What's New At Sema

It feels like it was just yesterday that we were at the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and here we are, at it again and running through the halls of the biggest automotive convention in the automotive industry. The preparation, the parties, the gambling, the strip clubs; it didn't feel like a week, it felt like two days. The SEMA show just keeps getting bigger and if you stop at any time you're going to miss a few things.

It was business as usual when we arrived at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We set up the booth and got things ready for the four-day show. We had help from a few friends, included Luis Lemus, Alex "Chino" Vega and Bruce Folwell of Uce C.C., who bent over backwards to help us out. Marty Felix of the Desirable Ones was our other connection.

The Lowrider Magazine booth featured Luis' '64 Impala. The car's custom paint job and billet grille that had everyone talking. Peter Macias' '61 convertible received several compliments for its Bill Carter/Danny D. paint job. Bruce's '63 convertible was also on display to put it down for Vegas. The Source Interlink booth featured "Two Face," a custom '63 convertible that was up on jackstands. This car proved to everyone that lowriders have as much work put into them as the best of the best hot-rods. Marty's custom-painted '64 Chevy Impala appeared in the Mirror Image booth.

There were a lot of things at the '07 SEMA Show that had us talking. There was the hall full of wheels that everyone hates to hear about. There were many custom vehicles that had us talking, including a convertible hot-rod with an almost perfect interior that must have cost about $50,000 just in the interior design alone. This car was a piece of work. We would really like to see it be appraised to determine what that interior is really worth. There was also a '63 Impala with a Corvette suspension and a few accessories featured in the Sony booth.

The SEMA show had a few concept cars on display. The Chevy Camaro coupe and the long-awaited convertible were two of our personal favorites (we're into other cars besides lowriders). The body lines on that car reminded us of the classic Camaro. We just hope that Chevy designers don't change much on the original concept when they build the production vehicle.

Another lowrider repping the industry was a tan '64 Impala convertible with a 42-inch plasma TV molded in the trunk. The DEI booth featured a fresh lowrider-style truck that had it all: airbags, music and a radical paint job that most lowriders would be happy to sport. There was a '57 Chevy Bel Air with a Viper engine/trans combo that was, like wow, pretty sick.

Some of the items that we saw at SEMA included Dakota Digital LEDs for classic Impalas. Also introduced was big-block finned valve covers, as well as LS valve covers and intakes (this engine will be the industry's next small-block 350). We saw the debut of a '55 convertible that could be purchased for about $100,000, depending on your options as a turn-key custom car.

Professional Products debuted its easy to bolt on fuel injection, which learns as it operates. You also don't need a return fuel line as it's a single-feed. Quaker State showed us their latest synthetic oils, which will help your engine live longer while performing better. March Performance broke out a bracket that will dress up your engine for a few hundred dollars versus the average $2,000 to $3,000 setups that everyone is being forced into.

With new wheels coming out from various industry leaders, the South Hall had much to look at. Traveling through the hall, we saw a few rims that stood out from the rest, like Lexani's 40-inch wheel and the diamond-studded wheels that they're now producing. WTW had a Rolls-Royce R convertible Phantom with a stainless steel hood accompanied by a mirror-black paint job.