SEMA Show 2012 - Denny's Picks

The SEMA show is huge… I mean real HUGE… When we decided to seek out who we thought had the hottest build, it was impossible to agree on just one. Much like personalities and tastes, people's idea of hot is subjective; therefore, we decided on individual picks. With THOUSANDS of cars, bikes, and everything in between; it's next to impossible to see every car, talk to every owner, and hear every story about a build. As much as we would like to, it's impossible.For myself, I am picking what I felt had cool elements, details, fit and finish, or simply how it presents itself. I will describe what I like about each vehicle the best I can.My first pick is this Ford Mustang built by the Ring Brothers. Ring Brother's builds are notorious for awesome one-off parts and accessories.I love the detail in the dry carbon spitter, the anguler design would become a consistant element in the build.Consistency is key.  Once again,  the angular design in the detail of the rear spoiler.Awesome detail in the tips and the fit of the rear-diffuser.I'm loving the rear quarter panel cover that houses the gas filler pipe for the vehicle.Take a look at the dimple-died strut bar,  it also had the roofing stripe carry through to that as well.From the side, this mimicked the 70's BOSS 302 graphic scheme, but up close they are fine carbon accents that stood off  from the front fenders to the side skirts.Another fine detail are the "Switch" name plates on each door handle.Here is a close up of the hardware used to secure the hood insert unto the hood.In the same booth only a few feet away was the Tjin Edition Fusion. I really liked the color combination of the beige / tan exterior matched to the darker brown accents.The Tjin Edition builds have always included unique colors and small details that only a few may see. For example, the multi-color fading on the pinstripe fill done by, Styles.The striping extends to the rear in 2-colors and are united by the initial of Neil Tjin's kids.The pinstripe is also carried to the rear of the spoiler.The rear half of the Fusion has a dual exhaust set up that peeks out of the rear bumpers and finished with a black coating.Equally impressive is the Tjin Edition and Baer calipers in green to accent the interior stitching.Outside of the Ford booth and only a few booths away was BASF Refinishing's booth. BASF typically display very well built cars and this year was no different. They had the 2012 Ridler award winner on display, as well as Chip Foose's 1948 Cadillac "Eldorod," both very impressive but I really liked the Ring Brother's Grinch.The Grinch is a 1970 Camaro with many one-off parts. Like the "Switch", the Grinch features many billet parts inside and out.The Grinch is painted with BASF's Glasurit® Waterborne paint. I liked the contrast between the gloss and the matte finish which separated the nose piece to the exterior of the Camaro.This custom bracing that closely hugged the inside fender well was so clean. The interior of the engine bay had a matte finish and was the home of the LS3The fit and finish of the interior and all the accent piece that surrounded it was done with fine detail.Back to the exterior side was a matte deck spoiler that featured multi-levels. Rather than have it straight across the team extended it further to surround the side body panels and utilized a stylish step to contour the deck lid. Also notice how tightly the rear bumper flows with the rest of the body. In stock form, fit wasn't even in the vocabulary and had un-matching gaps.Here is a detail shot of the billet bezel around the taillights.I love the Flowmaster exhaust dump that exited the rear valianceUnto the next, was this 69 Camaro in Auto Metal Direct's booth. At first glance, the Camaro was simply clean. As I was walking way I noticed a few mods that attracted by attention. I took a few pictures then kept finding treasures that kept me shooting, I was hooked!What hooked me in was the flush window treatment on the front and back. The deletion of the chrome moldings around the windows gave the Camaro a modern look.I was then drown in by the rain gutter that was nicely fabricated into the body of the CamaroI especially loved the frenched rear bumper and taillights. The exhaust also had a nice bevel treatment to keep the build consistent.The lower chin spoiler was nicely fitted along with the front bumper that had the same flush treatment as the rear.A nicely fitted mirror and smooth interior finished the ensemble of the 69 CamaroFrom classic to modern. My other pick is the Tjin Edition 2013 Camaro 1LE. It was featured in Vortech Superchargers booth for the week and grabbed a lot of attention due to its unique color combination that the Tjin team is known for. The solid brown and orange treatment with the one-off Rotiform wheels sets this modern muscle build from others.This shot of the engine bay shows how nicely the Vortech Supercharger rests in the bay, which won GM's Best New Product Award. Other details include the blue pinstripe that separates the orange and brown.The Tjin Edition 1LE was award the Best Sports Car by the General Motors team and as you can see, its well deserved.After roaming the central hall a little longer I ran into a 69 Mach 1 Mustang. What took me by surprise was the fender work put into the vehicle and the aggressively low physique, well not to mention the mid-engine layout of the 5.4L supercharged engine in the rear. This Mustang is called the Mach Forty, for the combination of a 69 Mach 1 Mustang and a GT40. I didn't get the chance to speak with anyone in the booth but noticed unique elements in this build. The Mach Forty is predominately a 69 Mach 1 mid-section; doors, roof, and pillars; but the rear, the rear quarters, the hood, fenders, and frame were all hand formed.Very nice hood latch.I love this rear vent that leads into the rear of the engine compartment.The fender work was very nicely done.Last but not certainly least, was a 1964 Plymouth Belvedere named "ForPly" tucked in the North hall. It's dubbed the "Old School American Style. Modern NASCAR Technology." It features NASCAR suspension, brakes, 4-speed transmission, and fuel-injected engine Dodge 358. Long story short, its a NASCAR chassis with an 64 Belvedere body. In fact, the 64 Belvedere has won the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Grand National Champion. I love the fact that they took a racing platform and fused it with this classic that is street friendly and duct tape free.A fuel cell was in the rear with a direct side filler.I believe this is the overflow tube.I loved the frenched filler.NASCAR exhaust with integrated mufflersFully adjustable suspensionSuch fine detail even up to the spoiler.These round out my SEMA picks. There were so many nice builds that this could have gone on for many days and our site could have been littered with cool cars.The DaYUUM group already knew the type of cars I was going to choose, because they know my style. My passion is in imports but I feel that the import segment needs to step their game up a little. There are a few builders and designers like Jon Sibal, Mike Vu, and Troy Sumitomo that know a little thing or two about fit, finish, and design; I'm very passionate about their works as well.I do have a soft spot for classics cars that are transformed into modernize pieces of machinery and art. I wished I could have covered more of the floor but there was just so much to see at SEMA. I hoped to stay longer but Halloween put a damper in my plans. As I quickly hit the halls, these were the builds that stood out to me. I hope you enjoyed them.-den