Here we are – the final installment of my SEMA 2023 coverage!
SEMA Fest is a two day, open to the public festival celebration all things SEMA. It replaces SEMA Ignition which used to be the sort of SEMA after party held on the Friday night.
There was a big music festival alongside Formula Drift, motorcross and BMX demos and the Hoonigan Burnyard which was also hosting gymkhana competitions. There was also a big marketplace with lots of automotive vendors and food and drink and plenty of cars and trucks from the SEMA show dotted about!
I’m not a huge music guy and my batteries were pretty drained after a week at SEMA, so I just popped along during the day to check out the cars and some of the displays.
There were lots of different trucks and jeeps!
These audio trucks are really cool! I first got to see one at SEMA Ignited back in 2019. The speakers all fold up into a cube in the bed, then they unfold when you want to use them. They are insanely loud! I’d love to see some builds like this in the U.K!
Another thing I’d like to see more of in the U.K is modified Range Rovers. Considering we built them, there seems to be very few that are modified here.
I love the use of Range Rover wheels on this one.
There was another really nicely done Range Rover in the Hoonigan area at SEMA which you can read about here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2023/12/30/sema-2023-hoonigan-burnyard
This right hand drive Mini Countryman has (I assume) made its way over from the U.K at some point.
Of course the U.K isn’t the only right hand drive market. With the Skyline now crossing the 25 year import threshold, more and more are appearing in the U.S.
It was really nice to see Gary King Jr’s supercharged LS R34 in person. I’ve been following this build on the internet. Sadly, I didn’t get to meet Gary himself. Maybe in 2025!
Gary works closely alongside the Hoonigan guys who were there with the burnyard hosting a gymkhana competition and burnouts. Lia Block led a 43 car burnout in honor of her Dad in ‘The Hoonicorn’ on the Friday night. I was gutted I missed that!
I’ll just do a quick gallery of some of the other cars at SEMA Fest and then I’ll walk you through my top 3 builds there!
The first of my top 3 builds is a bit of an unusual one, but bear with me.
This is a Chevrolet Corsa – based on the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa C based in Europe. The Chevrolet Corsa was sold throughout South America, and was built in Argentina so at some point someone decided to bring it into the United States.
I had no idea that the Chevrolet Corsa existed. I didn’t realise that they were sold outside of Europe and, to the best of my knowledge, the saloon Corsa was never sold in the U.K under the Vauxhall badge. Only the hatchbacks were sold here.
I’d love to source and bring one over just for the rarity! I’m sure it would get a bit of attention at the Vauxhall shows.
This particular build isn’t really to my personal taste, which is why this car is just at number three. The owners clearly having a tonne of fun with it though and that’s what really counts!
As you’ll know from my top 10 builds of SEMA 2023 (which you can read about here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2024/01/19/my-top-builds-of-sema-2023 ) I love an unsual theme or starting vehicle (fire trucks, armoured cars and ice cream trucks in that case).
That’s why this mail truck is my number 2 vehicle! It looks really good mostly blacked out, but retaining the chrome around the lights and mirrors. The lowering with big wheels really suit it too! It’s just been really nicely done and looks very smart!
My number one pick is Brandon Leggitt’s ‘The Beast’ – a 1953 Studebaker land speed racing car.
The Beast is the world’s fastest stock bodied car. It makes 8000hp and runs at 335mph.
I’ve really got into land speed racing over the past few years. I’d love to go to Bonneville or El Mirage one day. It looks really interesting!
You can read my full article about the land speed cars at SEMA here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2023/11/12/sema-2023-land-speed-racing
Thanks for reading!
This is the last post of my SEMA 2023 content! I had a fantastic time! I want to get some stuff sorted out in my day job so I won’t be coming to SEMA 2024. I’ll be coming to SEMA 2025 though as it will be this website’s 10th anniversary!
There’s still tonnes of fun things I’ve got planned for this year though, so please follow me on the following social media platforms:
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By Richard Francis
