Road Rumblings

SEMA Seeking Builders for Young Guns Vir tual Regional Qualifiers

SEMA is currently seeking participants for the Young Guns category of the 2021 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition, which kicks off with the Eastern U.S. regional qualifier on Aug. 14, the organization announced. With three qualifier events in this year’s Young Guns program, the events are divided by regions—Eastern, Midwest and Pacific—and will be held on Aug. 14, 21 and 28. Selected participants will be interviewed and judged via video chat. Top prize for one young vehicle builder (age 27 and under) at each qualifier event is an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the trade-only SEMA Show in Las Vegas, in November. The prize includes transportation of the winner’s vehicle, a designated feature vehicle spot at the Show and entry into the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition. For more info go to http://www.semayoungguns.com/

2021 New York Auto Show Cancelled

The 2021 New York International Automobile Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center has been cancelled due to the growing incidences of the Covid-19 Delta variant and the increased measures announced recently by State and local officials to stop its spread. Covid can’t seem to stay away, several instances of event cancellations have been nationwide. The New York Auto Show, a favorite for many enthusiasts will have to wait another year. The New York Auto Show released the following statement concerning the cancellation: “We are enormously appreciative of the automobile industry’s tremendous response and commitment in participating in an August New York Auto Show, and especially for the overwhelming involvement in the new EV Test Fest, complete with an entire floor dedicated to electric vehicles and four indoor EV test tracks. Eight years ago, New York decided to introduce show attendees to electric vehicles by organizing its first EV test drive. Large scale adoption of EVs back in 2013 was questionable, but the program was a success and helped pave the way for future events. Auto shows have always been an opportunity to showcase an industry on the move and the New York Show is proud to be part of that heritage. As custodians of the 121-year-old New York Auto Show, we are committed to providing a safe environment for everyone including attendees, exhibitors, and the thousands of men and women who put the Show together. Over the past few weeks, and especially within the last few days, circumstances have changed making it more difficult to create an event at the high standard that we and our clients expect. At the onset of planning for the August Show, we were increasingly excited at the prospect of hosting the event as the number of vaccinations in New York continued to climb and mask-wearing reduced the spread in the City. All signs were positive, and the Show was coming together stronger than ever, but today is a different story. Each year, attendees rely on auto shows to help make important buying decisions, spending an average of almost five hours at the exhibition, with nearly 72% of those visitors indicating that they are in the market to purchase a vehicle over the next 12 months. We fully appreciate and acknowledge how important auto shows are to the automakers, retail new car and truck dealers and the public alike, and we strongly believe in the future of these valuable marketing events. The Covid pandemic has challenged our City, the country and the entire world, but just like the automobile industry, we know that the New York Auto Show will rebound and be bigger and better than before. We firmly believe that will be the case when the Show returns to its regular spring schedule in April 2022. “

Carlisle Fall, Winter Collector Car Auctions Retur n

The Fall and Winter Lakeland Collector Car Auctions will return following the cancelation of the 2020 events, hosts Carlisle Events and Carlisle Auctions announced. The Fall Lakeland Collector Car Auction is scheduled for Nov. 12-13, while the Winter Auction will return to the SUN n’ FUN Expo Campus on Feb. 25-26, 2022. Online and in-person bidding will be available on the 400-plus consignments offered. In addition to the auction, the Air & Coach Concours, showcasing luxury motorcoaches, will return to be part of both the fall and winter events. The organization also announced that Carlisle Events will no longer be hosting any car shows, swap meets or manufacturer midways at the Lakeland events, but the elements may continue by way of third-party hosts or car clubs in Feb. 2022.

Shelby, Classic Recreations Launch Shelby Garage

Classic Recreations, builder of high-performance custom vehicles, including Shelby continuation cars, has been selected by Carroll Shelby Licensing to introduce a new concept, Shelby Garage, the company announced. Shelby Garage will service, repair and modify late-model American muscle cars and trucks. Distinguished from Shelby American in Las Vegas, which converts vehicles into officially licensed Shelbys that are included in the Shelby Worldwide Registry, Shelby Garage will meet the needs of a variety of late muscle car and truck enthusiasts who are looking for performance and appearance upgrades to their current vehicle. “Carroll Shelby was the father of American muscle, so it only makes sense for the Shelby brand to evolve into providing service, performance and aesthetic upgrades for all American muscle vehicles,” said Jason Engel, founder and VP of design and engineering at Classic Recreations. “When asked to develop this brand, the focus was filling a need for people who’ve had a hard time finding a shop that understands the unique needs of a highperformance vehicle in contrast to the average driver. Just like Carroll did with the early Ford Mustangs, our goal is to help enthusiasts make their vehicles truly one of a kind.” The garage will be staffed with trained technicians who have years of experience working on officially licensed Shelby and other high-performance vehicles, the company said. The first Shelby Garage is located in Dallas, Texas, where Shelby got his start. The facility is over 95,000 sq. ft. with plans to expand with locations nationwide.

Depending on the budget, customers can order officially licensed Shelby, Ford Performance and other aftermarket parts directly from Shelby Garage as well as schedule installation and service appointments out of the Dallas, Texas location. Additionally, Shelby Garage features a full online merchandise store with officially licensed Shelby apparel and accessories as well as exclusive gear from Classic Recreations.