I was lucky enough to be invited by Air Lift Performance to bring my Datsun 510 out there, so here's a bunch of photos I took during my week in Las Vegas, and some pics leading up to it:
I sanded and clear-coated my interior panels, since they had gotten a bit of surface rust on them
Supertrapp was nice enough to send a fresh muffler my way, so I bolted that on. Gotta look good for the show!
Inside, I installed one of my drift brakes, and finally added a shift boot.
The trunk panels got a coat of clear as well, along with a couple logos to advertise...
Tucked into the trailer for the long drive to Las Vegas.
On Saturday morning, we unloaded the car and got in line to roll in to the Convention Center.
It was crazy seeing all of these expensive rides lined up out there- it wasn't the best neighborhood, but everyone was being respectful of the cars.
This Javelin sounded mean and had a great patina to it. According to the driver it's a tribute car, so not original, but cool nonetheless.
Rocket Bunny S14 with BRE livery and a BMW engine swap.
Inside the parking area, heading to staging lanes
E30 2 door Touring with M3 flares... NOT stock!
Everyone lined up to roll in to various parts of the convention center
Somehow I got lucky and ended up with an indoor spot!
Cotati Speed Shop's '32 Roadster
Cafe-style CBX 1000 - straight six engine!
Cody Miles' Time Attack WRX on Air Lift Performance management
Magnus Walker's Porsche
This truck was the star of the show for me. Beautiful metal work throughout, rotary swapped, right hand drive... too much to list here!
RE Amemiya FD
Another badass Rick Dore car
This pair had wild wraps and some cool wheels
Clean Bronco
All business under the hood
The "Uber" sticker made me laugh.
Very nicely done Blazer
Stone Fab and Wagner Tuning's Ford truck has a 3.5L EcoBoost!
Another super clean car - right hand drive, Air Lift Performance management, and lots of detail throughout
You could literally stand under the rocker panels of this giant!
Nick Germano's C10 debuted at SEMA - this one has been in the works since 2004, and it's been worth the wait!
Sung Kang's Maverick, with a 4 cylinder EcoBoost under the hood.
The "One Eyed Willys" - looks like a terrifying ride!
Toyota had a bunch of classics on display this year, I guess to promote their new cars' heritage. I didn't really look at any of the new cars, though!
Nicely modded MK7 GTI
Ferrari 458 engine + Scion FRS = a new level of fun
I liked the wing on this one.
Holy copper plating! This Caddy also had a mean Cummins in it.
Speaking of mean, how about a V12 LS engine in this Camaro?
Ford power inside a Porsche Cayman
I got to see the Hoonicorn up close - really looking forward to seeing the Pikes Peak video next year!
Rob Dahm brought out his project FD RX7, featuring a 4-rotor engine, giant turbo, and all wheel drive. He should be able to set some rotary-powered records for sure.
I was lucky enough to meet Pete Brock at the Braille Battery booth. This guy is a racing legend!
The only other 510 at SEMA this year was this one- it's like the opposite of mine! Very clean, nicely modded, and I hope it did well at the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge!
There were a bunch of really nice Zs at SEMA this year, too. Datsun was represented well!
Two Hakosukas were in attendance as well, and they happened to be in booths right next to each other!
There were also a bunch of newer GTRs - mostly R35, but I saw a few R34s as well.
The paint/body treatment on these two cars demanded your attention. I'm not sure exactly what the process was to achieve this look, but it was striking for sure!
Ummm... monster truck?
Bob Haro left his business card on my seat! Wish I'd been there to talk to him!
As the show cleared out, we got some last minute photos, then cruised over to SEMA Ignited - the big after-party across the street. The roll-out process took over two hours, but we made it!
They had drifting alongside the car show, loud music, food trucks... it was like a scene from a movie!
Getting ready to load the car back in the trailer and head home. 8 days in Las Vegas is too many, but I'm prepping for next year already!
