Tag Archives: sema

Toyota Tacoma X-Runner revived to take on the new Nissan Z

A huge SEMA surprise from Toyota this year came in the form of a revived Tacoma X-Runner. The original Tacoma X-Runner debuted in 2005 as a hot rod variant of the popular pickup. At the time, Toyota admitted to a … Continue reading

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Toyota’s “FJ Bruiser” is a mean, green rock crawler built from a worn-out FJ45

The over-the-top builds from SEMA keep on coming. Toyota’s centerpiece vehicle this year is the FJ Bruiser, a beast of an old Land Cruiser built to take on grueling rock crawls like King of the Hammers. The one-off started as … Continue reading

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Nissan builds Safari Z tribute to Datsun 240Z rally car

We’ve grown pretty bored of the “safari” build trend that seems, inexplicably, to be still going strong. However, Nissan has built a car that actually deserves to be safari’d due to historical precedent. The Datsun 240Z actually did race in … Continue reading

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This Honda Civic EF wearing Advan Oni 2 wheels was our SEMA favorite

We’re still compiling the hundreds of photos from SEMA into a digestible gallery (and intermittently washing our eyes out with bleach), but we wanted to give credit where credit was due. Our favorite car at the 2022 SEMA Show was … Continue reading

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Toyota Land Cruiser body panels are here to help you rebuild an FJ40

One of the surest signs a car has become a classic is when an aftermarket company begins to offer body panels for it. At the SEMA Show this year, we stumbled upon a outfit making replica body panels for nearly … Continue reading

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BRE Sunny Truck with Leaf powertrain leads Nissan’s SEMA 2022 lineup

In the past couple of years the pandemic has decimated participation at the SEMA Show, but there are some signs of life in Las Vegas. Nissan, for example, is bringing a diverse mix of weird and wonderful builds that capture … Continue reading

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Toyota Chinook Camper reborn in “Tacozilla” SEMA build

Toyota has revealed its incredible Tacoma-based Tacozilla, a retro mobile home based on the Chinook campers of the 1970s. Unlike the Chinooks of old, which were mostly fitted to 2WD pickups, the Tacozilla rides on a 4WD Tacoma TRD Sport … Continue reading

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Toyota shows one-off Heritage Edition Supra Sport Roof

Officially revealed this morning, Toyota has brought back a feature of the legendary A80 Supra: the Sport Roof. The removable roof panel was a Supra trademark, having been a feature of both A70 and A80 generations (so in Japan, where … Continue reading

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SEMA SPOTLIGHT: Daniel Wu’s show-stopping Honda S800

Even with countless companies spending big bucks, it’s hard to find anything truly stunning at SEMA anymore. The race to outdo each other and grab eyeballs, has resulted in some high-dollar builds, but when everything is extreme, nothing is. It’s … Continue reading

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SEMA 2019: Finally, you can get an inexpensive ultra-wide bosozoku tire in the US

One of the most unexpected treats of the SEMA Show was the surprise appearance of Banzai Sports’ Bluebird SSS Sanitora. We first spotted this eye-catching ute at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2018 and were extremely taken by it. Half … Continue reading

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SEMA 2019, Part 04: More Nihon Steel

It’s really hard to capture everything at a show as big as SEMA, but here are a few more slabs of Nihon Steel we found lurking around. There was everything from slammed sleds to off-road heroes, sometimes both in the … Continue reading

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SEMA 2019, Part 03: Year of the Supra

There were, like, so many Supras at SEMA, you guys. It felt like everywhere you went, you were bumping into an A90. Either that, or a mobility scooter with a swag-filled reusable Spyder bag. But yeah, Supras. At the end … Continue reading

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SEMA 2019, Part 02 – The coolest cars at the Toyo Treadpass

Toyo Tires consistently has one of the best displays at SEMA. It offers the most diverse lineup of cars of any company, from classics to supercars to scratch-your-head stuff like a slammed Mercedes G-Wagen. It also offers a convenient pass-through … Continue reading

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SEMA 2019, Part 01 — Japanese Hot Rods

When there are 2,400 companies and 2.2 million square feet of exhibits, limits are constantly pushed in order to garner attention. It can result in show cars that are insanely expensive but absent of taste. Still, there can be gems … Continue reading

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MINICARS: M2 SEMA exclusive, Mooneyes X JNC Japanese cars

Every year at SEMA, our friends at M2 reveal some of their upcoming cars. We are very excited to confirm that we will be sharing some real estate on diecast Nihon metal with Mooneyes, in one of the very rare … Continue reading

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SEMA 2018: A mega-gallery of SEMA J-tin

It can be hard separating the wheat from the chaff at SEMA. There is so much going on that the pressure to build ever-wilder cars in order to stand out can result in some technically impressive but aesthetically questionable choices. … Continue reading

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SEMA 2018: Demand for resto-modded Land Cruisers continues to grow

SEMA has a reputation for being a circus of cars modified to the brink of absurdity and then some. But among American cars, especially the muscle favorites of the 1960s and 70s, money-no-object yet tasteful resto-mods abound. Among J-tin, there … Continue reading

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SEMA 2018: Toyota brings it with Supras, Trucks, and RWD Corollas

We’ve poked fun at Toyota’s SEMA presence before, like when they brought a buncha Camrys to the world’s biggest tuner show. This year, however, they brought the ruckus, with a slew of Supras, a team of Tacomas, and a rear-wheel-drive … Continue reading

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SEMA 2018: The Zs of SEMA, offered without comment

Ever since Sung Kang’s “Fugu Z” won Best of Show, Datsuns have been increasingly prevalent at SEMA, the biggest aftermarket trade show in the world. In fact, the number of classic Zs handily outnumber new ones, and Nissan even brought … Continue reading

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SEMA 2018: The winner of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour will be made into a toy car

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Hot Wheels went on a 15-city tour of the USA this year, in search of one car they would make into an actual toy car. At each stop, the gang from Mattel held a car … Continue reading

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