Check out our coverage from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show!
When you take an ordinary car and do an engine swap, it transforms the car into something cool. When you take a car that’s already cool and do an engine swap, that makes it badass!
At SEMA 2014, I saw this Chrysler Conquest TSI lined up for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. It belongs to John Lazorack of Lazorack Motorsports. As you can tell, this is no ordinary Conquest – this one is powered by an LS1 engine from a 2002 Corvette!
In the world of motorsports, the Nissan 240SX is the poster child of drifting. These cars are often modified to slide sideways and generate as much tire smoke as possible – a juvenile use of a car when compared to precision automotive events like autocross, drag racing, and rally racing.
This car, however, is not guilty by association. It is tasteful in appearance, with nary an anodized tow hook or band-aid sticker to be seen. This is not some teenager’s ironic drift machine – this is a serious street car that competed in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge in Las Vegas in 2014.
The 2014 SEMA Show has officially ended. The booths are being dismantled, the cars loaded onto trailers, and 130,000 people are heading home after the 4-day event.
If you are not familiar with SEMA, it is an annual trade show for the automotive aftermarket industry. This was our 3rd year attending the show, and it was a very memorable one!
We took plenty of photos of this year’s show, which featured approximately 2,500 exhibitors and over 1,500 vehicles on display. We will be profiling many of these cars in upcoming posts, so be sure to stay tuned for more coverage!
Arriving at the 2014 SEMA Show
So as you can tell by the SEMA posts lately, it’s that time of year again. Giving you some highlights from last year hopefully has you in the mood to see the latest and greatest our automotive industry has to offer us this year. In approximately 9 hours we’ll be headed on the road to Vegas to catch the tail end of what’s essentially the greatest car show of the year – even if it’s only seen by industry insiders.
You see, this is what makes me so excited. To be able to share with you here in text form (or even more effectively on our youtube page) the experience of it. It’s one thing to give you the scoop on the show cars, the latest products or even some really neat tech… but more than that, I’d like for you to connect with what it’s like being there and experiencing the madness that is this week-long trade show.
There was an abundance of second-gen Camaros at SEMA, but this one had something special about it. Perhaps it was the $22,000 LS9 crate engine under the hood! Or maybe it was the ultra-deep 20″ rear wheels. Whatever the reason, I paused for a moment to check out this car in depth.
A small sign indicated that this 1981 Camaro Z28 was built by Classic Performance. It did not mention where their shop is located or who owns this car, and I was unable to find that information after searching online.
It is a common practice in the auto industry to name a sporty car after a fearsome or powerful animal. Cars like the Mustang, Impala, Cougar, and Shelby Cobra all borrow their names from the animal kingdom.
Along those lines, Keith Goggin decided to give his 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia the nickname “Blue Mamba.” It’s a reference to the black mamba, a venomous snake found throughout central Africa. They are some of the fastest-moving snakes on earth, and also extremely deadly.
