My desire to attend SEMA has been simmering in my mind for several years. Like many of you, I have attended a number of car shows and swap meets (e.g. Reno, Pomona, Pleasanton, etc.). However, I was not fully prepared for the enormity of SEMA. Strolling the magnificent Las Vegas Convention Center halls and taking a noisey, smokey, “hair-on-end” drift car adventure was the tip of the iceberg. The ultimate experience was meeting my heros Dave Kindig and Kevin Schiele – hosts of TV’s Bitchin Rides. And, yes they are as warm, gracious and engaging as they appear on TV.
Instead of trying to cover a myriad of SEMA topics in this article, I decided to focus on wheels. Even here, it was nearly impossible to choose some favorites from dozens of photographs.
In 1957, Perry Como sang the hit, “Round and Round”, whose lyrics referred to a wheel. In those days, books such as “Dress for Success” and sayings such as “clothes make the man” were popular. From turn-of-the-century wooden spoke wheels to the “spinners”, “moon caps” and “knockoffs” of my teenage years, there has been an amazing evolution of the automobile wheel – both in design, materials and construction. Corresponding changes have occurred on the steering column. SEMA 2022 provided a smorgasbord of classic and classy wheels that help rides dress for success.
David Geeting; photo-journalist: 4:00pm, Nov.6, 2022