More than 60,000 people attended this year's SEMA show featuring the best in customized vehicles.
The world’s premier confluence of horsepower, off-road capability and imagination can be summarized in four letters: SEMA. The Las Vegas-based show for customizers and tinkerers alike is drawing to a close for another year.
The show is so large it spills out into the parking lot and features not only the best aftermarket offerings from the automakers, but also the creative, mind-blowing takes of specialty companies that take the best of what makers produce and tweak, or in some cases completely remake them into completely new machines.
Not only is the show floor laden with every type of vehicle imagined, but also it’s still a car show and that means awards.
The show gives out four honors for the new vehicles that have been customized for the show and this year’s “hot” winners include:
Ford captured three of the four "Hottest" awards at this year's SEMA show, including Mustang taking "Hottest Car."
- Hottest Car: Ford Mustang
- Hottest Truck: Ford F-Series
- Hottest 4×4 – SUV: Jeep Wrangler
- Hottest Sport Compact: Ford Focus
The SEMA Award recognizes vehicle models that specialty-equipment manufacturers believe are the best platforms for accessorization and showcase the year’s coolest products. It also underscores the cooperative relationship between the automakers and SEMA-member companies.
“The SEMA Award helps guide consumers toward the hottest-trending and most accessory friendly vehicles on the market,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO.
Kia's A1A Optima convertible is a nod to America’s roadster fascination with its sliced top and shortened windshield.
“Our SEMA Show exhibitors are industry visionaries who determine the winners of the SEMA Award. By counting the vehicles displayed in exhibitor booths, we can see which vehicle models SEMA exhibitors believe will resonate with the enthusiast community.”
Ford taking three of the four awards shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Before this year’s show opened, SEMA officials walked the show floor and counted the number of new cars and trucks exhibited. More Mustang, Focus and F-Series vehicles are on display than any other car or truck.
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“Winning SEMA’s hottest vehicle awards for Mustang, Focus and F-Series is a great affirmation of the popularity of Ford vehicles with this trendsetting part of the market,” said Dave Pericak, director, Ford Performance. “We’re proud the aftermarket has embraced these three vehicles with as much enthusiasm as our customers invest to personalize their Mustang, Focus and F-Series.”
Take your crossover camping with the 2016 Hyundai Tucson Adventuremobile.
While Ford captured three awards, other automakers brought plenty of other vehicles that garnered attention on the show floor. Kia’s A1A Optima convertible swathed in a color blue reminiscent of the sky seen from the Florida highway it’s named after is among those.
Produced by LUX Motorwerks, the A1A features reinforced steel tubes hidden within the body-in-white so that the vehicle retains a rigid structure. The back doors of the A1A Optima swing open on rear-mounted hinges, adding a touch of whimsy and fun while complementing the roadster style, according to Kia.
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It rides on a gleaming set of 20-inch HRE S104 wheels and Tiarra Luxury upper and lower grilles give the A1A Optima a contemporary aesthetic that’s completely at home in the simmering South Beach scene, the automaker noted.
Hyundai took the opposite approach with its John Pangilinan-designed 2016 Tucson Adventuremobile. The vehicle blends Hyundai’s new crossover platform with a passion for the great outdoors, perfect for the weekend getaway. The most obvious addition was a Treeline Tamarack roof-top tent, with ample room to sleep two campers.
The SEMA show is not only home to tweaked out new vehicles, but customized restorations as well.
The exterior was beefed up with the addition of an Aries bull bar and side steps, Rigid Industries LED lights, a custom 1.5-in. suspension lift for extra ground clearance, and Toyo Open Country A/T II tires with RAYS Gram Lights 57DR wheels to provide the extra grip needed for the occasional off-road excursion.
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The show isn’t just about what folks with scads of cash can do to new vehicles, the 60,000 show attendees also want to see what folks of scads of cash can do with older vehicles, including hot-rodded buses, rat-rods and other classic cars.