Full throttle at SEMA 2014 and five top prize winners featured

By Martha Maglone, November 14, 2014

Aisles were packed in the Racing and Performance section with thousands of attendees at the 2014 SEMA Show. Estimates are that over 60,000 buyers and 130,000 industry participants attended.

With over 2,300 exhibiting companies offering over 2,000 new products, the scale of SEMA’s success stretches things to the limit. Even the network of roads and Monorail that connect the Convention Center with the hotels are overrun as the exuberant desert oasis struggles to handle 150,000 visitors.

Still, the mood inside the exhibition halls and outside on the display pavements in the mid-autumn warmth was vibrant, often in stark contrast to that in the Media Center, which could be deadly dull. The abiding problem with most press conference presenters is their appetite for blithering on in their self-congratulatory way about their skill sets and their achievements and their unmatched talents until your head aches. With nothing to say that is remotely memorable they grind on inexorably with presentations that weary all but their most avid supporters. These company heads and marketing chiefs should be taught that it is a sin to bore their fellow creatures.

But in the exhibition halls there is plenty to marvel at not least the proportions of youth. Here in vast numbers they are easily identified by their flat-brimmed baseball hats—an image not always appreciated by the old guard. But who cares; the fact that the youth are arriving in such numbers is admirable and, assuredly, has helped build annual aftermarket parts sales to the staggering 13+ billion dollars now reported.

The latest thinking from component manufacturers

For the buyers the most conspicuous draw is new products, which had been submitted by dozens of manufacturers for judgment. Following the formal announcements, proclaimed at the SEMA Breakfast on Tuesday morning November 4th, the winning products were showcased in the east end of the upper level of the Convention Center’s South Hall. To keep track of them, you were invited to pick up a scanner when you entered the area, which created a printed report of those you found noteworthy. Here are five of the most prestigious:

Holley EFI Digital Dash Fully Customizable with a Variety of Gauge and Indicator Screens – Winner of Best Engineered New Product

Aeromotive Phantom Flex-Fuel System. For greater fuel demands of flex-fuel engines, this complete drop-in system places a high-output (450 lph) fuel pump and baffle system into almost any fuel tank. Best Performance-Street Product

Ron Francis Wiring Blackbox Relay System. Fully programmable, state-of-the-art relay system allows full control of 10 individual relayed circuits.          Best Street / Custom Car Product

Silverback Carburetors A “one-size carburetor” for all street/strip applications. Silverback carburetors tout excellent fuel atomization that rivals fuel injection. Best Performance Racing Product

Gator-Jaw:Featuring a Breaking Strength of 32,000 lbs! Gator-Jaw shackles are made from Plasma rope, the highest strength synthetic material available. Best Off-Road 4-wheel-drive Product