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November 5, 2008
SEMA Top Ten Trends: Small Cars? What Small Cars?
With gas prices and the economy being what they are, we reckoned this year’s SEMA would be pretty much overrun with microbots. Sure, there’s more smarts than you can shake a stick at, and since this is the first year the smart has been available in North America, SEMA builders have been having a field day with it. Still, the smart is after all one of those cars that pretty much is its own punchline, and since a lot of the goofier treatments (like Batmobile and John Deere) are drawing almost entirely on the novelty factor for their effect, we’re guessing the car will seem stale by the time next year’s show rolls around. So where are all the microcars, then? One issue is really that there are no small cars, and while we’ve certainly seen a smattering of Fits and Yarii, even subcompacts these days are decidedly blimpy. I guess we’ll have to wait for the new Fiat 500, Chevy Beat, and Ford Fiesta to drop before we see a true micro-mini invasion at SEMA. Stay tuned!
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SEMA Top Ten Trends: Less is More
Sometimes a carnard is just a canard. When it comes to sport compact tuning, bodykit, paint, interiors, or turbos, the wilder it is, the better it WAS. This year’s crop of tuner sport compacts is a welcome reprieve. The insane bodykits have given way to smooth lines. The blinding paint schemes are replaced with aggressive two-tones. More cars are fitted with integrated drivetrain and suspension mods. Dare I say it? Is the sport compact market growing up?
SEMA Top Ten Trends: What's Hot In Paint
For a SEMA show car, the final finish is crucial: it’s the paint that’ll make the car either pop or fade into the wallpaper. And in a sea of lavishly-colored vehicles, it’s really important to be on the cutting edge, because cars wearing last year’s trends get totally passed over. This time around, I’ve been noticing a ton of striking two-tone paint jobs—sometimes it’s like builders couldn’t decide between their two favorite colors, so they went with both. We’ve already seen the dual-hue treatment on the Dale Jr. Camaro, the color-matched Mustang, and this eye-searing Prius, and it’s also turning up on everything from tuners to hot rods. Another big theme is metal flake, with metallic treatments running the gamut from subtle sparkle to disco glitter. And we’re seeing a huge return of traditional flames in crazy colors, a contrast to the hyper-realistic photographic flames of last year. Finally, while we figured the satin-paint thing had peaked at SEMA 2007, Greg at the DuPont Hot Hues booth told me that varying degrees of flat is what he’s getting asked about most this year. Follow the jump for a few more shots.
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SEMA Top Ten Trends: Green Machines
In the midst of an extravaganza that tends to emphasize eye-flattening horsepower and gratuitous fuel consumption, it was pretty funny to run across a whole corral of green vehicles under the cringe-worthy banner "Making Green Cool." While it’s a header that seems at first to protest too much, there were actually some pretty cool rides on display which fit the bill—sorta—for eco-friendliness. The two major themes were green racing performance—like this E98-fueled, NASCAR-engined ’68 Camaro, finished in water-based primer, which will take a crack at the Bonneville land-speed record on E98 ethanol—and gigantic alt-diesel trucks, like the "Vegistroke" Superduty, which runs entirely on waste vegetable oil. Of course, the underlying message is that you can go "green" without sacrificing anything, which is a nice sentiment. Hell, it’s not like anyone’s ever tried to say that SEMA’s about being realistic! There was also a decent showing by the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE 100 mpg challenge cars, like this fox-body Mustang—more on those later. See more green machines after the jump.
SEMA Top Ten Trends: Color-Matched Wheels
By John Coyle
Editor
So, it’s not like I’ve never seen cars with color-matched wheels before, but this year, rides rocking this look are everywhere. Seriously, some of the wheel company booths are showcasing enough colors—Giovanna, I’m looking at you—that from a distance, you might actually think they’re representing Walgreen’s nail polish department. Not that I’m complaining—I’m actually really stoked to see more builders exploring the color palate. More pics after the jump.
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SEMA Top Ten Trends: In-Dash Nav Systems
By John Coyle
Editor
In case anyone is wondering, that isn’t a picture of a in-dash navigation system. Because pics of in-dash nav systems—even ones with motorized screens and all the bells and whistles—are about exciting as plain toast or alcohol-free wedding receptions. But stay with me, and I’ll explain why the image is appropriate. It’s no secret that traditional car audio companies—you know, the kind that sell CD players, massive amps and crack dealer grade subs—have been hurting in recent years. Unsurprisingly, aftermarket electronics companies have been looking for a way back into consumer’s rides, and in-dash nav systems look to be the most promising products. Because while a freestanding unit might be able to give you directions, it won’t be able to integrate your iPod, work with your Bluetooth phone, or play DVDs. And after they’re in? Well, according to Tony Mercado, one of Kenwood’s marketing guys, once the aftermarket companies get into the dash, it’s a lot easier to for them to "start working their way back to the truck," and sell more traditional components like amps and speakers. Since more car manufacturers are offering navs as factory equipment, offering an aftermarket solution might equate to putting a band-aid on gushing artery, but only time will tell…
November 4, 2008
SEMA Top Ten Trends: No Michelin Man?
Last week Brian Fox told me that Michelin wouldn’t be at SEMA this year. I immediately called Michelin PR, left some voicemails with a few folks over there, and… they didn’t call me back. Well, Brian was right. No Michelin. Here’s a photo of John with the Michelin man last year. Now, having to tell John that the Michelin man won’t be here is like having to break it to a little kid that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. It also sucks cause the Michelin booth always has good food. There are a few other big no shows this year. No HKS. I haven’t seen BFG, either. I guess it’s no surprise that some companies don’t want to spend money right now.
SEMA Top Ten Trends: Pony Car Wars
The pony cars wars are definitely on. Hey, maybe gas prices will keep going down. And maybe the Big Three will survive after all. Who knows? But the Challenger and Camaro rule SEMA right now. There are fifty bizillion Challengers, and the Camaro absolutely dominates the GM booth. And don’t count the Mustang out, either—Ford used SEMA to launch their new Cobra Jet Mustang, a purpose-built drag car with a 5.4-liter V8, A/C delete, 9-inch rear end and your choice of a 6-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmission with SFI bell housing.
SEMA Top Ten Trends: Vinyl Wraps
I guess paint really is over. Not one, but five different companies were exhibiting large-scale vinyl graphics intended for "wrapping" cars. Check out the job being done to this Ferrari—woodgrain red vinyl. Yuck. A wrapped Scooby and Mini getting the treatment are after the jump.
SEMA Top Ten Trends: Nissan GT-R
You can’t swing a dead cat at SEMA this year without hitting a Nissan GT-R. Ben Schaffer thinks there are about 40 GT-Rs at SEMA this year. This is especially impressive given that fact that the GT-R has only been available in the US for a few months, and that Nissan didn’t exactly go out of their way to make this car easy to modify. Of course, that didn’t stop folks like Ben, who has two GT-Rs here—one in the Toyo booth, and one in the Mobil 1 booth. More GT-Rs after the jump!
