SEMA 22! The Performance Industry Shines in Las Vegas – Part 2
1 year ago Events Gallery
In this second installment of SEMA Show highlights that filled the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s all about viewing the rest of “the best of the best” Mopar® vehicles on display, plus the “go-fast” parts and pieces that make them perform to maximum potential. And, of course, appearance items and restoration parts. SEMA really is about speed, looks and, in some cases, bling!
The Dodge and Direct Connection exhibit inside the Central Hall was the place to be to view all the latest in terms of “Last Call” special vehicles, as well as numerous other cool rides, including the Paul Rossi “Direct Connection” ’70 Challenger and the radical Tom Bailey-built Dodge Durango that promises to be a serious attention-grabber at the events where it will be performing in 2023! And walking the aisles and outside areas, there were plenty of sweet Mopar vehicles displayed, street and racecars, trucks and SUVs.
Without question, the SEMA Show is the premier specialty products trade show and a gathering for the “who’s who” of the performance world. The four-day event is nearly impossible to cover in terms of capturing everything there is to see; however, this second photo recap sheds light on the “car culture” that SEMA is all about, early cars, new cars and exciting things to come for next year and beyond.
The dates for the 2023 show are October 31-November 3, and it’s going to be an even bigger event, called “SEMAFEST” and described as “SEMA Week” with activities extending onto the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, further details to come! www.sema.org
It’s the place to be every November, SEMA baby! The annual performance industry’s get-together and it never gets old … especially for the author who marked this 2022 event as his 40th consecutive attendance. There are five large exhibit halls filled with automotive excitement, with overflow spilling out to all of the parking lot and entrance walkways.
The massive West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center has a new and modernized flavor about it, and it’s where the majority of the trucks and related off-road vehicles were located.
Goolsby Customs brought along a new project of theirs for display at the BASF booth, this 1969 Dodge A108 window van fitted with a 6.4L Gen III HEMI® engine powerplant! Also part of the built is a one-off Roadster Shop chassis, and pop-out windows all around. Autumn Gold Metallic and Cool Vanilla paint with clear coat. The retro custom van scene is making a comeback.
“068 Carbon” is a new carbon fiber-bodied 21st century car done up in the spirit of a ’68 Dodge Charger, and with Plum Crazy color it screams nostalgia! It uses a current Dodge Challenger as the foundation. Also seen was this flyer on “071” for the upcoming 1971 Dodge Demon! www.exomodcarbon.com
Built as a “tribute car” to the drag racer from Brooklyn, NY, “Rapid” Ronald Lyles, a rendition of the Sox & Martin-built ’73 Plymouth Duster that he ran in Pro Stock competition. He was also a member of “The Mutt Brothers”, which was a group of street racers that had been very successful, and the members wore classy uniforms and were flawless in appearance. Lyles was the only African American to ever race with and be a member of the “United States Racing Team”, which, in the early 1970s, was the premier Pro Stock touring group with all the top racers in the class. He was inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in 2008.
HEMI engine plug wires? This booth showed off their colorful assortment for Gen I and Gen II applications. www.ididit.com
Milodon (pronounced Milo-Don) was founded in 1957 by Milo Franklin and Don Alderson and today they still are producing quality oil pans for special applications. Shown here are Mopar pans for vintage and modern HEMI engine powerplants, including engine swap applications.
The “Shoulda, Coulda, ‘Cuda” was the highlight of the Hotchkis Sport Suspension booth, a stylish take on what a “new” 1971 HEMI Barracuda would look like if still being produced, and in all carbon fiber with In-Violet high-impact paint!
Look closely and you’ll see the special Gator Skin roof application on “The Black Ghost” Last Call 2023 Challenger! This car, with its 807-hp HEMI engine, is a throwback to the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE that belonged to Godfrey Qualls. He served as a Detroit Police Officer for 37 years … and the backstory is that at times he street raced his HEMI engine-powered Challenger! The car survived all these years, with the original black paint and white tail stripe, and is now in the hands of his son, Gregory. The 2023 renditions of The Black Ghost will be the ultimate way to celebrate the original.
Created to carry on the legacy of the original “Super Bee” that debuted back in 1968, Dodge for 2023 model year run has released a modern Super Bee as part of the “Last Call” performance car lineup. Functional hood scoop with dual heat extractors part of the package. The pictured Plum Crazy Widebody version sports 18 x 11-inch drag wheels wrapped with sticky 315 drag radials!
“King Daytona” Dodge Charger SRT® Hellcat Redeye Widebody, one of the “Last Call” 2023 Dodge performance machines, pays tribute to the legendary Big Willie Robinson, who did so much to help keep the peace by getting the youth into drag racing. Long live his spirit!
The huge Dodge exhibit area on the Central Hall floor was massive from every angle!
Completely restored and “brought back from the dead”, a 1962 W-200 Dodge Power Wagon Crew Cab, built by SMP Fabworks and featured in the Baja Designs booth. It’s outfitted with modern Cummins turbo-diesel power, a big brute of a vintage Mopar 4×4!
FiTech Fuel Injection offers three 500 cfm throttle bodies that feature classic carburetor gold color for that nostalgia appearance but with modern fuel delivery technology. Tri-Power with fuel injection, a great blending of two eras.
Stellantis was all over the show, and here’s the “Mopar” section located in the South Hall that featured tons of Jeep® Brand vehicles and all kinds of HEMI crate engines, plus showcased many of the individual performance parts available from the factory. Mopar lovers dig this exhibit!
A highlight of the Mopar exhibit area was this flawless 1971 HEMIcuda that is an all-numbers-matching car, and a “1 of 48” example, rare beyond rare! Factory equipment includes 727 TorqueFlite®, 4.10 Dana rear axle and black leather interior. The B5 Blue Fire Metallic hue and billboard graphics really sets it off, and that “Shaker” hood wasn’t an option – they were standard equipment on HEMI ‘Cudas! Known as the “Phoenix ‘Cuda”, this E-body was the focal point of MotorTrend’s Graveyard Carz episode 3, season 16.
“EV2” Vitamin C Orange coats this 1970 T/A Challenger, and under that fiberglass scooped hood is an SRT Hellcat Redeye 6.2L Supercharged Crate, linked up to an American Power 5-speed manual gearbox and Dana 60 differential. “Best of both worlds” in terms of vintage appearance and modern horsepower … all done by the Graveyard Carz crew!
Navigating through the miles of aisles of SEMA and traveling through the Lower South Hall is always a highlight for Mopar buffs, as that’s traditionally where Mopar Parts Division displays their wares. Included this year was the Shaker Scoop Kit, Hood Pin Kits, Strut Braces, Cold Air Intakes, along with suspension and exhaust parts and pieces. And for the 2022 event, as a bonus show, visitors were able to get a free T-shirt featuring a variety of Mopar logos from through the years. Cool!
A variety of fun Mopar merchandise was also displayed, including Direct Connection items. www.wearmopar.com
It’s as easy as 1-2-3-4! And “5” is where all the fun happens for HEMI crate engine buyers once installed! The five HEMI crate powerplant choices: Supercharged Hellcrate Redeye 6.2L, Supercharged 426 Hellephant, Supercharged 6.2L Hellcrate, 392 and 345 normally aspirated.
Since the early days, the SEMA Show has had a certain knack through the years, decades, for featuring friendly booth representatives – after all, it is Las Vegas!
CFR Performance displayed their SRT Hellcat-powered 1975 Plymouth Duster at their company booth, and it’s always great to see what builders can do with what was, back in the day, a “bread-and-butter” Duster A-body.
This view shows the Upper and Lower South Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the entire parking lot.
SEMA Show “gear”, as in clothing and event memorabilia, is big business for the organization, and during show hours the numerous SEMA GEAR stores that are located throughout the various exhibit halls are always packed up with buyers, and long waiting lines at times to purchase!
Jeep’s “Rubicon 20th Anniversary Concept” was well received by the off-roaders at SEMA, named after the legendary Rubicon Trail located in Northern California. Powered by the 6.4L Gen III HEMI engine, it is based on the most powerful Wrangler model ever, it rolls on 17-inch diameter, 31-inch mud terrain tires, with 2-inch lift kit from JPP (Jeep Performance Parts).
Fully caged 4-door late-model Jeep Brand vehicle labeled “Great American Crawl”, which is a Mickey Thompson Tire-sponsored nationwide tour for Jeep Brand vehicle owners. This example is no show pony, it has seen a lot of rugged off-road use!
Comedian Kevin Hart is a big fan of modified muscle cars, and he commissioned this wild ’69 Road Runner to be built with one requirement, a HEMI engine! Dubbed “Michael Meyers,” the B-body is a product of the Wisconsin-based Salvaggio Design. Under the hood is a 940-hp supercharged Gen III HEMI engine, done up in a Halloween-themed black-orange color combo!
Gorgeous 1973 Jeep Wagoneer from Hodson Motors, Widetrack conversion done with Quadratrac. Dana 44, in Chief Blue and authentic 360-cid AMC power.
Interior restoration pieces are a must for getting everything back to original and for A-, B- and E-Body applications, door panels done in correct colors were just some of the Mopar-specific items at the show, Plymouth Satellite sample shown here. www.legendaryautointeriors.com
With reproduction vintage batteries available for correct restorations, Turbo Start has the various different sizes for numerous Mopar applications. www.turbostart.com
Walking the aisles of SEMA, you’ll see tons of booths with various parts and components available, and one thing to always remember is that a Mopar vehicle is a Mopar vehicle; however, if it involves a Mopar logo on a product, there’s the required licensing process for commercial use. SEMA had lots of “official” items displayed.
Some exhibitors have display areas both inside and outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center, one was the Coker Tire Company, which featured the Max Grundy artwork of a classic 1956 Chrysler that is one of Grundy’s personal rides, staged outside at their other exhibit.
Dodge and Ram trucks were scattered throughout, including this ’60s Texas tilt-bed pickup, as well as this late-model Ram truck. One with a “rat rod” look and joining in the fun, and the high-lifted “Gumby Green” 2500 Series rig. A growing trend is where tall tires are replaced with “road race” style low-profile rubber with short sidewalls all while having aggressive tread.
Hemmings Motor News joined in the fun at the Dodge Exhibit, with their “Project Rampart SRT Hellcat Durango” that was done up as being the “ultimate race support rig” complete with a one-off cargo glide storage system plus tricked-out roof rack.
That’s no regular Dodge Durango, it’s the Tom Bailey-built 4-seater set to be an upcoming all-out burnout star at events throughout 2023! Built in Waterford, MI, it’s set to become the quickest and fastest Durango ever built, thanks to the massive supercharged Gen II aluminum HEMI engine in it as featured on the floor of the SEMA Central Hall.
Take a 1970 Dodge Challenger with 440 6-pak power, set it up for 1/4-mile Super Stock drag racing and it’s a mean machine, big wheelstander. Paul Rossi style!
Now here’s an interesting image, a Direct Connection supercharged crate HEMI engine, an E-body in the background, let your imagination run wild!
Author: James Maxwell
