SEMA Show 2006 - Las Vegas Tradeshow

You know it's SEMA time when your buddies, who work at the shops, are going crazy to finish those last-minute details on their trucks. When I know SEMA is around the corner, I usually do a couple of things. First, I start saving money, because everything in Las Vegas is expensive. And second, I go out and buy a new pair of comfortable walking shoes that I break-in in November. Why? Because walking around three huge buildings to look at thousands of products, hundreds of vehicles, and the newest minitrucks is killer on my feet. Yeah, you've probably heard that before, and read that before, but unless you've been there, then you have no idea how true it is.

This year, SEMA was no different than previous years. It was huge. So big that they actually overflowed some of it to the old parking lots. As if it wasn't hard to find parking before, now you should expect to walk twice as far, or pay twice as much.

Still, a bigger SEMA means more to see and more to do. As always, the rock crawling was a huge success. For two years in a row, Overhaulin's booth has been very popular, as well. You can watch while they transform somebody's car from junk to show-stopper during the whole week of SEMA.

This year, I arrived at SEMA Wednesday morning. We had to be there by two o'clock so we could give the "Best Of" trophies to the very-deserving individuals. After this was accomplished, I was left with two days to see all of the show-and what a mission that was. Walking from booth-to-booth, looking for cool new minitruck products, and checking out the trucks was the business of the day. But, sometimes I caught myself being distracted by all of the beautiful girls. Can you blame me? After all, what's a car show without beautiful ladies? Second to the gorgeous girls, this year's distractions were the highly anticipated Toyota Tacoma's that were supposed to debut. This year, there were three Tacoma's and they didn't disappoint. First, there was the two-toned Extra Cab from Sadistic Iron Werks. Second to display, was Gumby's Extra Cab and super-charged truck in the Vault booth. And last, Ekstensive's four door on 24s. It was a beauty of a Tacoma. What an impressive sight, indeed. Look for more on these trucks in upcoming issues this year.

Like previous years, we stopped by the Hard Rock Caf every night to check out who was in town. It's become common knowledge that it's the spot to meet up with all of the minitruckers who cruise into town for the weekend. So, if you're part of the automotive business, be sure to book yourself for next year's SEMA show, as it's going to be a show you won't want to miss. Just be sure to prepare yourself for it, and remember, save some money and bring good shoes. You'll need them, trust me.