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2006 SEMA
By: Frank Filipponio
Photos by Drew Phillips
November 10, 2006

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First held at Dodger Stadium in 1967, the SEMA show has grown from 14,000 square feet of exhibit space to well over one million. 3,000 people visited the 98 booths at the original show, a far cry from the 100,000 visitors and 10,000 booths at this, SEMA’s 40th year. And believe it or not, only 5 cars were on display in 1967, whereas today’s crowd has 4 days to try to view 2,000! If lined up bumper to bumper, all of the vehicles on display at the 2006 SEMA Show would stretch more than 5.5 miles. That’s more than 83 football fields. And while we tried our best to bring you as much as we could, there was simply no way to cover it all. Press releases help speed things up, but the live coverage is grueling. Now that we’re back home and have had time to digest it all, we can give you a bit of insight into some of the oddities that SEMA is all about: Celebrities, manufacturers, models, corporate reps, parties and tuners, all dumped into Sin City for a week of mayhem.

The Convention Center is ground zero for SEMA. The North, Central, and South Halls are indoors and feature the most elaborate displays. Car Care & Accessories, Hot Rod Alley, Mobile Electronics & Technology, Performance Tires & Wheels, Racing & Performance, Restoration Marketplace, Restyling & Accessories, Tools & Equipment, Trucks, SUVs & Off-Road, and Vehicle Manufacturers are some of the spaces that the halls are broken into. Probably in a bid to make sure everybody at least TRIES to visit all of the halls, the manufacturers are split up between the 3 halls.

The Central Hall gets the most traffic, however, with Ford, Honda, GM, Subaru, and Hyundai joining the hot rod vendors. Electronics is fairly popular too, with Mazda and VW tucked inside. Trucks have had a huge following for years, but if you’re not a truck person, there’s still Toyota inside to make the trip worthwhile. And not to be outdone, downstairs from the trucks is Tires and Wheels. Not only does it feature the largest selection of shoes for your vehicle, but 75% of the booth babes at SEMA are positioned in this hall. And Michelin and Giovanna dragged out a few exotic cars to ogle as well. Outside the buildings, the sidewalks and front parking lot are lined with individual vehicles and lots of trailers from vendors and sponsors. What is known as the Front Hall is a huge tent that sits outside and somewhat encloses the open air booths between Paradise and the buildings. Lots of ongoing activities outdoors including driving demonstrations, both on and off road.

The show itself starts on Tuesday, but lucky media members often get inside early or arrange photo shoots outside of town. Las Vegas is very scenic and just outside of town are mountains and winding desert roads that lend wonderful reddish sand backgrounds that make almost any car pop. Cruising up the Strip, or down one of the many side streets that form a fairly dense web around it, you pass casinos, restaurants and clubs that were hosting their own mini shows all week long. Cars and trucks that were parked outside during the show were often driven around town after hours or parked prominently outside some of the better parties. And, oh, those parties.

One of the best parts of having a media badge is that they keep you well fed. The media center always has some kind of food and bev on hand, and free breakfasts and lunches are common through the week. Another plus is that as you move around the show floor with your camera, you barely have to ask the models to pose. They see the camera, read the badge and assume the position. If only all relationships could be so easy. The best bit about the badge, however, is that many of the exhibitors want to wine and dine you to help garner some additional good press for their products and services.

Ethics dictate that there are strict limits to the favors we can accept, but we always feel it our duty to visit as many parties as possible to make sure nobody gets left out. One highlight this year was the CEC party held at the Bali Hai golf course near the Mandalay Bay. Great food in an elegant setting, all culminating in a “fashion show” of the German tuner cars that CEC specializes in. Former Trans- Am champ Tommy Kendall emceed the event and injected lots of humor into the parade of Schnitzers, Oettingers, Novitecs, Brabuses and Techarts. Treasure Island even loaned out some of their Sirens to entertain the crowd along the way. Poor Tommy lost his place a few times as a result. Although having Champ Car pilot Paul Tracy drive the Novitec F430 to the podium was entertaining, the Techart Carrera GT, with copilot Ashley Van Dyke, was definitely the highlight - especially when it did doughnuts in the parking lot afterwards.

Honda and Toyota had their own fun dinner parties at the adjacent Hilton, and showed that they can let their hair down with the best of them. Unfortunately, being an international manufacturer means there are limits in place that some of the smaller, edgier companies can hurdle over. At the Rio’s VooDoo Lounge, we came across a Cooper/Pirelli soiree and a Makes & Models shoot that made us really appreciate the diversity of SEMA and the fact that Vegas is Vegas. We did our best to help the girls stay warm on that exposed patio 50-something stories above the Strip.

The late nights don’t help much with the early wake up calls to avoid having a bunch of photos of the backs of people’s heads, though. With a finite amount of time to cover so much, there are always things that fall through the cracks, so all we can offer is a sampling of what SEMA is all about. It’s not just a show. It’s an event. It is a chance for industry people to meet and reconnect, to discover new products and trends, to show off their latest creations and to have fun in the process. There is a huge media presence, which guarantees this will be a bit flashier than most trade shows, but it’s all good. Next year we hope to learn from this year’s mistakes. We plan on breaking in our comfy walking shoes a little sooner. We hope to get up earlier and sneak past security better to get the shots posted sooner. We pledge to have more cameras working and quicker reflexes to get you even more of what you come here to see. And, being the selfless individuals we are, we promise to hit even more parties for our, errr, your edification.