SEMA 2011: So impressive!
SEMA is a week-long event, specifically for industry, where the general public is sadly not welcomed. Registration as manufacturer, buyer, exhibitor or media is required. We would love it if they would open it up to all, since a great number of the industry’s newest products are displayed in one place. We thought you might like it, if we offered all of you, a nice big gallery full of cool-looking rides on display at the 2011 SEMA show.
The largest of the SEMA events held annually during the first week of November, is the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is presented in conjunction with the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week, and we were lucky enough to be there to enjoy this important motor industry happening. SEMA and other automotive aftermarket trade groups involved in this huge gathering of all aftermarket automotive industry players, make-up one of the largest events on the Las Vegas roster.
Formed in 1963 by Roy Richter, Ed Iskenderian, Willie Garner, Bob Hedman, John Bartlett, Phil Weiand, Jr., Al Segal, Dean Moon, and Vic Edelbrock, Jr. , SEMA, which originally stood for Speed Equipment Manufacturing Association, changed to Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association in 1970, due to government regulations that underlined the use of the word "Speed" as an issue. The name was so transformed, to improve the overall image of the Association.
Among the numerous activities hosted by SEMA’s administration, were their annual hottest vehicle awards, divided into 4 categories. The hottest overall car title was awarded to the Chevrolet Camaro, while in the hottest sport-compact category; the Fiat 500 won the honour. The hottest SUV went to the Jeep Wrangler, and the Ford F-Series pick-up was named hottest truck.
Anything and everything was on the menu for all lucky attendees to enjoy. Even rides in the passenger seats of race-ready Ford Mustang cars, burning up in cool drifts around cones, in a large area in the center of the exterior section, of this incredibly vast exposition. Race simulators, numerous jumbo screens displaying all kinds of extreme motorized action and, of course, beautiful Company Representatives were just a few of the enjoyable things to witness there. Concept cars, legendary racing machines, such as Ken Block’s Monster Energy Subaru or John Force’s Top Fuel Funny Car, you name it, it was there. Every angle offered eye candy; from the old, restored beyond new, to the new, accessorized to extremes, and sometimes a mix of all of the above. The rides displayed at SEMA were as varied as they were sweet to look at!
