At the 2011 SEMA Show, one of the biggest talking points (besides the pretty girls) was a creamsicle of a Trophy Truck called Big Oly. It was a recreation of a Trophy Truck owned and raced by the legendary Parnelli Jones and dressed up like a Ford Bronco. Jones won his first Baja 1000 in the original Big Oly and this one was designed to commemorate that victory. Clearly it made our Top Ten Vehicles of SEMA.
This version of Big Oly has 723 horsepower and everything is plated in either brass or nickel or is anodized and is currently for sale on eBay for $535,000.
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Categories: Ford,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications,Videos
When we saw the Chevrolet COPO Camaro Concept at the 2011 SEMA Show we wanted nothing more than to see it run. C'mon, it had a 7.0-liter V8 (or a supercharged 5.3), roll cage, drag slicks and a gutted interior and it was just sitting there!
We just wanted to see one pass. Maybe a burnout contest before the tires are hot. Just something where this thing goes really, really fast and makes a bunch of (hopefully 7.0-liter) noise.
This video isn't quite the same as seeing it in person, but it'll have to do for now.
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Categories: Chevrolet,Coupes,SEMA Show,Sports Cars,Tuners and Modifications
There were some difficult assignments at this year's SEMA show. Picking out the 10 most ridiculous cars, for example, was a hotly debated project.
Finding and talking with the prettiest girls of SEMA? Not a bad day. Not bad at all.
For more photos of the people of SEMA, see our gallery.
Categories: Miscellaneous,SEMA Show
Here's your Mazdaspeed 2: Senior Editor Josh Jacquot tells you all about the Mazda Turbo2 Concept, the Mazda 2 with the Mazdaspeed 3 drivetrain stuffed into it.
Unquestionably, Mazda won't ever bring this car to series production, especially now that the MS3's turbocharged, direct-injected DISI 2.3-liter engine is on its way to obsolesence with the birth of the Skyactiv engine family -- but in the event of a blue moon, I'd be first in line to buy this MS2.
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Categories: Hatchbacks,Mazda,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
Although it's based on the modern Camaro and built for modern drag racing, the Chevrolet COPO Camaro concept takes inspiration from an earlier time when dealers had to special-order high-performance engines. Inside Line's Josh Jacquot tells you about the most interesting Camaro at SEMA.
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Categories: Chevrolet,Coupes,Motorsports,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
Can't make it to Vegas this week for the 2011 SEMA Show? No problem. Our own Scott Jacobs has photographed nearly every car in the Las Vegas Convention Center, so you can be right there on the floor with the aftermarket's finest custom creations, random old cars and racecars to boot. Perusing our mega photo gallery, you'll swear you can smell the cheap carpeting and feel the brush of an unkempt mullet on your cheek.
And there are more galleries to come.
2011 SEMA Show Cars Picture Gallery
Categories: SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
Rhys Millen has finally built the Hyundai Genesis Coupe we've wanted since oh, about February 2009. The RM500 Genesis Coupe unveiled at the Vegas Convention Center today has a 5.0-liter Tau V8 in it making about 450 horsepower (although Millen says 430 in the video that follows). It's hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox with a custom Rhys Millen Racing clutch and flywheel. The exhaust is custom-fabricated by RMR but incorporates some Greddy hardware.
"This engine is amazing and it belongs in this coupe," Millen observes. We couldn't agree more and if this concept doesn't point the way to an eventual limited-run production model, we're hoping for a crate version of the Tau V8. (Then again, Hyundai is also showing a Genesis coupe with a supercharged V6 that also makes 450 hp at SEMA -- the Hurricane SC -- and we've actually spotted a running S/C prototype, so perhaps that's still the more plausible scenario.)
Of course, there are countless other enhancements on this showcar, including carbon-ceramic brakes with 15.5-inch front rotors with 6-piston fixed calipers and 15-inch rear discs with 4-pot calipers. The wheels are HRE 793-RS and measure 19-by-8.5 inches in front and 19x-by-9.5 in rear. The tires are Hankook Ventus V12 size 245/40ZR19 in front and 275/35ZR19 in back.
With the exception of the yellow foglights, all of the exterior retrofits (spoiler, skirts, rear diffuser) are carbon-fiber-based, and Hyundai intends to offer these pieces via dealers. Inside, Sparco seats are evidently compatible with the coupe's working-man's three-point belts.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Hyundai,SEMA Show
One of the original 16 Hot Wheels was a 1967 Chevy Camaro with Spectraflame paint, and this week at SEMA, there's a modern Camaro done up as an homage to the original, non-drivable 1:64 scale car. This video gives you a little behind-the-scenes on the process of painting the SEMA car, which stopped Magrath in his tracks last night.
Chevrolet has no plans for a production run of the life-size 2011 Camaro Hot Wheels concept, but Mattel, which has slightly fewer cost considerations, is doing a limited-edition run of 1:64 versions.
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Categories: Chevrolet,Concept Vehicles,Coupes,SEMA Show
With a marketing-friendly name like TRD T|X Baja Series, this off-road-themed Tacoma is not a concept, but a pre-production version of an eventual production vehicle. It makes its official debut at SEMA next week, and come late spring, it will be the most elite off-road-themed truck in the 2012 Toyota Tacoma line.
The Baja package will be offered as an enhancement on the existing off-road package, which already sets a four-wheel-drive Tacoma up with a locking rear differential, upgraded suspension and skid plates. To this, the Baja Series adds 265/70R16 BF Goodrich T/A KO tires (same tire model that's on the Ford F-150 Raptor), bead-lock wheels with... wait for it... a gun-metal finish, and a modest suspension lift.
Toyota says ride height is up nearly 2 inches in front and that there's an extra inch of suspension travel. Bilstein race shocks feature 60mm pistons. In back, there's a 1.5-inch increase in travel, plus Bilsteins with 50mm pistons and external reservoirs to ensure consistent damping performance in severe conditions.
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Categories: SEMA Show,Toyota,Trucks,Tuners and Modifications
The Camaro was named "Hottest Car" in the inaugural SEMA awards. Kelly Harland was named "Hottest Babe," but that wasn't officially sanctioned nor does it have anything to do with this.
Since the Camaro seems to be so popular at SEMA, Chevy released pictures of some of the special editions and concepts that will be shown at this year's show. It won't be just Camaros, either, as there will be upwards of 20 Chevy Sonics and multiple Corvettes as the above Carlisle Blue Grand Sport will attest.
Follow the jump for more preview pics and drawings from Chevy's 2011 SEMA collection.
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Categories: SEMA Show
With row-after-row-after-row of bright paint, oversized wheels and crazy customizations, this Realtree Chevy Silverado will be a welcome show of restraint at SEMA.
Described as "The ultimate hunter's truck" this 2012 Silverado 2500 HD features dark cocoa leather seating with blaze orange stitching, 35-inch offroad tires on 18s and is motivated by a 397 horsepower Duramax diesel twisting out 765 pound-feet of torque.
No turret and they're calling it the ultimate hunter's truck?
Video after the jump.
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Categories: Chevrolet,SEMA Show,Trucks
Rhys Millen Racing and Hyundai are no strangers to teaming up for the annual SEMA show. Last year they had a fairly mild Equus project. In 2009 Rhys and Hyundai teamed up for a mid-engined V8 Genesis coupe.
This year Hyundai is being very secretive about the Genesis Coupe project that RMR is working on providing only this teaser vid.
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Categories: Hyundai,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
Last time I posted something about Michelle Wie, I claimed she was far more interesting than goofy hamsters. I was outvoted. I'm still correct. This time I'm not going to mention hamsters at all because this one stands on its own just fine.
Professional golfer Michelle Wie and basketball player unemployed guy Blake Griffin (previously), both hitched to the Kia wagon, have signed up to, with the help of West Coast Customs, help Kia launch six "sports-themed" projects for SEMA.
This 2012 Soul's paint job is based on Wie's artwork she uses for her LPGA bags. This Sou has a flat-screen TV, an Xbox with Kinect and two golf bags. Kia is quick to point out that Wie does drive a Kia Soul when she's at home in (super expensive place to live) Palo Alto.
No idea what Blake's car is going to look like, but we have to assume less anime, more "will throw ball into hoop for very large sums of money" slogans.
Gratuitous picture of Michelle Wie after the jump.
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Categories: Celebrities,Kia,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
As we've come to expect lately, Hyundai is set to have a large presence at this year's SEMA show. First they announced the PM Lifestyle / Universal Technical Institute 2012 Hyundai Veloster and now we've got this: The Hyundai Genesis Hurricane SC.
A project of Hyundai American Technical Center Inc (HATCI), the Hurricane uses a Magnuson supercharger ( providing 6-7 lbs of boost) and a liquid-to-air intercooler to kick out "more than 450 horsepower" from the car's 3.8-liter V6.
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Categories: Hyundai,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
Earlier this year Inside Line got a chance to fling around the Mazda 2 and Honda Fit B-Spec racecars at Thunderhill Raceway. We left the event excited for the smal car series, "This dry run of the B-Spec racing concept has people smiling up and down the pit lane...Let's hope the B-Spec concept takes root somewhere and that Ford, Chevy and others decide to play, too."
Well, it may not be Ford or Chevy (yet), but Kia is all in with the new Rio 5. Kia, by way of their racing partner Kinetic Motorsports, will provide all of the necessary stuff -- cage, safety equipment, suspension, etc -- to teams looking to compete in B-Spec showroom-stock events.
"Outstanding value has always been a foundation of the Kia brand, and with the rapid development of the Kia Racing program and the launch of the 2012 Rio 5-door we have a unique opportunity to introduce Kia to a new and passionate racing community by providing an affordable and great-looking race car that delivers best-in-class horsepower in the rapidly expanding B-segment," said Kia Motors America Vice president of marketing and communications Michael Sprague.
More details on the B-Spec Kia Rio will be announced at SEMA on Tuesday, November 1.
Categories: Kia,Motorsports,SEMA Show
#blackops Hey, what are you doing for the rest of November? In just a few hours, another installment of Activision's gloriously violent Call of Duty series, Black Ops, will go on sale. Instead of spending late fall evenings by the fire listening to your girlfriend, you can now look forward to hour after hour on the couch, chips, salsa, light beer and stimulating conversation with other Xbox Live users as you gun them down on the battlefield. Oh, and you'll also get to drive a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Black Ops in the game.
As we've reported, Jeep's actually going to sell a real Wrangler Black Ops production vehicle (based on the off-roady, short-wheelbase Wrangler Rubicon), complete with Black Ops badging. No word yet on exactly how faithful the game will be to the real-life experience of driving a Wrangler with Chrysler's overhead-valve 3.8-liter V6 making a heady 202 hp and 237 lb-ft of torque... or if you'll have any control over the vehicle's 3 locking differentials in the game.
Categories: Jeep,SEMA Show,SUVs,Video Games
#SEMA. Maybe your granddad had a hula girl on his dash, and that may have been considered risque back in the day. But the modern-day greaser needs to have something more shocking. Enter the Pole Girls.
The creator, ClingBling, says that they "change position and spin and you accelerate and brake." And you can insert an optional cherry-scented air fresher ... no word if they're shaped like dollar bills.
Categories: SEMA Show
Walking around Ford's massive booth in the center hall I naturally stumbled across Ken Block's Gymkhana Three Ford Fiesta. Then, in the next room, I stumbled across its twin, which flat out embarrases Block's overpowered machine when it comes to power to weight ratios.
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Categories: Celebrities,Ford,SEMA Show
With just a couple weeks to go until the premiere of the American Top Gear, the show's marketing folks were out in full force at SEMA. These exotic "taxis" were available for anyone who wanted a ride. They wouldn't actually take you anywhere, so their useful was marginal. But hey, when was the last time you got to ride in a yellow Rolls? Or a Rolls of any shade?
Are people still excited about this show?
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Categories: Luxury Cars,Rolls-Royce,SEMA Show
