Makes

When I was eight or nine my dad came home and gave me a drag racing book with the ambitious hope it would stop me from chanting "I'm bored" while he was watching football. The book was filled with equal parts photos and text so it actually did the job for some time.

Looking back it's a little strange that one of the events I was looking forward to most at SEMA 2012 was the roll-out at the end. They were pushing it pretty hard in the media centre and my imagination conjured up visions of an epic parade full of awesome cars dragging, drifting, and generally acting a fool on the streets of Las Vegas.

About a year ago a post title with a Dexter influenced title 'Body Dump' showcased a hot rod flatz black, bodied, 400hp, s10 I spotted on s10 forum. Last week the owner Erik came across the post, and emailed asking if I would be interested in running a quick update on the truck.

Fast Five was on the other day and while I was watching Vince drive a Pantera into the desert sunset it occurred to me that I don't post nearly enough Panteras on this site. It's no secret that I am a fan of the Countach-era cheese wedge designed cars, nor is it a secret that I like gas guzzling American motors, so the Pantera will forever be near the top of my favourite cars ever built list.

A couple weeks ago I was at my mom's place flipping through an old issue of Ride BMX when I stopped on a photo of former Schwinn sponsored pro flatlander Andrew Faris doing a half...

Here's a bit of a head twister; somewhere in America a clever hotrodder decided that the way traditional small block Chevys work was too boring so he flipped everything on it's head putting the exhaust where the intake was and the intake where the exhaust was. This creates a completley unique looking motor that on first glance leaves you wondering how in the hell it all works.

The last time RWB was mentioned here was almost exactly a year ago in a post titled "RW Who?" that showcased this  DP Motorsport built  73 911. Then Rauh Welt Begriff had  brought  two extremely popular builds to SEMA --the now  black Pandora One 965 and the 965 Hoonigan-- and everyone who was anyone was photographing, posting, tweeting,  and just generally carrying on about those cars several times a day.

I thought about doing another women of SEMA Theme Tuesday for 2012 but as it turns out I only took about six photos of models this year four of which sucked. That means it's time to fall back to an old favourite, 'Classy Car Models'.

Heading back outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center for this extra long SEMA coverage post today. I'm not sure the exact criteria for parking outside of the Convention Center but if I were to guess I'd imagine it's similar to one of the larger "invite-only" car shows in the states.

When I posted a photo of Jake's Genesis on the fanpage  many of you commented saying it was one of the best Gens currently rolling the streets and that I should go back for a closer look at the motor, interior, and trunk. I'm not one to argue with my readers so each time I passed the car I made an effort to notice something different and after doing so I would have to agree that it's one of the nicest Genesis builds I have seen to date.

What do you get when you cross a Mk1 Volkswagen Caddy, a 91 Toyota Soarer, some metal for a roll cage, two wheel tubs, BC Coils, a hydraulic handbrake, green paint, and some Rota Grids? Evidently a cool little truck that can slide with the best of them.

I love American classics and this year I didn't get the chance to check out nearly as many classic cruise nights as I would have liked so SEMA served as a great way for me to catch up on American Iron. There were awesome builds literally as far as the eye could see and I had to constantly remind myself not to spend all of my time (or card space) on the classics.