November is SEMA time. So, this past November, on the eve of the 2nd, last-minute wrenching was going on all over the country in preparation of the biggest industry gathering of the year.
For those of you who don't know about the SEMA Show, it is the annual industry convention put on by the Specialty Equipment Market Association. Seemingly, everyone in the industry is at SEMA's yearly meeting, which draws not only the who's who in automotive but more than 105,000 automotive professionals to Las Vegas, which is remarkable, considering SEMA is not even open to the public. In fact, with more than 9,000 vendor booths displaying wares, it overtakes all of the Las Vegas Convention Center halls and overflows into the parking lots and adjacent meeting places. Rumor has it that SEMA is so big, you can walk more than 20 miles if you walk the entire show, something that definitely cannot be completed in a day.
This year, as always, several trends and new products emerged, some of which are featured in our accompanying 101 New Products of SEMA article, which shows you a fraction of the more than 1,100 new products that were on display. Another evolving trend was with the color orange, which was seen in many shades and uses on projects scattered throughout the show, including our awesome project van. In fact, your Truckin' staff was on hand with some major presence with no less than four project vehicles on hand to both support and promote the magazine.
Popular as ever were fullsize trucks from the Big 3, however, certain import trucks, such as the Nissan Titan seemed to be gaining acceptance in the aftermarket community. We also noted the slow-to-catch-on Durangos and Colorados done up in custom glory, looking far better than their stock counterparts ever could, which is a hopeful sign that these new models will be acknowledged as fresh canvases for builders around the country, as they move beyond the last generation S-10 and Silverado C/K trucks to build up some truly new and outrageous ideas.
SEMA was also a time for the staff to get out and shake hands, scheduling tech stories for the coming year, in addition to setting up feature shoots, which you will see throughout the pages of the 31st year of Truckin' magazine. Now that the SEMA rush is over, most people are already putting into motion plans for the next slew of SEMA vehicles to be unveiled at the end of 2005.
For more information on the SEMA Show, and on what SEMA does for you as an enthusiast, log onto www.sema.org.