Once again, the annual madness known as the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center has passed and helped several automotive aftermarket companies introduce their latest custom wares to the hungry custom truck community.
This year's SEMA Show was held November 5-8, and just like any other year, it featured a large sampling of new manufacturer vehicles customized using components from some of the biggest names in the aftermarket. Walking around, we were greeted by several customized Dodge Rams and Hummer H2s. Whether lifted high in the sky, slammed to the earth, or moderately modified, these two new vehicles were definitely the vehicles of choice for many manufacturers at this year's SEMA Show.
For magazine staffers, SEMA provides an opportunity to set up technical install stories for later in the year, learn about new products, and get the skinny on the wild and wacky feature vehicles included in the show. This year, SEMA featured everything from lifted Super Duty pickups to heavily modified Dodge Rams and everything in between, with out-of-this-world paint, body, and suspension treatments.
One participant even displayed a 'bagged and body-dropped GMC Envoy, which had a crowd around it all week. Several vehicles were displayed along the entryway leading up to the front doors of the convention center to get attendees motivated to hit the show hard as they strolled to the front doors. Just a few of the vehicles outside included Doug DeBerti's '03 Dodge Ram that was lifted, shaved, and painted with bold and aggressive hues, along with Dave Schulman's airbagged, body-dropped, and heavily modified F-150 with an unbelievable paint scheme.
Both of these trucks were turning heads throughout the duration of the show. Inside the show at the Primedia booth, the scene was jumping as custom vehicles representing our well-known automotive titles provided some eye candy for show attendees as they passed by and grabbed their fill of our newest issues. New for SEMA this year was the Performance Marine Pavilion, which was a boater's paradise filled with high-powered water rockets from several prominent builders.
Helping support our theory that custom trucks and boats really do go together, several well-respected companies were in attendance, such as Aftershock Boats, Commander Boats, Eliminator Boats, Hallet Boats, Magic Powerboats, and Nordic Boats, just to name a few. Their fiberglass creations were all hooked to the back of some sort of custom truck or SUV.
Other cool attractions at the show included the cool and smooth Ford F-150 roadster pickup featured in the Gaylord's booth, the high-performance Ford FR 100 in the Ford booth, and the gorgeous red and flamed Eliminator boat hitched up to the back of the Gibson Chevy HD that graced the Dec. '02 cover of Truckin'.
The 2002 SEMA Show was a huge success for vendors as well as our respective titles. Look for lots of the cool rides featured here to appear in upcoming pages of Truckin'. For information on next years SEMA Show, visit www.sema.org.