Las Vegas, beginning one of the busiest weeks of the year for the North American branch of the Speedhunters crew. As we soak up these last few moments of calm before the madness in Vegas begins, we thought we’d start a little pre-SEMA discussion.
What are YOU looking forward to seeing this year? Which car models will emerge as the stars of the show in 2012? More generally speaking, what do you enjoy most about the SEMA Show? Is it the OEM displays? The classics? Tuner cars? New products? Is it something else?
Vote and discuss below.
-Mike
A few weeks ago we ran a little piece on an AW11 MR2 owned by a Speedhunters reader from Australia. In that post made the observation that the MR2 is doesn’t quite get the attention it deserves compared to other cars from the era. The same can also be said for another Toyota enthusiast machine – the Celica All Trac or Celica GT-Four, depending on what part of the world you’re from.