Event Coverage: Sema 2012 – Part 4.

Nov 8, 2012

I love American classics and this year I didn’t get the chance to check out nearly as many classic cruise nights as I would have liked so SEMA served as a great way for me to catch up on American Iron.

There were awesome builds literally as far as the eye could see and I had to constantly remind myself not to spend all of my time (or card space) on the classics.

Most of my favourite American builds from 2012 are below with a couple held over for future SEMA showstoppers.

Drag’N Kaiser

After following this build on Speedhunters it was great to be able to see it in the metal. If I didn’t know better I would have sworn it came from the factory as a two door, the work is that good.

If you have not yet I recommend checking out the build.

kaiser_4 — Pictures do not do this Gene Winfield paint job justice

kaiser_1 — The white continued all the way through the center console and onto the back deck lid

kaiser_3 — It was also carried over onto the steering wheel

Ford

beatnik — Regret not taking more photos of this but at the same time I don’t remember taking this one

gasser_front — Beautiful altered wheelbase Ford Falcon

gasser_motor — Show quality engine bay with a motor that could probably pull a few stumps

ford_crazy_linkage_new_metal_kustoms — This 32 known as the ‘Sylvester II’ has quite the back story behind it which can be read here

ford_crazy_linkage_1 — Hard to see with the all that chrome but that’s a chain operated throttle

ford_crazy_linkage_3 — And if that was not crazy enough chain operated shift linkage too

ford_suncammer_mothers — Riddler award winning 56 Ford Sunliner known as the “Suncammer”

ford_suncammer_suncammer_motor — Original 427 cammer motor under the hood hopped up a wee bit

ford_t_bird_ride_tech — Perhaps the best looking Thunderbird I have seen

ford_t_bird_ride_tech_interior — Super nice interior

ford_t_bird_ride_tech_motor_2 — Easily one of the best looking engine bays at the show in my opinion

ford_t_bird_ride_tech_motor — That’s 1150 ponies worth of Gale Banks Engineering 6.0-liter v8

Mach 40

Created using original ’69 Mustang Mach One body parts and built to the owners vision over three years the Mach 40 is an incredible machine that had a number of people talking. In fact the eckertsrodandcustom.com site is down for exceeding it’s bandwidth and I’d wager what I lost in Vegas this car is to blame.

Until it goes back up here’s the nitty gritty; a 2006 Ford GT 5.4 with a four litre Whipple supercharger makes it go, it’s got C6 suspension all around, and inside is a custom interior with Italian leather. The wheels are again custom and based off the ’69 GT Magnum 500 wheels.

The car ended up winning the Gran Tourismo award for it’s category (best hot rod) which means it will be in the next game.

ford_mach_40_1 — The idea was for the car to just be a “little” wider than the standard 69 Mach One

ford_mach_40_3 — The front and rear glass is original ’69

ford_mach_40_2 — Underneath that OEM rear glass is a Whipple charged 5.4L that has a horse power dial that can fo from 600- 850 on the fly

Cadillac

One of my “if I were rich” projects would be to make a screen accurate Ecto-1 that’s slammed to the ground and this ‘Thundertaker’ is the closest I’ve seen to that.

ecto1_1 — This is admittedly a hell of a lot cleaner than an Ecto-1 would ever be

ecto1_2 — Getting a side profile of this thing was TOUGH it’s huge

Chevrolet

chevy_speed_garage — Speed Garage 49 Chevy

chevy_watering_hole — ’53 in the PPG ‘Watering-hole’

chevy_64_impala — Classic drop top Impala

chevy_impala_el_ray_34 — The ‘El-Rey’ Impala

chevy_impala_el_ray_rear — Insanely detailed everywhere you look

chevy_brookwood — Another look at the Brookwood brought by Accuair

chevy_ss — I only have a engine shot of this SS… must have been the best part

chevy_drag_vette — The owner of this Vette used to own the ‘worlds fastest’ street legal Corvette?

chevy_drag_vette_motor — Wonder if this is the new Worlds fastest…

peach_wag_1 — Despite reminding me of freight train wheels these big steels are starting to grow on me

chevy_turbonetics_nomad_1 — I had no idea the owner of Tapout was into cars

chevy_turbonetics_nomad_2 — Closer look at that LS3

chevy_turbonetics_nomad_3 — Awesome grocery getter

chevy_turbonetics_nomad_4 — Race seating for 4!

chevy_camaro_meguairs — I read somewhere that the first generation Camaro is one of the most popular cars at SEMA every year… I believe it

chevy_cf_camaro — LSX powered with lots of CF

chevy_camaro_never_2_much_1 — Never too much attention to detail

chevy_camaro_never_2_much_2 — I’m never opening my hood again

chevy_loka_rs_1 — Goolsby Customs 69 Camaro

chevy_loka_rs_2 — 500+ hp LS3 surrounded by stamped panels

chevy_camaro_apollo — 68 built by Pratt & Miller Restorations

chevy_camaro_apollo_motor — 760 horse LS9

chevy_camaro_amazing_1 — The ‘Tec 9’ Camaro built by Mitch Henderson Designs was a beautiful car and employed two colours I would have never thought to combine

chevy_camaro_amazing_2 — 2″ Wider quarters to house those monster wheels

Classics Reborn?

Not sure what to make of these really and that’s why I am ending with them. I think in both cases we should stop trying to recreate the past, your thoughts?

big_bird_2 — Daytona Super Bird kit for the new Challenger

gtno — This GTO I was on the fence about and then the headlight covers opened and…well… angel eyes are best left on BMWS

Couple more SEMA posts yet to come!

Style Reigns Supreme: Fred Bottcher’s 57 Cadillac

Kustoms Never Die: The ’49 Ford Thunderball

The Appeal Of A Fairlady: Tim’s ’72 G Nose Datsun 240

Not Just Another LS Swap: Brad Ruiter’s Wicked Miata

Not Your Dad’s Camaro: Miro’s 1970 z28 Is Built For War

Toronto Lowriders Unite For the 10th Annual Majestics BBQ

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