Las Vegas Goes Hi Performance

Las Vegas Goes Hi Performance

Industry Week - SEMA Show - 2002

Every year Las Vegas becomes the meca for all gear heads. From November 5-8 the SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) was the place where all auto related performance and O.E replacement manufacturers displayed their complete product line and introduce new products.

Over 4,000 companies displayed their goods in two convention centers. The Las Vegas Convention Center including its new wing hosted the SEMA Show and the Sands Convention Center hosted the AAPEX Show that catered mainly to the O.E Replacement parts business.

Show organizers for Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week 2002 (AAIW) announced that total attendance for this year's event may set new records and was approximately 19 percent higher than 2001 levels. AAIW consists of the SEMA and AAPEX Shows

Preliminary verified attendance figures for AAIW surpassed 82,000, which was approximately even with 1999 figures, the record year until now. The 2002 total easily surpassed last year's event, even though it was the largest business gathering in the United States following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Exhibitor count was also higher this year. SEMA featured 1,568 exhibitors in 2 million square feet -- an all-time record -- while AAPEX had more than 1,700 exhibitors.

The SEMA Show is sponsored by the Specialty Equipment Market Association and represents the $26 billion specialty automotive parts and accessories industry. AAPEX (the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo) is the annual trade show representing the $250 billion North American retail and service aftermarket. AAPEX is sponsored by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA).

In an effort to attract potential customers to their booths, companies are forced to out do their competition. One fun and very common way is with the help of hot chicks.

Us guys will not stand in line for a dinner buffet, but we will patiently wait to take a picture with a model and get her autograph on a poster!

The AAPEX Show hosted a wide variety of booths that displayed parts commonly found at your local parts store and machinery found at repair shops.

Many parts factories have opted to manufacture in countries such as China and Taiwan due to its lower labor cost. A large presence of foreign companies was felt. It gave buyers a good idea of what products may be directly imported and marketed in this country.

The SEMA Show on the other hand, hosts all the booths with the toys, (my personal favorite). Car and parts manufacturers along with car stylist bring out all their favorite show piece that will make their products stand out. This show usually gives you an idea of what you may see on cars next year.

One of my favorite custom cars this year was the new Thunderbird. It's a car that has all the classy looks and a good base line performance platform that can modified. I have become a believer that independent rear suspension is the way of the future. This feature makes this car perfect for a mid size V8 roadster with all the luxuries that you want in a daily driver. (click on any picture to enlarge)




Billet grills, hood vents larger cross drilled rotors and rear seat roll bar look	Supercharger, larger brakes lower body skirts and rear deck spoiler, also a tonou cover	Here is the real retro look a trunk spare tire cover with a tonou cover and who can forget the head light covers of the 50's

HOT RODS

Customizing is the operative word at the show, one company serious about customizing was "Custom Autosound". These guys make radios for vintage cars that offer the looks to match original dashboards and look stock. However, behind all that, an am/fm cassette and optional CD player is available. They also are the makers of the famous Secretaudio.

(click on picture to enlarge)


Custom Autosound both and award winner Chevelle	Model Maggie Goldstein	Maggie (hottie) with Custom Autosound VP of Sales Johnny Ray

The GM Designing Team nominated several cars that were on display at a number of booths for the best performance and customized car. Well, Custom Autosound won the award and the trophy was presented at the SEMA banquet that night to Carl Sprage (President).

Some great hot rods were displayed all over the convention center. Proof that most gear heads are very good at what they do. Look at these cars that caught my eye.

RACE CARS

Performance products are difficult to sell without the some kind of racing background. Therefore, active race cars were also on display at booths through the shows. The Ferrari 550 Maranello driven by Pete Cox at the October Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta was one example. It finished 16th overall in a 10 hour endurance race. After the race, the team loaded the car on the transporter and shipped it to Las Vegas to be displayed.

War paint is is still all over the car (cool!).

Honda also displayed their new Acura RS driven by Peter Cunningham for the Real Time Racing Team in the SPEED Channel World Challenge Series.

Another interesting item was Ford's race car chassis FR 100 that is ready for a body. It includes a complete 32V Cobra engine and drive train, coil-over shocks in all four corners and a fuel cell. It seams that you will be able to order this package for most racing applications directly from Ford! Price....????

Chrysler being the feature brand name of the show this year, displayed some great racing products. Included were it's new 528c.i HEMI Crate Engine that produces 610 HP and 650 torque and the Midget 166c.i engine producing 350 H.P and 260 torque.

CLASSY RIDES

I've always been a fan of performance luxury cars, Chevy came out a few years ago with the Impala SS which was a lot of fun. Ford's answer was the Marauder with a 5.4 supercharged engine. But what about the higher end?

Ford's product line which includes Jaguar has always been a racing/luxury name and its 4 door race car was just beautiful.

Cadillac has recently started a new campaign to re-enter the performance market like it did in the late 50's. Entering their LMP prototypes for the Le Mans Series and making the CTS the official car of the Bondurant Racing School along with the Corvette. But what if you want a larger sedan?

The DTS is the ticket, a full size Caddy that can push the edge of the envelope. It has performance brakes, wheels and body kit. Also the interior included a light wood trim that matched the leather in a very subtle way. The car looks fast and classy.

PT CRUISERS

Another hit for Chrysler has been the PT Cruiser, this car has taken people back in time. At the same time it opened a fun market not to mention creative.

FOCUS

The Ford Focus got a bad rap last year with some warranty issues. But don't let that fool you, the enthusiasts are here to stay! SVT did a super job with its new 170HP Zetec engine and the performance manufacturers are introducing all kinds of products to make them faster and handle better.

Some amazing ideas include stuffing a small block 5.0L V8 into the engine bay. You can buy the suspension kit to make the conversion thru Kugel Chassis Komponents, or how about a mid engine supercharged Zetec producing 270 bhp & 260 lb-tq. offered by Phase Technologies? Not to mention all the performance bolt on items that are now available off the shelf.

TRUCKS

Trucks, SUV's and mini vans have by far been the most wanted vehicle in the recent years. These were some of the real cool ones.

MUSTANGS

This site is well known for its Mustang fan following and other than the new MACH I and Cobra that were on display these were interesting and very different.

EXOTICS

It seems like the most exotic cars were on display at most of the wheel manufacturers booths. Several Laborginis, Aston Martins, Mercedes and more had some very cool wheels on. But these were two cars that you just don't see on the street, the Saleen S7 and the Ford GT40.

I can't wait to see the competition between these two cars on the track!