Each year, the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, or SEMA as it's more commonly known, hosts it's annual trade-only show in Las Vegas. The SEMA Show is undoubtedly North America's largest automotive aftermarket show, lasting a week and consisting of close to 14 miles of isles crammed with every aftermarket part imaginable. The show is every enthusiast's dream, with aftermarket manufacturers of all kinds on hand unveiling the latest products and brand-new additions to the market.
Something else we look forward to every year is the several debuts of much-talked about race cars that have been under construction during the months leading up to this huge industry gathering. Every year certain O.E. platforms have a huge impact on the show, with several top tuners turning them into the "car of the show." This year's show undoubtedly belonged to the Hyundai Tiburon and the all-new 350Z from Nissan. Roger Scalise unveiled his wild Tiburon front-drive drag car, which is expected to be laying down some serious rubber in 2003. And in the Nissan camp, GReddy had every head turning with a 350Z that already boasted a twin-turbo setup. Steph Papadakis appears to be leaving his front-drive days behind as he unveiled his 2003 rear-drive Civic chassis car. Adam Saruwatari is making this switch too, ditching the NSX in favor of a rear-drive Civic. Other notables included Bergenholtz Racing, which has constructed a Mazda chassis car, and Shaun Carlson with his transition from the Focus to a Neon for the upcoming season.
In the parts department, Edelbrock has unleashed a complete turbo kit for D-series Hondas that could very well change the definition of the term "kit" for good. The kit consists of everything you need, including a replacement intake manifold, and the company claims it will retail very competitively. Going into the show we wondered if the aftermarket could really still surprise us, but it seemed just about everywhere we turned the industry had kicked up the pace yet again with a new level of performance propositions.
So, for the record, if anyone asks why we didn't sleep, it's 'cause we were so busy taking all these photos. Enjoy!