Inside the Maniacal Rush to SEMA
We chat with three builders about their descent into madness
HAPPY RACE DAY! especially to our friends at R’s Day, the annual Skyline GT-R track day, who threw their inaugural Fall Matsuri, or festival, in Little Tokyo over the weekend.
I was sad to miss it. Luckily, Brian Jannusch of Toprank Importers covered the show in his vlog! (I time-stamped it for you.)
In today’s email: 👇
Wheel Pros update: Hoonigan who?
SEMA Pressure is on: Advice on how to handle it
Falken Around: The tire brand beefing with everyone
Thanks for joining us. Read on for more.
The Wheel Pros Debacle, Revisited
LAST WEEK’S NEWSLETTER caused a stir. The news that Wheel Pros, LLC (d/b/a “Hoonigan”) and 26 other affiliated companies all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was the talk of the car world.
My only point was that media outlets should describe the process accurately, and not fall in line with certain language just because Wheel Pros wants them to. The company may want the public to think they’ve “rebranded” to Hoonigan, but in the eyes of the court system, the name of the company is still Wheel Pros. Call it that.
Turns out, the financial world feels the same way. Last week, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Wheel Pros, LLC’s credit rating from “CC” to “D.”
I’ve also found articles from the summer that should have tipped us off at the time. In July, Bloomberg reported Wheel Pros skipped interest payments on its debt, and also found that the company’s financial leverage was seven times its annual earnings in 2021, the year it acquired Hoonigan. The next year, earnings dropped 86-percent.
Why did these stories fly under the radar to car people? Maybe because, since 2023, the company has tried to convince you that it’s called Hoonigan. That way, you won’t Google all the news swirling around the name Wheel Pros.
My point is not to pile on. It’s to help fans understand what’s going on more accurately. The court system, financial institutions and economic publications all describe Wheel Pros, LLC by its proper name. There’s no reason automotive media shouldn’t do the same.
If you want to get a more impassioned explanation of why this is a big deal, check out this video from YouTuber Alex Martini. Not only does it provide helpful insight, but he also took the time to examine the bankruptcy documents. Well done.
REMINDER: Catch Us at JCCS!
We’re proud to sponsor the Japanese Classic Car Show next month. Click here to see a sneak preview of the new book we’ll debut at the event.
And don’t forget to grab our books like Waiting for the Sun to Come Down, a coffee table book like you’ve never seen before. Link below.
Now, here’s this week’s main article.
SEMA Crunch: The Most Frantic Time of the Year
The SEMA Crunch is on. That’s the nickname given to September and October in the car world, when builders and garages begin to feel the heat ahead of the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
This year, SEMA opens on November 5th. That’s less than eight weeks from now, which should be plenty of time to get your stunning car or truck finished, and ready for primetime. But car builders are notorious for overpromising on their work, and underestimating the time it will take to finish.
“Most shops have more pride than common sense,” said Roberto Victoria, owner of RAV Performance in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“For every hour you estimate, it’s probably gonna take three. You can think the job will take 1-2 days and it turns to two weeks real quick. It’s super frustrating.”
This year, Victoria is ahead of the game. He’s bringing three cars to SEMA:
A record-breaking Ford GT that once hit 310 mph to become the fastest street vehicle ever.
An R33 Skyline GT-R that’s been given the works inside the engine bay.
Finally, an R34 Skyline GT-R restored down to the bare frame that’s boasting more than 1,000 horsepower.
His partners at Wiring Specialties supplied the harnesses for both Skylines.
“You put your heart and soul into something and you want it to be the best it possibly can be. You’ll do anything to make it just that little bit better.” — Georjah Erin.
Victoria started SEMA prep much earlier in the year. So even as problems came up, he was allowed time to address them. But he’s also seen first hand how things can go off the rails.
“Everything that can go bad always does go bad,” Victoria said. “That’s where you get the horror stories.”
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, in California, builder and lowrider enthusiast Georjah Erin is moving her Toyota minitruck project forward — one text message at a time.
“You caught me on a crazy day,” she laughed. “The phone is buzzing nonstop.”
Erin wants to make a big splash at SEMA. The truck was supposed to debut as just a frame, without bodywork, but she’s since decided to go all in. As the project has grown more ambitious, she’s spent more time fielding updates and dealing with delays over the phone. When asked how she’s handling the SEMA crunch, she laughed.
“It’s not like it’s unplanned,” Erin said. “We all know when SEMA is scheduled. And somehow we all end up panicked and stressed. But it’s short-term pain for long-term gain. This build is a dream come true.”
Erin is loving the ride, and bring fans inside the madness by documenting it on YouTube. Filming, editing and posting content adds another layer of work. But it also increases visibility and keeps her subscribers (219,000 and counting) engaged.
The truck is coming together. Erin has partners in Holley Performance and Revolution Engines supplying parts. But the centerpiece of the project is a true work of art from Hoppos Custom Suspension, a cantilevered hydraulic suspension that will give the truck a full range of motion.
The truck will be displayed at the Hoppos booth, and Erin admits she’s putting pressure on herself to make her dream truck as impactful as possible. She points out that SEMA isn’t just the largest car show around, it’s one of the largest trade shows in the world — period. More than 150,000 people attended in 2023. Erin views this as her chance to show her stuff.
“The build has gotten as far as it has because I’m extremely delusional,” she laughs. “You have to be delusional to get to the point you want. You have to be a little bit nuts.”
EVERY SEMA BUILD requires a lot of work. There’s no way around that fact, but some have learned creative ways to mitigate the pain. Like spreadsheets.
“I’ve got lots of lists,” said Paul Bosserman of Old Anvil Speed Shop.
Bosserman and his team are finishing up work on their SEMA build, a 1962 Chevy Impala Super Sport that’s been transformed. What was once a pristinely-garaged classic now boasts a custom unibody frame and supercharged 1,200-horsepower race engine with Derale cooling fans.
The project has a lot of moving parts, but Old Anvil has kept things simple by producing nearly the entire build in-house. It puts more pressure on the team, but it also limits their dependence on other suppliers. Bosserman learned that lesson the hard way one year, when he prepped a build for the Grand National Roadster Show and their interior supplier dropped the ball. Now he’s been a stickler for schedules, constantly editing and amending his Microsoft Excel sheets to keep things on track. He says the car has already been fitted and disassembled three times, just to make sure it all fits, and estimates the work is 95-percent done.
“You get down to the wire and you’ve got to make sure everything is in place,” Bosserman said. “With this build we’re not waiting on other people. Because you don’t know what they’re gonna do.”
SEMA is still a ways out. And builders typically have until about a week to go before they need to be done. There will no doubt be many exhausted nights between now and then, and more than a few surprises. It’s not uncommon for projects to be all but finished, only for the owner or benefactor to call with a crazy idea that forces the shop to call a last-minute audible.
“I totally get why people show up with wacky builds,” said Victoria, the RAV Performance owner in Florida.
“When someone writes the check you know you’ve got to pull something off. You’ve gotta do it just to keep the lights on. But that’s the fun of it.”
A Falken Funny Account
Back in the good old days, social media used to be a quiet distraction from work. (That was before it nearly overthrew democracy.) So I’m glad at least somebody knows how to have fun online these days.
Follow the Falken Tire account on Threads — yes, Threads. So far they’ve roasted everyone from SUV owners to Virgos, and delivered pointed jabs to the Nissan Altima and Mazda Miata. But the longest-running feud is with Wendy’s, for some reason. This post in particular is a whole movie. I respect the grind.
And Finally…
I’VE FOUND MYSELF coming back to this video again and again lately. If you’re a fan of JDM cars, or the underground Tokyo street scene, it’s five minutes of pure bliss.
When people talk about ‘90s nostalgia, this is what they mean. Enjoy.
Thanks for reading. Please consider sharing our newsletter with your friends.
Check out Carrara Media on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit our store to order one of our many fine books and eBooks.