We contributed an article and some photos about the recent SEMA Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada to our Canadian friends at www.mystarcollectorcar.comÂ
It’s always nice to share ideas, thoughts and car shows with others. You can check out the article here. The website posts a new article every day and never spams you. So check them out if you want a Northern perspective on car shows! Frankly sometimes, it is hard to realize that they are writing from Canada.
Take a 2008 Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob motorcycle, add huge amounts of ingenuity, imagination and innovation and blend with over 3,000 hours of labor and you might end up with this homage to the ever popular 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. This red beauty was seen at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) show held in Las Vegas, Nevada last week.
The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is an iconic look from the 50’s. Any enthusiast will easily recognize the front chrome bumper, the bullets on the hood, the swoopy aluminum molding along the sides and the wild fins and rear tail lights of the 57. It is ironic that these styling features were only found on the 57 and none of the other Chevy years. For the tri-five years, (1955-1957) Chevrolet altered the appearance and styling of their vehicle. Try re-tooling a car line now like that every year!
The builder, LUPO Racing, was from France and brought over this interesting takeoff on the iconic ’57 Chevy Bel  Air. The builder/owner used the styling cues from the Chevy “fins” for his rear end and actually utilized the rear tail light to accentuate the rear view. The exhaust exits through the rear end’s light housing. Originally Chevrolet had thought of using the same idea for their cars, but the exhaust left a residue on the chrome which stopped that concept from going to production.  He also used the “chrome Dagmar’s”  from the Chevy’s front bumper to help carry off the theme. Add in some Chevy emblems and badging and mix up some great imagination, and you end up with one sweet look. Famed motorcycle builder Arlen Ness handiwork was even  used for the engine cover.
This motorcycle parked in front of the SEMA Show, where anybody could walk by and admire the handiwork. To top it off, the builder/owner drove it out of the SEMA Show on the Friday night Cruise. The bike caught the eye of Hot Rod Magazine, who was at the cruise too. Here’s their closeup of the motorcycle.
The bike had been featured in two writes up in bikenet.com previously as well. Part One featured the frame and Part Two looked at the rear tail light housing.
You’ve got to admire the craftsmanship of the builder and the expense of carting it over to the states to be seen for one week here in Las Vegas!
Probably I won’t be the only one to post …
But how often can you post something at
This 56 Desoto actually had the clock in the steering wheel .Must have been hell to read if the steering wheel went out of alignment. And imagine the difficulty in fixing that car clock when and if it went bad.
One of the hidden “gems†of the SEMA – Specialty Equipment Market Association – week-long festivities this week is the NHRA – National Hot Rod Association – Breakfast. Each year NHRA gathers a group of racing celebrities to come together, share some stories, crack some jokes and give the drag racing fans some inside looks at the world of drag racing.
This year’s breakfast was entitled “The Voce of NHRA†and featured past announcers Dave McClelland, Bob Frey and Alan Reinhardt with current ESPN/NHRA announcer Dave Rieff being the emcee. The first two former announcers were introduced with video montages of their career. When Reinhardt came out, they did not have a video of his past works, mainly because he is still announcing at various tracks. Later Alan quipped, “My videos won’t start in black and white.â€
Dave McClelland responded that the younger they are, the balder they are. The announcers also shared some jokes about buying a parrot. You had to be there!
They NHRA also had a poignant remembrance of Steve Evans, another past announcer, and gave an award to his son, Cameron Evans who runs Red Line Oil.
McClelland told the story how he started his career, when a track announcer “froze†in front of the crowd. When Dave offered to take over, the track owner said, Why not? You couldn’t do any worse.â€
When McClelland was commenting on his career which spanned from 1961-2003 with NHRA and even earlier with other tracks, Alan Reinhardt commented “My parents hadn’t even yet met in 1959.â€Â And Dave quipped back, “And in a perfect world, they never would have!â€
McClelland talked about his career actually racing and commented that he “kept his car looking old, just like the driver.â€
Dave Rieff when first assigned as a rookie to interview John Force was worried. He was told; don’t worry about it, “John will interview himself.â€
John Force, the 16 time Funny Car champ, also came out and he was in rare form. When he complained about not getting respect, Bob Frey pointed out the overhead sign only listed the three announcers as being present.
Force told the story of how he got stopped in New Mexico and his 18 wheel race hauler was sporting a boat trailer plate. Alan Reinhardt had to help loan him a truck to continue his travels back home to California, and while the truck was parked in a California lot it was vandalized with all the windows broken out. To which John Force had calmly explained, “Don’t worry, we can fix this!â€
Words can’t convey the warmth and true friendships the announcers shared for each other. The crowd was in stitches and laughing throughout the event. Later McClelland commented that it was the most fun he had in ages. And I agree.
Congratulations to the trade school WyoTech that brought out a 1964 Ford F100 that was given a roadster treatment by a band of their students over an eight month period. Because half of the school day is spend in classes, away from the machines, that really equates to a four-month frame on build.
The students chopped off the top, making it a roadster. One student made the renderings for the “pickup” and all the students worked on various parts of the car from the body work, to even the final trim and upholstery.
It was on display by WyoTech at the SEMA show being held in Las Vegas this week, from November 5-8, 2013. Nice job by the students and good to see the future of rodding is in good hands. And nice job by the faculty staff doing the training, and inspecting.
The truck received continuous stares, admiring glances and positive comments.
This year’s SEMA Awards for the top trending vehicle models in four categories were announced on Tuesday November 5, 2013 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The Ford Mustang was named Hottest Car, the Scion FR-S took the Hottest Sport Compact honors, the Ford F-Series won Hottest Truck and the Jeep Wrangler received the Hottest 4×4-SUV award.
I was pulling for the Chevy Silverado and the Corvette Stingray, so I guess I struck out; there but no complaints with the Scion FR-S and Jeep Wrangler winning.
One of the fun parts of SEMA, is the over the top, just because I can, attitude of many of the cars. Enough said
At the world’s largest convention of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories, the SEMA Show –Specialty Equipment Market Association – one of the highlights is the Chevrolet display; and the chance for a sneak preview at the Media Party held on Monday night before SEMA opens.
Besides catching up with various executives and seeing some great cars, Chevrolet brings in a few celebrities to spice up the night. Fortunately these celebrities have straight connections to the cars featured at this press event.
This year NASCAR racers Ricky Carmichael (and AMA racer and X Games champ) and Jeff Gordon were there to delight the crowds. Some of the featured cars were:
The All-Activity Sonic concept was introduced by Carmichael and had a cold air induction, a lowered suspension and enhanced braking.Spark EV Tech Performance concept
Chevy “powered up†this all-electric tire smoking mini-car, the Spark, with an instant on 400 lb-ft of torque –http://route66pubco.com/wp-admin/post-new.php more than the classic 1969 Camaro SS muscle car with a 350 V-8 – for exhilarating acceleration. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in only 7.5 seconds.
It seems that Chevrolet always has a new version of the legendary COPO drag cars for SEMA, and they didn’t disappoint this year with a light blue version. Very well designed and ready for the drag strip as is. This year will feature new front and rear fascia and be limited to the fabled 69 cars.
A flat blue Corvette that will be featured in the latest version of Playstation’s Gran Turismo was promoted. All week at the Chevy display show goers will be able to play an advanced version of the game.
This truck was a restored beauty and featured a new crate engine package from Chevy. The E ROD 5.3 L package is a plug and play emissions compliant powertrain.
His SS came with a red satin (flat) finish was an awesome car with subtle power touches. A LS3 engine and a 6 speed automatic transmission were the power plant for the SS.
The road worthy Z/28 in all black was released at this event. Featuring Brembo brakes, less weight and a LS7 engine helps make this track car a worthy competitor and lives up to its namesake.
Three cars from the 2014 Transformer movie were on hand to be admired; a new Bumble Bee Camaro, a Sonic and bright Green Corvette Stingray
Good times, good cars, good people. SEMA cranks up in full power mode in a few hour son Tuesday November 5th. More details at Chevy Performance.
SEMA – the Specialty Equipment Market Association – show starts officially on Tuesday November 5, 2013 in Las Vegas. Car Nirvana is spread over 2 million square feet of interior space and even more cars are positioned outside. I figured if Hot Rod Magazine can prediction what the SEMA 2013 will highlight, I can predict too.
I’ll be more modest and only give you five trends to be spotted at SEMA this year.
Car of the Year – Has to be the Corvette Stingray. This is the after-market convention after all and there has been no more pent-up demand, than seeing the Corvette C7 hit the streets.
Flat is back. We’ve seen variations of flat paint jobs in the past, and that trend is going to explode. Both from the mainstream manufacturers but also the specialty shops. And contrary to some opinions, it takes as much prep work on a car body to spray it flat as it does for the shiny clear coats.
Step up the transmissions. Used to be standard to row through four speeds, but not that Detroit is issuing out sheet metal with 7 speed transmissions to help up the EPA gas mileage, so will the aftermarket.
Truck of the year? Got to be the Chevrolet Silverado. Demand is back up for trucks, that’s where the money is and that’s where General Motors has hit a home run. It might be apolitical to have two winners from the same manufacturer, but the Silverado deserves it!
Retro is back with a passion. Clothing, accessories, and cars will all be showing an old fashioned look. Woodies, rat rods, salt wagons will all be highly visible.
Stayed tuned and we’ll see how many of these predictions you might agree with after Friday and the show wraps up.
Gasser’s are easily spotted from a mile away. The body’s are lifted up with a straight axle highly visible in the front. In the early 60’s that is what everybody brought to the local drag strips. Back then you didn’t care about pro-touring handling, you just wanted something to go lickity split for a quarter of a mile.
The latest issue of Hot Rod magazine (December, 2013) has an article on a 58 Ford Gasser that the folks at Galpin Ford did for a sales manager, Steve Carpenter. The article is a nice write-up on a nice car.
The 331 cubic inch Ford engine produces 500 horsepower and matches up to a Borg Warner 4 speed, using a Hurst 4 speed.   A Currie 9 inch rear end with a 4.11 posi helps hold everything together.  Lots of chrome, which probably wasn’t in use as much back at the old airstrip dragways, is evident. That’s a nice gold pearl paint job with real gold and silver leaf lettering.
We first saw it at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in January 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona and thought we could share some extra views of this gasser for our readers.
Galpin Ford has a solid reputation for doing cars right, and just previewed a supercar at Pebble Beach. Here’s hoping that both cars will be at their booth in Las Vegas next month at the SEMA Show.
One of the advantages of being in Arizona for car guys is the chance to see new, unreleased “mules” on the road. Arizona is home to most of the car manufacturers for proving grounds. But these cars don’t just stay inside the fenced grounds, as these spy shots of the Nissan Rogue show. “Mules” are test cars used by the makers to test things out in real road conditions.
They wander around the Arizona geography and get a chance to try out these prototypes on twisty roads, interstate highways and with elevations changing from sea level to high mountains. Of course the area is known for the opportunity to test in high heat conditions, but the cars get a chance to experience all of what Arizona climates offer. They often are loaded up with plenty of telemetries recording all sorts of feedback from a myriad of sensors.
Of course the manufacturers aren’t keen on the public recognizing these cars. Besides sporting manufacturer plates these cars often have geometric black and white wraps to help disguise the final shape and design of the cars. But plenty of photographers go out on the hunt to track down a shot of these beauties.
Recently two Nissan Rogues, which will have a new release in 2014 were seen out and about on the Arizona highways.
It’s rare to see these cars stationary, but the drivers have to take a break on occasion!
