SEMA, which stands for Specialty Equipment Market Association, is a trade association comprised of manufacturers and distributors of automobiles, parts and accessories. Their annual SEMA Show will be held this year on Tuesday, November 3rd through Friday, November 6th, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. We are going to preview some of the events, as well as a few Camaro builds to watch out for.
The annual SEMA Show is on the cover of most magazines and fills with stars ranging from Chip Foose to Hulk Hogan. It's where the big guys go to show their new stuff.
“We feel the SEMA Show is to the automotive aftermarket what the Oscars are to Hollywood," states Rick Johnson, President of Gear Vendors. "We spend all year working on our craft and once a year we get to show it to not just buyers, but industry leaders and the media. If you aren’t there, you aren’t doing anything of note."
SEMA is private, only open to the media, manufacturers and dealers. But what should the public expect from this year's SEMA when it's all said and done?
WHAT TO EXPECT
Ever wonder where that random but cool as heck custom car in your Gran Turismo game came from? The prior year's SEMA show, that's where. The Gran Turismo Award is in its seventh year, and recognizes the best car builder with not only an award banquet, but also by immortalizing the ride in Gran Turismo. Last year's winner was JR Rocha's 2008 Infiniti G37. Along with the Gran Turismo Awards, both Ford and General Motors pick their own winners.
Conrad Grunewald Camaro for SEMA.
CARS
Last year GM announced the names of the builders who they had handpicked to introduce their own customized versions of the 2010 Camaro at this year’s SEMA show. The list is as follows:
-- Tjin Edition – Neil Tjin
-- National Guard – Nick Ashby
-- Rick Bottom Designs – Rick Bottom
-- Sound Choice Audio and Performance (SCAP) – Mark Abate
-- Bomex Aero
-- DSO Eyewear
-- Conrad Grunewald
-- Trent’s Trick Upholstery
SCAP's Twin-Turbo Wide Body Camaro. Photo Courtsey of Camaro5.com.
SCAP will be showing a V6 twin-turbo wide body Camaro. This car will feature twin-turbos by Turbonetics, Turbo headers, twin plenum intake manifold and exhaust by SCAP and Vibrant, and a SCAP all-metal wide body.
The 2010 Hurst Camaro that you've seen so much of lately will be auctioned on eBay live at SEMA. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund, a program that fosters industry leadership by supporting the education of students pursuing careers in the automotive aftermarket.
SCAP's Twin-Turbo Wide Body Camaro. Photo Courtsey of Camaro5.com.
The WD-40 Camaro build will also be unveiled at SEMA. With over 600 horses, and a really cool paint scheme and wheel combination, the Camaro will be auctioned off by Barrett-Jackson in January. The proceeds will help support both Childhelp, an organization that provides services to abused and neglected children, and The Victory Junction Gang Camp, which provides life-changing camping experiences for disabled and chronically ill children. If you are going to SEMA, PhotoTouch Inc. is offering free photos with the car to help promote this good cause.
Spadekreations Camaro Wide Body for SEMA.
Fesler-Moss, a high-end rod shop famous for building everything from Camaros to convertible mini-trucks, will have a breakfast unveiling of their new 2010 Camaro. They have “competition packages” available, starting at $80K. So as they say in Vegas, ‘Go big or go home.’ Fesler will have eight production Camaros at SEMA, so get your wallet out.
NEW PRODUCTS
The New Products Showcase will have every man drooling, as last year's showcase featured over 2,000 new products.
“Oil management may not be sexy, but when it comes to protecting your valuable assets, it's essential,” writes Pareto Point Industries. They won a few new product awards last year and are known for manufacturing oil related products, such as clean oil change systems and reusable oil filters. They will have some new products to show off.
Tjin's Camaro for SEMA.
The list of new products is seemingly endless, but here are a few to watch for: Hooker Headers has a new line of satin black ceramic coating headers that are designed for high heat applications (nitrous and supercharged applications); AMSoil has a new low viscosity ATF; and World Products Motown ll is putting out a new cast iron block for the small block Chevy.
For a complete list of new products, check out the
SEMA site.
Products will share the limelight with a huge list of starts, including: Rusty and Steve Wallace and Robby Gordon (for you NASCAR guys); All of the major show hosts such as Barry Meguiar and Sam Memmolo; A bevy of models, including some from Maxim; Tony Schumacher and most of the Andrettis will be present (for you Indy guys); John Force will be there as well (for those of us who like to go straight). The list of stars expected to be at SEMA is literally five pages long.
SEMA 2008. Photo courtsey of SEMAShow.com
BUSINESS
SEMA was formed to promote the industry and connect dealers, manufactures, suppliers and consumers, all in an effort to improve the industry's overall economic health. They have been running full throttle this year, and have designed several new ways to connect the consumers with the weekend goodies we so desire.
There is a new "Online Matchmaking Tool" in use this year, which has connected 10,000 consumers and distributors, who have exchanged more than 25,000 messages - all of this prior to the show. This year's conference is titled, "Online Marketing Conference," and its an information session about how to use the internet to beef up sales.
"We’ve never taken the day before the SEMA Show and devoted it to step-by-step instruction on a single topic," writes SEMA Show.com.
We will be bringing all of the coverage to you next week, so keep your eyes open!
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