Our night flew by and it was once again an early morning for day 2 of our SEMA tour. It was our last day and we knew we had a lot of walking to cover all the grounds to be able to see a lot. We realized that 2 days just didn’t cut it, as we felt somewhat semi-rushed. After a quick bite, we were off to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
We started the day at the BMW booth and saw this very well executed BMW motorcycle, the BMW R Nine T built by non-other than Jessi Combs.
Safety-Car livery M2
BMW 740e, an electrifying driving sensation. Engine is powered by a 4-cylinder TwinTurbo 2.0 with 111hp electric motor. 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds and estimated EPA 63 MPGe. Crazy numbers for such a big car.
BMW has this very cool Optional Equipment to mount your GoPro camera. This is a nice option for track footage.
BMW M3 Sedan, aggressively powerful.
M Carbon Ceramic brakes
Carbon Fiber trim.
Here is another shot with the camera, a GoPro, mounted.
Carbon Fiber, yes please.
Xenon Adaptive Headlights.
Mini Coupe S Hardtop with the same GoPro mount.
Headlights nowadays are getting very complex.
Paul fell in love with these 32” wheels. Claims they will go on his 2 million Integra project.
We stopped by the DelinteTires (?) booth to check out this Ferrari 488GTB built by Ghost Motosrports. The rear is adorned by an Evoklass read wing and rear diffuser. The high and square-ish wing gives it an F40 flavor . Like a modern take of the legendary F40. I was a big fan of this car.
Jeep CJ66
This was a very interesting car, 1975 Dodge Dart Sport “Project Yankee”. 5.7 Liter Hemi Crate Motor and Volk Racing TE37V is a unique but welcoming combination.
Matt fell in love with this Jeep Crew Chief 715, he had his checkbook out and was ready to buy. This example was built as a salute to the legendary Jeep military service vehicles, in particular the Kaiser M715. I hope Jeep brings out this model to the showroom.
First time seeing a Fiat 124 Spider in person. Lines look familiar but very foreign at the same time. The front-end carries the familiar Fiat look.
1971 Dodge Challenger with a 6.4-liter Hemi Crate engine.
Love this 1950 D100 Dodge Pick Up and yes you guessed it. It has a big HEMI engine.
This 997 C2S Slant Nose was the main attraction at the Toyo Tires. It is very different to look at than what we are used to, and believe me it looks so good in person.
I think the front end is too sleek for the aggressive rear section and maybe that throws some people off, but we think this looks great and was executed wonderfully.
There were so many angles and details to photograph it was a little silly. We did spend some time admiring it.
Peek-a-boo mode.
This McClaren MP4-12C was somewhat in the shadows of the 997 but it was just as good looking and aggressive looking thanks to its Liberty Walk Widebody kit.
Good-looking side mirrors. I like how the light follows the lines of the body.
Kuhl Racing brought this Nissan GT-R and it is unlike any other GT-R you’ve seen. The entire body has been carved with shapes and patterns. The details of the engraving are flat out ridiculous. Not something I would ever do to a car but this was impressive.
Love how the exhaust peeks through the lower rear valance and the rear diffuser.
Next to the GT-R was this WRX STI from Corazon with the same engraving.
This McLaren had an interesting color combination with the silver and white. For some reason every time I see/think of these colors, I can’t help but think of an EK with white Rega Masters lol.
More RWBs.
Porsche Cayman 987 sporting a Rocket Bunny body kit at the Forgestar booth.
More of Paul dragging himself throughout the halls.
BTW Edition Evo X at the Enkei booth.
Somehow I think Alex Heilbrunn’s E46 M3 doesn’t have the same engine when it rolled out of the factory.
Pirelli was showing this Ferrari La Ferrari as the OEM tire choice. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
This was my first time seeing one in person and well, the lines of the La Ferrari are just intoxicating.
Porsche 911E 2.4 looked almost brand new.
Youngest sibling, the GT3RS.
I like the front fender grills, very unique design.
K-Pax Racing McLaren 650S GT3 participating in the Pirelly World Challenge.
So there was one booth we all wanted to go, the Weathertech booth…just so we could see the Singer Porsche and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
This 964 is almost a new car and everything has been worked on. Nothing has been left untouched. There is a mix between old school and new technology and Singer just got it right. There are so many things I can say about this car. This may not be a purist Porsche but my god, if I owned this vehicle, I think I would put my bed in the garage and sleep next to it. It is that good.
The interior is just exquisite, the smell of rich leather and the different materials used inside. It just feels like an expensive place to be. A place where you go, sit down, drink scotch and have a cigar.
I think Singer spends an average of 4,000 man-hours renovating each car – so you know there is a hefty price to pay for this.
Don’t think this is all looks and no go. Inside the engine bay sits a 4.0-litre engine matted with a six-speed gearbox and a full Ohlins suspension.
Paul and I were talking to a gentleman from Singer and we asked, “What were the hardest issues that they tackled when building a car like this?” His response was, “The requests from customers.” Singer wants to ensure what they produce is nothing but the best and at times the requests from customers make it challenging to produce at this level.
As you go around the car you notice all the different things and the details. Truly a modern classic.
As we were leaving the booth, two middle-aged guys stopped me and asked me, “What is the big deal?” So, I explained a little (as much as I could) as to why Singer Porsches are so special. I did ask them to go talk to the guy from Singer but they were in awe and said, “No, no, we get it”.
We were all glad that we got to see this before we left. One of, if not, our favorite car of SEMA.
Fast8 Ice Ram.
Stopped by Alcon Brakes booth and chatted about some of their products. This is a nice 8-piston Mono-bloc caliper with a 420mm diameter disc – the world’s largest OE brake at launch. Just wow!
6-pisont Mono-bloc caliper with ENP finish. Pistons are titanium ceramic coated.
Alcon is bringing one of their first 6-piston caliper “street” kits to the market.
And their 4-piston caliper kits. Disc diameter range between 330mm and 360mm.
BMW M4 at the BBS booth.
BBS RE-MTSP One piece Magnesium race wheels. 20×9.5 at only 15.9 lbs.
1948 Willy pickup dubbed the “Hauk 45”. Pretty cool details all around and rugged as ever.
I am not sure what is going on here but this is one sweet Stacker lift.
Nissan Skyline R32 sedan on Advan RG-D2 wheels at the Greddy booth.
One of my favorite cars, Mazda RX-7 with a body kit from RE-Amemiya and Advan wheels. This RX-7 received top honors in the Super Street Award Awards.
Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Kuro Concept shares its adjustable suspension with the MX-5 Club race car as well as its Brembo dual-piston front brake calipers. The concept is based on the RF-Retractable Fastback-which goes on sale in 2017.
Mazda MX-5 Speedster Evolution Concept was refined this year removing more weight; 350 lbs to be exact bringing it down to featherweight 1,980 lbs.
We saw this Datsun on the hallway but our eyes went to the sweet old school Haro freestyle bike.
Pandem wide bodykit on this Golf GTI looked very nice. I didn’t think this would look good but I was proven wrong.
It was almost time to go home but we made a quick dash to check out some of the cars outside the halls.
CATuned BMW 2002 powered by a turbocharged 3.2-liter engine.
Big fan of the gauge cluster with the STACK gauges.
RWB duet looking almost identical.
Marmon Wasp National Historic Vehicle.
I will finish our coverage with these photos. I think this Ferrari F1 was used in the 2015 season. Paul had arrived a little before Matt and myself and he was already in his standard position (on the floor and close and personal). Somehow he had been given permission to go behind the stanchion (look it up). I asked Paul if he could move for a couple of frames so he wouldn’t be in the photo. He did and instead of going around the stanchions, he tried to high-step his way, tripped and came so close to landing on the car. That would have been a monumental but epic failure. The expression of the girl at the Penzoil booth was beyond epic. I swear we both locked eye contact as we saw Paul mid-air in an attempt not to go over the car. There were other chain of events that transpired after that but I will omit those.
This was pretty much the end of the day and it was time to go home. Since this was the 50th Year Anniversary, I couldn’t help to think how the very first SEMA show was like. How big was it? How many vendors were they? I did tried to get some information from SEMA but they pointed back to their website which I couldn’t find anything. I know one thing, I bet Paul’s 2 million Integra that the show was way smaller than what it is right now.
The industry has changed as a whole since the very first event. I am sure you are not a fan of everything that is currently out there in the industry. But I think even the worst ideas have helped shaped what you currently do like. Sort of two wrong turns making one right. I wonder where we are going to be 50 years from now. Whatever it is I guarantee it is going to bring people together as it has before and I am very excited with the new vehicle platforms we are going (and are not available) to be getting here in the States.