SEMA 2013

This year was SEMA's 50th anniversary and DWA's first time out. Bryan and I flew from San Francisco to Las Vegas on Monday after work. By the time we got to our hotel, we were beat...so we had a "romantic" dinner at a steakhouse in the Riviera Hotel then passed out for the night. We were up early the next morning and ready to tackle the "greatest" car show in the world. We started out full of steam, but after about three hours of non-stop walking with bags full of camera equipment on our backs, everything became a blur and all the cars started looking the same. It's about this time that we experienced sensory overload...it really is too much to take in.

We decided that we needed to lighten the load, so we dropped our bags off at the GoPro booth and grabbed a bite to eat before walking through hall after hall for the next 5 hours, that's 8 1/2 hours total.

The cars that really stood out to me were not the crazy Lamborghinis, Ferraris or dime a dozen Scion FRS', but the more simple vehicles like the new Ram ProMaster Van towing a Fiat Abarth on a Featherlight trailer at the Chrysler Booth, and the Volkswagen Rabbit race car at the Garret Turbo booth. It was also fun to see the new MK7 VW Golf, BMW 435i Coupe and mint green Porsche 964 at the H&R Springs booth...these are real cars that we could imagine commuting in and taking out in the mountains on a Sat morning drive.

After spending the entire day at SEMA, we headed home wishing that we had one more day to revisit our favorites so that we could take more video, audio and pictures. We did have a great time, and next year we will have to spend at least two or three days at the show.

I'm going to end this post with a few questions and comments/rants that I have about the SEMA Show...feel free to leave comments.

Why do grown men and women wait in line to get an autograph from Jessie James, Tanner Foust or any other "celebrity"?
Why would anyone want an autograph or their picture taken with a "booth babe"?
The pink/purple RWB Rauh-Welt Porsche at the Toyo Tires booth was poorly slapped together with a bad paint job (there was overspray on all the window seals). The headlights also didn't fit properly and all of the detail work was crap...Am I the only person that noticed this?
Stance Nation is a place that I don't want to live
Stop putting ugly wheels on your $400K Lamborghini
People love bags! About 80% of the people at SEMA were walking around the entire show with big stupid bags that they got free. Some of these people had three or four bags and bags filled with bags. WHY???

Carbon Fiber Pagani Huayra at the GoPro booth

Our good Friend Danny George's Formula Drift Miata

The RWB Rauh-Welt Porsche at the Toyo Tires booth

Ferrari F12 on some killer HRE Wheels at the HRE booth