Cars from SEMA Show part two
Did you know the SEMA Show, an automotive aftermarket trade show that takes place the first weekend of November in Las Vegas, is sprawled out over one million square feet encompassing the Las Vegas Convention Centre and Westgate Resort?
BMW and MINI were among the 2,500 exhibiting booths that set up shop between Nov. 3 and 7 at this year’s 52nd iteration of the event. From a pace car straight from a video game to a bunny-adorned Cooper, here is part two of the coolest displays from SEMA 2014.
BMW
The automaker also known as Bavarian Motor Works was in attendance for the first time at SEMA. Rather than having vehicles modified by other tuners, BMW brought out an M235i, 335i and 435i outfitted with goodies from their own M Performance Parts line.
Matt Russell, Product and Technology Communications Manager at BMW of North America, said they were making their debut because the company has reached a “critical mass” of performance vehicles.
There were also a couple of cars you can’t order straight from the catalogue: a BMW Z4 GTLM, based on a GT3 customer racecar that is based on the Z4 Roadster street car. Designed for entry into the Tudor United Sports Car Championship based in North America, only three were made.
The other rare example was the premiere of the BMW Safety Car, which will be featured in the upcoming Gran Turismo 6 racing simulator for the Sony PlayStation 3. In a case of life imitating art, it started out as a production M4 Coupé before being custom wrapped in BMW Motorsport colours. OEM accessories were then added, including a carbon fibre splitter, mirror caps, rear spoiler and rear diffuser, as well as a titanium exhaust system.
MINI
The closely affiliated MINI was also next door with a booth of their own. There were plenty of factory-enhanced models, and almost everything had some form of a United Kingdom flag on it.
The most popular car at their exhibit was a redesigned black 2015 MINI Cooper S with bold red stripes and upgrades like bigger alloy wheels and a lowered suspension. Accompanying the car was Playboy Playmate Pamela Horton wearing a matching Union Jack uniform.
In the final part of our SEMA 2014 coverage, we preview some big horsepower Korean sedans, a handful of Fits and a new racy roadster from Mazda.
