SEMA

Past SEMA Shows 

Article by Jose Corona- Photographer, Blogger

My favorite concept of the show was the Toyota FT-1 concept. This is the modern reincarnation of the legendary Supra. While Toyota still hides its true plans for the car, this is a product of a joint Toyota-BMW project for a sports car platform. Toyota and BMW both have brilliant engineers and have built fantastic cars consistently for years. This new Supra will be a serious competitor in the sports car market. It will likely have a twin-scroll turbo forcing air to an inline-6, but nothing has been confirmed. Toyota seems to be building up suspense, but it has been long enough. I guarantee that within a month of the new “Supra” hitting the streets, someone will have recreated the original F&F Supra with the new version.

I couldn’t mention SEMA 2014 without mentioning our friend Ken Block’s Hoonicorn… An 800+hp AWD Mustang is nothing to joke about. Not one person could walk by without looking at this thing. It is unlike anything at the show.

 

This car is the automotive equivalent of the ugly duckling. While it may look like either a hideous Camaro or a ruined Nova, it is really a different species completely; the Nomaro. It is a Nova fitting with a ’69 Camaro RS front end. If you ask why, I can’t answer that question. The sheer shock factor of this car is worth it for the builder I’m betting. While talking to somebody 20 feet from the car, I watched over a dozen people walk by it like its nothing then do a double take, then triple take, then walk back to it and start looking harder. I heard a few WTF’s dropped once they realized what they were looking at. Dare to be different, right?

Robert Jackson definitely got the dare to be different memo when he built this wicked ’67 Volvo Amazon. He has a 550+ hp LS3 in a 3,000-pound Volvo loaded with daily-driver amenities. It may look like a purpose-built car that doesn’t get driven, but many have reported a silver Volvo hauling it down the streets of Madill, Oklahoma. He now manufacturers full suspension systems for these cars with LS mounts and everything you need via Mad Volvo Performance. He’ll be back at SEMA this year to run Optima’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car Invitational on Saturday and Sunday after SEMA.

The Roadster Shop also impressed with two gnarly Mopar builds. The first one, the Hellfish 1972 ‘Cuda with a 1,000hp Hemi under the hood with rear-mounted turbos. They took this thing on Las Vegas Motor Speedway for OUSCI the day after SEMA and that Hemi sounds so nasty combined with the turbo spooling. The second is a ’68 Charger with an entirely hand-fabbed body. It has full Viper suspension including the IRS along with a twin-turbo variant of the V10 powerplant. My favorite part about the car are the insane wheels built by Greening Auto Company. The rears are 20×15’s and give tribute to the Dukes of Hazzard Vector design.

With the instant popularity of the GT-86 cars, they were in full bloom. Everything from this ridiculous Rocket Bunny FR-S to the absolutely insane vintage-style FR-S by the guys at The Speedhunters. Their ride had a ’70s IMSA-racecar vibe with a Cosworth-supercharged Boxer. It may only put out 300 horsepower, but that is a 50% increase over the stock output. Imagine a 2015 Mustang getting a 50% increase out of a supercharger. That would be over 650 horsepower. Impressive now? It also paid homage to the JDM sports cars that the GT-86 is influenced by with the fender mirrors, vintage striping and wheel and tire choice.

Who else is ready to see what SEMA 2015 has in store for us? Stay tuned. Speed Society will be there to cover it!

Article by Jose Corona- Photographer, Blogger