Story and photos by Dean Larson

It's said that the SEMA Show is where you'll see everything that's coming in the automotive world. The next hot trends, parts, custom touches and more can all be seen in Vegas, months, or even years, before you see them in your local car scene. With an eye on the replica and continuation automotive market, we can say that SEMA 2018 was a huge success and that this market segment is healthy and expanding.

We already knew that the manufacturers were going to have a huge presence this year, and they did not disappoint, but we were also excited to see so many of these vehicles displayed throughout the convention center by builders and parts manufacturers alike. From Speedmaster's FFR ’33 Hot Rod build, to the V12LS Cheetah and Borla's Manta Mirage, replica vehicles had a bigger presence than ever at the show. As in years past, Lingenfelter had a stunning Superformance Corvette Grand Sport in their booth, which always garners serious attention. It was also exciting to see the amount of Factory Five ’35 Hot Rod trucks on display. The company doubled-down on these trucks in their displays, with great builds from SMG Motoring and Black Label Speed Shop, each with their own breed of forced induction.

We also met up with Vlado Jancev of V's Automotive for this year's Cobra drifting experience. We positioned a few cameras and got one of our guys in the passenger seat of the 1,000-hp drift Cobra for a crash course in tire shredding from V's own Pablo Cabrera. We'll be sure to bring you updates on this, and a whole lot more in the coming weeks.