The House of Kolor Drag Strip

At the 2018 SEMA show, the theme of the House of Kolor booth was nostalgia drag racing.

Henry Jaded

Dave Shuten of Galpin Auto Sports built this gasser-themed 1952 Kaiser-Frazer Henry J for owner Daniel Nelson. The car is powered by a Chevrolet Performance 572 crate engine bored out to 585 cubic inches by QMP Racing and is fed by a Holly 1150 carburetor atop a Chevrolet Performance ZZ572 intake manifold. The paint is a mix of House of Kolor Orion Silver with Teal Kandy Koncentrate, with the leaf and striping work done by Pete Finlan.

Dr. Moon’s Rage

This 1948 Anglia gasser owned and driven by Howard Moon is powered by a supercharged and injected 427 cubic inch Chevrolet engine, connected to a 2-speed Powerglide transmission and a nine-inch Ford rear end. The car is finished in House of Kolor Violet Shimrin Designer Pearl with the striping and lettering by “flea.”

Helmet display

The House of Kolor booth also had several displays of nostalgia-themed racing helmets.

Photos by the author

Graham model 96 hot rod

Hot Wheels™ displayed several custom cars at the outdoor booth at the 2018 SEMA show, which included this radical Graham Model 96 “Sharknose” coupe converted to a two-door phaeton by builder and owner Steve Howard.

 

The Graham model 96 was a mid-market car priced  that for 1939 featured cutting edge “Art Deco” streamlined styling, which the builder of the hot rod expanded on the design with four-wheel fender skirts and suicide doors atop a custom frame with air suspension which drops the Graham low to the ground.

Instead of the Graham 218 cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine that developed 93 horsepower, this car is now powered by a fuel-injected Ford 302-cubic inch engine.

Prestone cars at SEMA

The Prestone outdoor display at the 218 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) featured a pair of cars built the Ring Brothers (Jim and Mike) of Spring Green, Wisconsin.

1971 Pantera

The Pantera (“panther” in Italian) was built by De Tomaso Modena SpA from a design by Tom Tjaarda for the Italian design firm Carrozzeria Ghia SpA. The 1971 Pantera models were powered by a 351 cubic inch Ford “Cleveland” V-8 engine that developed 330 horsepower.  This re-imagined build is equipped with Wegner Motorsports 600-horsepower Chevrolet LS3 engine.

The Ring Borthers added subtle design changes such as the small wheel flares and custom rocker panels with brake cooling ducts before they sprayed the car with BASF Glasurit Waterborne “Yellow Line” paint.

This car was originally shown at the 2013 SEMA show, and was once owned by the reality TV "star" the “Gas Monkey” Richard Rawlings who paid over $300,000 at a Barrett-Jackson auction.

1972 Javelin

This radical build that reportedly cost $500,000 is known as “Defiant” and debuted at the 2017 SEMA show. The car powered by a Wegner Motorsports 378 cubic inch Hemi Mopar Hellcat engine fitted with a Whipple 4.5-liter Supercharger that reportedly produced 1,036 horsepower at the crankshaft. Royal Purple engine and transmission oil assures the high-powered motor will be kept running smoothly, while a new Dodge Hellcat radiator and fan assembly ensures perfect running temperatures while filled with Prestone Antifreeze.

The Ring Brothers extended the Javelin’s wheelbase by moving the wheels forward six and a half inches, with the Javelin’s distinctive wheel arches moved forward and recreated in carbon fiber to pair with a new hood, front fenders, grille and front valance. The body was sprayed with a BASF Glasurit color named “Jalop Gold.”

All photos by the author

An award-winning 1949 Hudson

The Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes booth at the 2018 SEMA show featured a 1949 Hudson Commodore Custom Coupe built by Dave Eckert’s Eckert’s Rod and Custom Inc. shop in Mollala, Oregon.

Every panel on the Hudson “Step-Down” body was reworked except the roof line and only the roof and the glass remain in its factory configuration. The car’s hood was “pancaked” and reshaped and the front grill redesigned. 

The back of the Hudson was completely redesigned - it now has a tailgate and a removable trunk lid. Eckert and his team reviewed original color specs a selected a nostalgic maroon and cream color scheme, which was completed with Sherwin-Williams’ new Ultra 9k™ Waterborne Basecoat System.

The custom chassis uses C6 Chevrolet Corvette running gear and suspension with Baer 6-piston brakes fitted all around, and under the hood rests a 2008 Chevrolet LS3 engine fitted with a Magnuson supercharger which is accessorized with hand-built sheet metal components to resemble the factory look that included the valve covers and air cleaner.

The wheels are by Schott Wheels custom designed with the hub caps designed and machined by Speed Metal Fab to resemble the original Hudson design. The custom interior features custom gauges and a cut down 1952 Hudson steering wheel.

Eckert’s 1949 Hudson won the Sam Barris Memorial Award at the 2019 Sacramento Autorama for the all-metal vehicle with the best metal work, alignment of body panels, and paint.

Photos by the author

Kia Forte drift car

The writer is not a fan of the motorsports niche of drifting, but one has to appreciate the quality of the build of the Red Bull-sponsored 2019 Kia Forte drift car shown at the Kia corporate booth at the 2018 SEMA show.

The car is powered by a twin-turbocharged engine out of a Kia Stinger with a custom intake manifold sequential six-speed transmission as part of a conversion to rear-wheel drive with a quick change rear differential.

Check out the total transformation of the body with all the aerodynamic add-ons.

Photos by the author  

Life sized
Hot Wheels™ 
at SEMA 2018

Mattel had several of its full-size Hot Wheels™ cars on display at the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas as art of their promotion of the Hot Wheels™ line of car care products.

 

Deora II


The original Deora was a real custom built by the Alexander Brothers from a Harry Bradley design that  used a Dodge D-100 pickup and the back hatch of a 1960 Ford station wagon. The 1/64th scale Hot Wheels™ Deora was one of the original 16 cars in the 1968 Hot Wheels™ collection   

The Deora II was first produced as a Hot Wheels™ die-cast in 2000 from a design by Nathan Proch which used styling cues from - continuing the concept of the original -  the rear window of the 1996 Ford Taurus station wagon. This full-size version of Deora II debuted at the 2003 SEMA show.

 

The Bone Shaker

The Bone Shaker which debuted as a Hot Wheels™ die-cast in 2006. The legendary Mattel  designer Larry Woods at first threw out his original drawing. Thank goodness, as the Bone Shaker is one of the most popular Hot Wheels™ cars.

All photos by the author

 

   

The eCOPO Chevrolet Camaro

One of the most eagerly anticipated vehicle debuts at the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show was the unveiling of the  “eCOPO” Camaro, an electric-powered Central Office Production Order concept car built by a partnership of Chevrolet and  the pioneering electric drag racing team Hancock & Lane Racing.

The car’s usual gasoline engine was replaced by electric motor based on a pair of BorgWarner HVH 250-150 motor assemblies, each generating 300 foot-pounds of torque. The motor is connected to the conventional racing-prepared TH400 three-speed automatic transmission that transmits the motor’s torque to the same solid rear axle used in the production COPO Camaro race cars.

The 700-horsepower motor is powered by an 800-volt 32-kilowatt per hour battery pack comprised of four 200-volt modules, each module weighs approximately 175 pounds.  Two packs are mounted in the rear seat area and the other two are mounted in the trunk - one in the spare tire well and the other in the area over the rear axle.

In testing, the eCOPO Camaro’s best quarter-mile run was an elapsed time 9.837 seconds from a standing start with a trap speed of 134.07 miles per hour.

All photos by the author

Toyota Demo drift car at SEMA

Stephan Papadakis at Papadakis Racing, in partnership with Toyota Motor North America, built this 2019 Toyota Corolla ‘Demo Drift’ car displayed in the Toyota 2018 SEMA booth. The difference between this ‘‘Demo Drift’ car and a ‘Formula DRIFT PRO’’ car is in the engine. The ‘demo’ car uses a Toyota 2AR 2.7-liter (165 cubic inch) engine fed with a BorgWarner turbocharger and a nitrous oxide system to develop 850 horsepower, while the engine in the ‘PRO’ car driven by Norwegian driver Frederic Aasbo develops more than 1000 horsepower.   

To convert the Corolla front-wheel drive layout to rear-wheel drive, Papadakis Racing had to cut the interior floor and install a massive transmission tunnel to accept the G-Force 4-speed transmission before they installed a custom-built roll cage. The front and rear suspension pieces are custom-machined out of billet aluminum and the car uses Stoptech brakes.

The gold-finished Motegi Racing wheels are wrapped in Nexen tires, and the car is cloaked in a custom-built carbon fiber body panels built by Jonsibal Designworks and Toyota Racing Development which results in a much more aggressive look than the base Corolla. The striking Jonsibal Designworks graphics package is reminiscent of the livery of the 1980’s All American Racing IMSA GTU race cars.  

All SEMA photos by the author