2017 SEMA Show: Best in Show
It's difficult to describe the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, concluding today in Las Vegas, in just a few paragraphs. This year's show was full of crazy and even ridiculous project trucks; however, there were so many kinds of vehicles and companies spread out across the enormous Las Vegas Convention Center, you could easily browse for days and still not see everything.
All the major automakers attended, so we saw more Chevrolet Carmaros, Ford Mustangs and F-150s, and classic cars than we could count along with exotic Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and others. On top of that, we checked out hundreds of one-of-a-kind Frankenstein monsters as well displays for automotive suppliers and aftermarket parts makers. It's at SEMA where we get a glimpse of the future in the form of automotive design and performance trends.
From all of this, we chose our inaugural 2017 SEMA Best in Show pickup truck winners. Check them out below. And keep an eye out for more 2017 SEMA coverage to give you a taste of this show, which is not open to the public.
1937 Dodge Project Long Haul: Classic Winner
Custom car and truck builder Tommy Pike created this classic pickup, and it's immaculate. A 5.7-liter Mopar crate Hemi V-8 sits under the hood and it sports a Dana 44 rear end. The frame was covered in rust when Pike found it, so he built a full custom race chassis for the body and bed. The bed looks like wood, complete with a giant, faded Pennzoil sticker, but it is all custom aluminum.
2018 Hennessey VelociRaptor 6×6: Factory Winner
OK, technically this is not a factory offering, but with the exception of the front and rear suspension lift, frame extension, 8-foot bed and extra rear axle, the VelociRaptor from Hennessey Performance looks like it could have been an F-150 Raptor offered by Ford. Of course, we're pretty sure Ford could do it for less than $349,000, but then again …
2017 Ford F-250 SD126: Monster Winner
How often do you see a 126-inch-wheelbase regular-cab heavy-duty pickup? How about never, because they don't exist in the everyday world. But we found one at SEMA, and we have to say BDS did an amazing job creating this beast, which sports 4.30:1 gears inside an F-450 Dana 60/M300 rear axle. Each 42-inch BFGoodrich Baja T/A tire has about 14 inches of travel when doing high-speed desert running.
1965 Ford F-250 Six-Pack: Restoration Winner
Hatched from the mind of Jonathan Ward at Icon 4×4 in Southern California, this 1965 Ford F-250 crew-cab long bed was lovingly restored and updated to better-than-new standards. It's powered by a "worked-up" 5.9-liter Cummins inline six-cylinder with several Banks Engineering upgrades. The truck sits on a 2006 Dodge frame, suspension and axles, and the inside is almost too beautiful to describe. From the door handles, seat materials and audio knobs, it's all been re-created to premium trim package levels.
Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 AEV Concept: Concept Winner
We've been writing about American Expedition Vehicles for a few several years, and we've been impressed with the work AEV has done on the Ram Prospector and others, but now it looks like AEV has developed a partnership with Chevrolet. For SEMA, AEV took a Colorado ZR2 and made it heavy duty. With the addition of a few GM-sourced performance parts (likely to be offered through GM Accessories soon) and a few from AEV, this expedition overlander looks like it could become Chevrolet parent company GM's next big hit. Yes, this is a concept, but if Chevy wanted something to go head to head with the Jeep Wrangler, this would be it.
Cars.com photos by Christian Lantry
