HOLIDAY IN VEGAS

Steve Strope and his Pure Vision Designs business executed this 1972 Scamp for ARP’s Bob Florine, displayed at the brand’s booth. The Air Grabber equipped Plymouth hosts a 340 under the hood. We were digging the big custom steelies, poverty caps and wide-tread blackwalls.

A-bombs and 3G mills make SEMA ’21 a roarin’ good time.

STORY BY GEOFF STUNKARD PHOTOS BY DAN GALLO

NYTHING CAPABLE of slowing down Las Vegas is a big deal,

Aand when the entire SEMA trade show was actually canceled due to the Wuhan lab subversion last year, we knew things had gotten profoundly serious. A year later, the Las Vegas Convention Center flung its doors wide open for the first time since 2020, as over 100,000 people showed up for the 2021 SEMA Show. This marked the first full capacity event on its calendar, and SEMA’s parts and party extravaganza returned with a vengeance for the city’s first big gathering. So the MA faithful could take a peek at the latest and greatest, we sent Dan Gallo out to Nevada on a red-eye flight, as the Brunts were back in quarantine again for traveling out of state against the governor’s orders (yes, the kielbasa in north Jersey was worth it). Since Dan can handle a camera as well as helping us keep the lights on each issue, we knew he would be in the right place at the right time to tell the SEMA story. He did not disappoint.

For most of us, SEMA annually marks the advent of new products and great appearances. Filling out a large area was the Mopar Stellantis display, with new concepts and the announcement that Direct Connection is coming back (see the Boss’ editorial on p.4 for our take on that). Various manufacturers showed off their latest products, but what was really evident was the number of worked A-bodies on display, and a continued and growing interest in putting modern mills into vintage iron, something we have been focused on with features in the ’ol fish wrapper we put out for you every 60 days. Everyone else is finally catching up!

So, with all that said, enjoy this visual look at the high-rollers in ’Vegas. And tell the Brunts, “oh, well, maybe next time.”

This Duster’s changes includes a swap to a 1967 Valiant grille, something pretty unique in our twisted minds. Eberg was impressed with the blackout treatment. Under the hood here was a 6.1 3G mill.

In the NAPA booth was a ’63 Plymouth with mild mods. In the busy overall shot at left, NHRA funny car driver Ron Capps can be seen at center signing autographs. Winner of the 2021 NHRA Funny Car championship, Capps will run his own AA/FC team for the ’22 nitro wars.

This ’75 Duster in the CFR Performance products display was another high-quality modified Mope with blown 3G Hemi power. Lots of sponsor’s products help make these cars special, but the quality of the build speaks for itself. Thumbs-up on this one.

Escaping from the set of Fast & Furious 9 was this ’68 Charger with a mid-engine Hellcat. While a Jimmy through the hood is always eye candy, this one by Speedcore deserved a second, third, etc. look.

In the booth for the OldRide auto reseller mag was the only Hellephant we saw this year. The car is a 1973 Road Runner, again with a number of outside cues to point out its changes. Would you have believed we’d have 1000-HP crate motors when these smogged-up beepers first appeared on the scene almost 40 years ago?