I’ll just start with WOW. (Read that as not a good WOW) – I’ve attended SEMA for 10 years now and this is easily the most-empty I’ve ever seen a SEMA Show. The South Hall (Wheel/Tire) was easily 1/4 empty – they tried to makeup for it by adding extra alleys, but it was very apparent. Lots of no shows from major tire companies and those that did show had booths 1/4 or easily 1/2 of their usual size. This is also the first time I didn’t at least fill 1 full card of images. Lots of long faces and some hopeful that the economy will pickup, but let’s just keep it real – this is AFTERmarket…optional goods / the days of moms and mortgage brokers dropping $7K on 23″ wheels for their Range are over. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still demand, it’s just a different demographic now.
A few quick notes on the vehicles I found of interest:
Underground Racing’s Twin Turbo LP560-4 in the Mobil 1 booth. Not a wrap…amazing detail on the hardware.
Premier4509 / Heavy Hitters – Aston Martin/AMV8 – yeah, I call these Baller-ass Volvo’s, but there’s no denying how hot this thing is. Jarasa and Crew @ Platinum VIP killed it on this one – I’m jockin Jay-Z on this.
Matte 430S – in the Eneos booth. Worth a look at the rear as well.
Part 2 will be up tomorrow once I get some rest…