It's amazing how many miles people will travel each year to attend the Specialty Equipment Market Association show, better known as SEMA. There really isn't anything quite like it and because it's only once a year, people go to great lengths to make sure they're in attendance.
I love the first day when the crowds are thick with anticipation and everyone is giddy with excitement as we make our way through one of the largest venues on the planet that is roughly the same square footage as Vermont. You can just feel the enthusiasm oozing around you from the gear heads and performance junkies of all ages. When we finally get inside the doors, the drool trickling down our chins tells me it was worth the wait.
I swear it's all we can do to keep from stripping down to our Hanes and rolling around on the convention floor. It's the only true must-attend show of the year and you can count on us being there to take it all in.
This year's event is set for Nov. 1-4 in Las Vegas, Nev. It's the largest automotive show in the nation and the diesel aftermarket segment has grown exponentially over the past few years and is now visible throughout the entire show.
The show is not open to consumers, but hopefully you know a friend who has a brother who works for a shop that can hook you up. One of our favorite stops is when the SEMA Awards are first announced. SEMA Show exhibitors identify the hottest vehicles during the show and then put them on display. One of these awards goes to the "Hottest Truck," and even though there is no guarantee that it will be a diesel, it sure is fun to see what the big three have been up to.
We don't really like show trucks, but there is one exception-when they're actually sitting at shows. True, these diesels will never be seen off-road, much less caught with a speck of dust on them, but we have to admit they sure are fun to look at. The show trucks that we really like are the purpose-built models that will spend the other 360 days of the year adding hard miles on them. For example, last year A.R.E. had its Storm Chaser truck on display from the popular Discovery Channel show. You know this truck sees plenty of action each year.
And just when you think you've seen it all, you discover three more halls that you missed. Plus this doesn't include the parking lot. The outdoor area is where various vendors from the automotive industry who have booths inside SEMA can park and display their demo trucks. There is usually some pretty wild stuff out there. Last year Snow Performance had a couple of its trucks out there in the Vegas sun including its dual, dually! That's always a show stopper to see something like that.
To say that the SEMA show is huge would be an understatement. It takes up the entire Las Vegas Convention Center and all of the grounds surrounding it. There are 2,000 exhibitors in 10,000 booths. The show literally takes over the city for a week. We're counting the days down to November and the anticipation is killing us.