Yes I know what year it is, no I haven't been in a coma.... yes I am lazy. A few other minor life things have got in the way, but I still can't quite believe its been 3 years now!!
Anyway, I thought I'd post this up in case of any interest. If so, I will continue with part 2 at a later date...
Like a lot of you on here, I’m sure, my itch to go to SEMA has been there since the early 2000’s when I used to watch American HotRod and see some of the cars they were building for the show. Over the years as those programmes have become increasingly more popular, I learned more about the show which only furthered my desire to go. When the 2017 show was on, my wife finally snapped and told me to get it booked. So January 2018 I sat down with a good friend of mine and a plan was formed.
Both of us have young families so a week-long jaunt was not really on the cards. The plan evolved into landing at McCarran on Halloween, hit the town, then 2 days at SEMA, 2 days doing Vegas stuff and on the Sunday night red-eye home.
I’ve been to Vegas twice before, both times driving up from LA, so breezing through immigration and being in the hotel room within an hour of hitting the tarmac was a rather bizarre experience. So was the ground floor room 50 yards from the gambling floor!! Despite this, we didn’t hear a thing during our 4 night tenure.
Anyway, so quick shower and change and a walk up the strip in search of adventure (and food). Ended up in a cocktail bar somewhere up near the Venetian with a lot of very scantily clad staff and not eating dinner (bear in mind this was Halloween in Vegas!). The next few hours are hazy, I remember the cigars were $40(!!) and there was some Tequila involved, but thankfully we woke up unscathed, albeit a little sensitive, on Thursday morning ready to tick off the bucket list.
Not much better places to wake up….
As it was a nice day and we needed to walk off some excess, we headed up the strip, stopping off at Maccys for breakfast. Ever since I discovered the McGriddle, I have to have at least one any time I’m across the pond, and this one just gently melted away any trace of a hangover along with a large, very sweet coffee.
As we’d come this far, we decided to walk all the way to the show, those who know Vegas will be surprised at this given we were staying at the MGM Grand. (We wanted to be on the strip, but have easy access to the monorail.)
As we turned the corner into the LVCC parking lot, we were greeted with this:
And I knew I was in for a good day
Here we go then….
And indoors….
If you want an abridged version, I shall oblige. SEMA is off the hook!! If you are a car fan, I would implore you visit at least once. Everything you think you know about car shows, pales into insignificance here. We worked out that we would basically have to see 1 car a minute to see them all in the 2 days we had. Obviously, the bias is on American Muscle and Trucks, but there were OEM cars, classics, ‘imports’, hotrods, restomods, various different race cars (track, drag, nascar), I’ve never seen anything like it.
Everyone was polite, friendly and respectful; I took about 1000 photos while I was there, and I reckon I had to retake 3 because someone got in the way, the rest of the time folks waited until you were done before passing through. Not once did someone walk/bump into me, and we had so many interesting discussions with fellow visitors/exhibitors/owners.
Of course, SEMA isn’t just about cars, but parts too and we saw some pretty amazing products. It’s a real eye-opener just how big the custom/modified scene is in the US, here in Europe its small fry compared to the billions they spend.
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A bit of American sense of humour thrown in:
More parts and accessories:
And some cars I could afford courtesy of Traxxas
Anyway, have a selection of my favourite cars:
Some of you might recognise Blasphemi, belongs to Mike Finnegan of Roadkill fame:
Love seeing the OEM’s getting in on the action too, the Americans have such a different outlook to us!
Electric Drag Camaro:
And a traditional version too….
One of my favourite cars of the show…
A beetle even more modified than mine:
God bless rednecks:
i8
Porsche:
Had to chat with the guys from EMPI being a VW fan:
Crazy sled:
And on to the outside areas:
Everything has NOS:
Brodozer and Skyline – almost a metaphor for the show!
The Skyline was actually a F&F hero car which had subsequently been modded in a more contemporary style… make of that what you will!
Another stunning car…
Anyway, I thought I'd post this up in case of any interest. If so, I will continue with part 2 at a later date...
Like a lot of you on here, I’m sure, my itch to go to SEMA has been there since the early 2000’s when I used to watch American HotRod and see some of the cars they were building for the show. Over the years as those programmes have become increasingly more popular, I learned more about the show which only furthered my desire to go. When the 2017 show was on, my wife finally snapped and told me to get it booked. So January 2018 I sat down with a good friend of mine and a plan was formed.
Both of us have young families so a week-long jaunt was not really on the cards. The plan evolved into landing at McCarran on Halloween, hit the town, then 2 days at SEMA, 2 days doing Vegas stuff and on the Sunday night red-eye home.
I’ve been to Vegas twice before, both times driving up from LA, so breezing through immigration and being in the hotel room within an hour of hitting the tarmac was a rather bizarre experience. So was the ground floor room 50 yards from the gambling floor!! Despite this, we didn’t hear a thing during our 4 night tenure.
Anyway, so quick shower and change and a walk up the strip in search of adventure (and food). Ended up in a cocktail bar somewhere up near the Venetian with a lot of very scantily clad staff and not eating dinner (bear in mind this was Halloween in Vegas!). The next few hours are hazy, I remember the cigars were $40(!!) and there was some Tequila involved, but thankfully we woke up unscathed, albeit a little sensitive, on Thursday morning ready to tick off the bucket list.
Not much better places to wake up….
As it was a nice day and we needed to walk off some excess, we headed up the strip, stopping off at Maccys for breakfast. Ever since I discovered the McGriddle, I have to have at least one any time I’m across the pond, and this one just gently melted away any trace of a hangover along with a large, very sweet coffee.
As we’d come this far, we decided to walk all the way to the show, those who know Vegas will be surprised at this given we were staying at the MGM Grand. (We wanted to be on the strip, but have easy access to the monorail.)
As we turned the corner into the LVCC parking lot, we were greeted with this:
And I knew I was in for a good day
Here we go then….
And indoors….
If you want an abridged version, I shall oblige. SEMA is off the hook!! If you are a car fan, I would implore you visit at least once. Everything you think you know about car shows, pales into insignificance here. We worked out that we would basically have to see 1 car a minute to see them all in the 2 days we had. Obviously, the bias is on American Muscle and Trucks, but there were OEM cars, classics, ‘imports’, hotrods, restomods, various different race cars (track, drag, nascar), I’ve never seen anything like it.
Everyone was polite, friendly and respectful; I took about 1000 photos while I was there, and I reckon I had to retake 3 because someone got in the way, the rest of the time folks waited until you were done before passing through. Not once did someone walk/bump into me, and we had so many interesting discussions with fellow visitors/exhibitors/owners.
Of course, SEMA isn’t just about cars, but parts too and we saw some pretty amazing products. It’s a real eye-opener just how big the custom/modified scene is in the US, here in Europe its small fry compared to the billions they spend.
A bit of American sense of humour thrown in:
More parts and accessories:
And some cars I could afford courtesy of Traxxas
Anyway, have a selection of my favourite cars:
Some of you might recognise Blasphemi, belongs to Mike Finnegan of Roadkill fame:
Love seeing the OEM’s getting in on the action too, the Americans have such a different outlook to us!
Electric Drag Camaro:
And a traditional version too….
One of my favourite cars of the show…
A beetle even more modified than mine:
God bless rednecks:
i8
Porsche:
Had to chat with the guys from EMPI being a VW fan:
Crazy sled:
And on to the outside areas:
Everything has NOS:
Brodozer and Skyline – almost a metaphor for the show!
The Skyline was actually a F&F hero car which had subsequently been modded in a more contemporary style… make of that what you will!
Another stunning car…
