Alas we are at the final phase of our 2012 SEMA coverage…
SEMA is a blast every single year and it’s one of those events that I always make sure to mark down on my calender. What is great about the SEMA show is that it helps open my eyes to a lot of different styles of building as well as vehicles of all makes and models. While I’ll always be an import guy that is into Hondas and all other Japanese makes, it’s very interesting to be able to be in the presence of some really amazing domestic and European builds. It never hurts to expand your horizons and the diversity is what makes SEMA so enjoyable. My hope is that you’ve gotten that same type of feel from going through all 6 (now 7) parts of my coverage and you’ve learned a little something along the way. I wish I would have been able to cover some of the cars in better detail but as you can tell from the amount of photos already, I had to trim it down some. Otherwise, we would end up with like 20 parts or something…On top of that, I understand that many of you might not be as interested in all types of cars like I am and you might get bored. A seven part series, I feel, is in-depth enough without having too many or too little photos…
Anyways, another highlight of going to SEMA in Las Vegas is being able to experience life on the famous Vegas strip for a week with friends. Though many of us hang out regularly, it’s a completely different experience when you are outside of your normal surroundings. It also grants us the opportunity to see some people who we don’t usually hang out with because we are either in another part of the country and sometimes even on the other side of the world, as you’ve seen with our friends Takeshi, Hiro, and the crew from Tactical Art. It was really fun being able to show the Japanese homies around Vegas and to party with them because its not anything like what they normally experience, being that they aren’t in their native country. Below at the end of the coverage, I’ve attached some photos from our lives outside of the SEMA show that week, from various places we went to, industry parties, etc. If you don’t care, then just move on after the car pics end. If you wanted to see what we did when we weren’t walking around the Las Vegas Convention Center, check out the photos at the end…
We’re at the end now but there are six other parts of coverage if you’re seeing this for the first time. The links below will take you to every single part that you missed…
…and now, the beginning of the end…
We’re gonna start off with something different in the form of some motorcycle artistry created by RK Concepts…
These bikes really caught me off guard and were just stunning when I stopped to take a look at them. They had a consistent crowd around them throughout the week but I was able to get some detail shots after some maneuvering around other spectators…
This particular bike from RK Concepts was my favorite of the bunch. I love the symmetry and the custom fabrication work. Almost reminds me of the inside of a watch. While the others had names that I was able to identify on their website, I don’t know the name of this bike. Perhaps it was a new creation that hasn’t made their way onto their site yet…
Amazing attention to detail on the metal work…
Ohlins adjustable damper with external reservoir…
The RK “Thing”…
The RK “Chain” bike…
…designed to resemble a giant bike chain…
Really like how sleek and low the bike sits… You don’t see a gas tank on this bike because it doesn’t have one. The builder, Rafik Kaissi (“RK” Concepts), designed and build this bike on his own in his apartment garage and put this bike together in a way where the rider actually wears the gas tank on his back! Fucking nuts…Check out the video below if you don’t believe what you just read. It’s a little shaky but you can see that this bike is actually operational and streetable…
Interesting seat design…
Beefy rear tire on the RK Chain…
The RK “S”, built out of 3.5-inch stainless steel tubing bent to an “S” shape and cut into three different pieces that bolt back together…Wild to see a frame that runs to one side instead of a conventional bike frame….
This is the RK “Leaf Spring” with a Yamaha 450cc motor and really cool “beehive” style gas tank. The entire frame was built out of a leaf spring so that it also doubles as the front and rear suspension…
You can see here that it also has a foldaway seat…
Here’s a close-up of the beehive-like gas tank…
Next up is this bare metal 1934 Ford truck, built by Jimmy Shine…
The shell was originally found in a backyard where it sat for over 30 years before Jimmy Shine got a hold of it. The top was chopped five inches, frame channeled six inches, and the rear was kicked-up 18 degrees. The front features a “suicide” front end that helps to keep the whole truck really low to the ground…
The motor is a ’49 8BA block with Bill Jenks-ground Potvin 20 cam, 7.5:1 pistons, and Edelbrock heads and intake…
Stromberg 97 carbs mounted on a roots-type supercharger…
The interior is also bare metal with a 1940 Ford dash and old aircraft bucket seats surrounded by custom sheet metal work by Jimmy Shine…
If you’re wondering, yes, it really has a bare, raw metal finish…
On the completely opposite end of the spectrum was this widebody Z33 Nissan 350Z. I recognized this car from some photos from WEKEAST but got a better look at it at SEMA…
Tucked bay featuring a custom intake manifold and Vortech supercharger…
Inside are custom diamond-stitched door panels and headliner mixed with a gold roll cage and VeilSide racing seats…
Carbon fiber rear hatch and roof…
Amp rack built into the rear bumper that extends out from the license plate section…
All the way from Hawaii was Samson Mak’s Lexus LS430, representing Revision Audio…
Work Equip E05 wheels with Brembo big brake kit…
Interior with Junction Produce Recaro baby seat and various VIP-themed trinkets and accessories…Also notice the Toyota Celsior steering wheel…
Laying on the ground via Airrunner suspension…
Love the custom audio set-up in the trunk with the Airrunner components on display with marble panels surrounding the audio pieces. Mak’s Airrunner set-up is also controlled by Accuair’s E-Level management system…
Another VIP build that came from Hawaii was this black Lexus GS400, also from Revision Audio…
Work Gnosis HS203 wheels and big brakes from Mode Parfume…
Custom black diamond-stitched leather interior…
The trunk is set-up much like the LS430 with the Airrunner suspension serving as the centerpiece….
Slammed Chevy Silverado pick-up that randomly caught my eye…
Custom Dodge 500 truck from Juanky Built, showing on behalf of Dieselwheels.com
The exterior carries a “rat” style theme but the engine bay is much simpler with just a clean, black look…
Laid out…
Like the brass knuckles-style handles that control the air suspension and the large lever to the left that controls the rear dump truck bed…
Air tank mounted to the bed, which has been refinished in wood…
Rat-style VW Beetle…
This ’55 Buick Century coupe looked like it was glued to the floor…
Impala Lowrider from LIFESTYLE…
800hp BMW X5 M built by BBi Autosport…
Bronze Avant Garde F240 wheels…The X5 is also on air suspension that is managed via an Accuair unit…
BMW 335i on SSR Professor SP3 wheels…
Top Secret-kitted JZA80 Supra from Team Hybrid…
One final shot of Ken from Wek’Sos’s Junction Produce LS460…
Slek Designs widebody E92 BMW M3…
A couple more of one of my favorites, LS8 supercharged Chevy Bel-Air coupe…
That pretty much wraps up my SEMA 2012 coverage. After I left the show, I went to go pick-up May, who had been hanging out at a friend’s house and I spotted this gem on the highway…
Haha…Can’t remember the last time I saw an S2000 taillight conversion. The car looked like an old beat-up Corolla but it was actually a 90-93 Accord coupe…Had the Acccord Inspire badge on the trunk and all…
As I said up top, I’ve included various photos from throughout our week in Vegas. It pretty much sums up our week-long stay out there and the stuff we did while we were there…
As you can see, lots of shenanigans with all of our friends who made the trip…
Mike Alverado from Token Media Group also managed to take some photos from the Falken industry party that Thursday. It was definitely one of the wildest nights there but unfortunately, a lot of the photos that he took that night were lost. I’ve gone ahead and tossed a couple of them in just for shits and giggles. Some of the faces you’ll recognize, some you won’t…Props to Mike for snapping the photos and carrying his dSLR around. I wanted to party and hang out so I was not down to carry my camera shit around all night. Go ahead and head over to his FB page and throw him a “Like”… CLICK HERE….
Photographer Steve Demmitt and Ryan Der with some friends at the Falken industry party, held at Chateau Night Club inside Paris…
Natalia Marie and a go-go friend…
Natalia Marie letting us know that the back is just as good as the front…
Antonio from Motormavens with a lady friend…
Guy in the purple is Token Mike, who supplied these photos…
John Zhang aka 1013MM put the camera down to show-off some of his dance moves. Glad I didn’t see this go down…
Big Mike, who isn’t much of a drinker, sitting back and watching others make bad decisions…
That’s all folks. Thanks for looking at all seven parts of the SEMA 2012 series. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you’ve never been to SEMA it is definitely one of those events that you have to witness in person at lease once in your lives if you’re a car guy/gal. If you’re gonna try to make it out next year, I’ll see you there…
Good times. That collage is awesome!
Really regret not taking a closer look at those bikes now. Damn.
Great coverage
LOL @ 1:29 on the video
Reblogged this on ride411 and commented:
the rat rod look with the age engines under the hood
Reblogged this on Bandit2010's Blog.