My Biggest Takeaway from SEMA 2023: Craftsmanship
The flash and brash has been replaced by attention to detail.
HAPPY RACE DAY, especially to the artist and photographer Syd Cummings, who recently debuted a custom 1978 Saab Turbo rally car code-named “Project 99.”
Does it get any cooler than this?
Silly rabbit. Of course not.
Congrats to Syd and check out her Project 99 merch and other awesome creations in her store, here.
You can read our interview with Syd from way back in 2020 right here, too!
‘Cult of GT-R’ Announcements
As I wrote in last week’s Race Day, I spent a couple of days in Las Vegas covering the SEMA aftermarket show. The purpose was two-fold:
report on the world’s largest automotive convention of its kind
sell my new book
Once the hangover wore off, figuratively and literally, I was pretty pleased. I gained insight into the state of the market for companies large and small, with some clues as to what that means for consumers.
I also sold a ton of books. SEMA wouldn’t let me sell directly, but people were allowed to place preorders. And they went gangbusters. I’m really happy with all the new folks I got to meet, and friends who are now even closer friends.
Thank you especially to SW Lights in Agoura Hills for hosting the booth, and Andrew Evanson for attracting big crowds with his remarkable R33 GT-R Nismo 400R — one of 40 ever made, and 1-of-1 in the U.S.
Then, this Monday, an excerpt of Cult of GT-R ran in the automotive website Motor1.com, which you can read here. I’m thrilled at the enthusiasm and support my editors offered to get this live and look forward to working with them again.
All that led to sales. On Monday I finally got firm numbers, and they’re strong. I’m proud to say that at one point, Cult of GT-R was the No. 1 new release in four Amazon categories: Transportation; Automotive; Motorsports; and Automotive History.
Tremendous news for my little media outlet. And I’m looking to keep it going. Cult of GT-R is now available through CarraraBooks.com or wherever books are sold. I also still have Wangan Editions in stock, each of which is numbered and signed.
That’s not it. This weekend, I’ll be displaying and selling Cult of GT-R at none other than Radwood. The traveling celebration of all things ‘80s and ‘90s is making its way to nearby San Pedro. Come see me! Get your tickets here!
Okay, that’s finally all for now. The book is out and shipping as we speak. This project really was a labor of love, and I sincerely hope everyone enjoys it. I encourage you to give it a try, or at least pester your local librarian to stock it. Do it for me!
Here’s this week’s top article.
Bursting at the SEMA
I tried to see everything at SEMA. I really did. At least at first.
But then I gave up. Because with five full convention halls, plus cars stacked throughout the in-betweens and spilling outside in all directions, it was simply impossible.
It seems like car shows everywhere are dying. The Detroit Auto Show is on its last legs, and the LA Auto Show coming up later this month is starting to wheeze. But in Vegas, as much as all the talk leading up was about Ford downsizing its booth, Chevrolet slinking off to a back corner, and Stellantis pulling out entirely, this is still the best showcase for brands large and small to be seen.
Toyota took advantage. The company now occupies the expansive platform that Ford once did. And it was stacked. Toyota showed off new off-road ready versions of the Tacoma and Tundra, plus the 2024 Lexus GX with their own in-house accessories. One of the coolest was the street-slammed Tacoma X Runner, pictured above with a sweet bodykit, the brakes, suspension and twin-turbo V6 from a Tundra plus side exhaust pipes.
It even showed the FJ Bruiser. This was a highly, highly, highly-modified version of the classic FJ45 Land Cruiser truck. How highly modified, you ask? Its 42-inch tires were out-shined only by its 745-horsepower NASCAR engine and tank-like tread running along the underbelly. So, you know, pretty highly modified.
I also liked the safari-style Nissan Z on display. Designers slapped some mud flaps on that baby, raised the ride height and mounted additional lights to the hood. It paid homage to the original 240Z that ran the East-African Safari Rally in 1971, also on display.
Truth be told, that was kind of it for the large automakers. Toyota and Nissan know their crowds are still passionate about the aftermarket scene, so it makes sense to show out. But there wasn’t a whole lot else. The occasional Ford Bronco didn’t go nearly as far as Japanese rivals. Trucks have taken a back seat at SEMA lately, and with the muscle car era dwindling to a close as the EV era approaches, it seems Ford, Chevy and Ram/Jeep felt their attention was better spent elsewhere. Where? I don’t know. Maybe belching through a coal-rolling showcase.
That just meant you had to hunt for the rest of the good stuff. But it was sprinkled around everywhere if you had the time and patience to wander.
One outdoor area known as Treadpass, hosted by Toyo Tires, went all the way off. This sectioned-off hallway had a collection of insane builds of all types. A twin-turbo V12 BMW Z4 in GT3 racecar guise. An extreme Liberty Walk widebody kit on an FD Mazda RX-7. The absolute cleanest Mercedes 190E you could ever see. This was high-level craftsmanship on full display. True visionaries showing you a glimpse of where car culture is headed.
And then there were the EVs. Back within the halls, plenty of brands could be found experimenting with how the aftermarket will handle batteries and e-motors. I really liked the repurposed, EV-swapped fastback Mustang from Elkington Motors pushing over 1,000 horsepower on staggered tires (255mm front, 325mm rear – whoo baby).
I also liked the EV-swapped Toyota 86 racecar known as the Scalar SCR1. It has just returned from competing in Gridlife at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and Scalar executives told me they gained valuable learning there that will inform testing in 2024 as they try to extend more laps out of an electric battery, and improve the cooling and powertrain components to handle higher temperatures for longer periods of time. It’s a challenge. But what type of motorsport isn’t?
I hope to learn more about both Elkington and Scalar very soon, and will keep you posted. But what these EV projects showed me, combined with the sheer creativity and execution of the Toyo Treadpass display, is that the imagination of the aftermarket knows no bounds. But what really matters is bringing these wild ideas to reality in a way that makes sense. People have a keen eye for sloppiness these days — flash no longer cuts it. The most impressive builds made subtle but impactful tweaks and mods that showed skill and restraint. It’s about justifying a premium price point.
Whether auto manufacturers were catching their breath or trying to make a collective statement by pulling back at SEMA this year, they were in the minority. The brands I spoke with are pushing boundaries, rolling out new products and throwing stuff against the wall (or directly into the faces of consumers) to see what sticks.
What that means is that investment is heavy right now. I’m not sure that these brands are seeing a return quite yet, particularly in the EV space – we are dealing with a global economic slowdown after all. But I know that everyone wants in on the action. There’s big money in building something to a high standard, and there’s too much potential spending power out there to ignore.
Like I said, I couldn’t possibly have seen everything at SEMA. But I saw enough to get a hint of where we’re headed. And I’m excited.
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
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