09-Nov-04 Back from SEMA 2004 Part 1 What a Show! << Previous Article All Articles Next Article >> We're back home from SEMA 2004! The show was fantastic but it feels good to be home. One week in Las Vegas per year is more than enough for me. Everyone asks the "did you win anything" question when you tell them you were in Vegas. I usually part with less than $20 when I visit. This year my wife and I were down a combined total of one dollar. One evening I stuck two more quarters in a machine while I was waiting and won $6.50! That makes us Five dollars ahead this trip! We've never won before. Speaking of winning... we walked right by a guy as he won 1.2 million dollars on a quarter machine. They taped off the area and sent in a guard to sit with him. His girlfriend hung on him like a curtain and kept telling everyone that he was HER boyfriend :) A guy next to me won $200 about the same time I won the $6.50 – with his first dollar. I was starting to feel jinxed but I shouldn't – maybe everyone around me won money but they didn't have a car at SEMA! Ha! Now who's lucky? Okay, the guy who won 1.2 million but I come in a close second ;) Here's a shot of the car and it's proud owner at SEMA. Neither one gets out of the garage much so we didn't quite know how to behave. I wasn't there when they unloaded the car but I received a phone call right afterward. They told me that all the guys who help unload and setup for the show clapped and cheered as it came off the trailer. There must have been some followers of the project in the crowd. I was later told that they waived the usual fee to move a vehicle in – somewhere around $100. Thanks guys! HRIA and SEMA provided signage for the cars. They don't allow your own signage because it became a contest. The stands are reusable and they just make a new lamination each year. Here's the one they made for Project33. I peeled it off and kept it after the show for a souvenir. The best part of SEMA is what happens when the show is over. An announcement came over the loud speaker at 4pm Friday that the 2004 SEMA Show was now over and a cheer went out. Then engines started up all over the convention center and thousands of horsepower started to rev. Steve Metz left the building and lit the tires up on his pro-street Studebaker a couple times to set the pace. It was awesome! There are a few pictures of the show in the November 2004 Progress Editorial if you want to check them out. The car came back home today and I'll be continuing the build-up articles soon. << Previous Article All Articles Next Article >>