Thursday Twister: Best Custom Show Car

In the past few weeks I've been to SEMA and to the LA Auto Show (more on that in a later post) and it got me thinking about show cars for this week's Thursday Twister...the quiz with a twist.  Find the best ex-SEMA (or other Hot-Rod) show car for sale on the interwebs.  Be prepared to defend your choice.

DT Does SEMA 2017

Last week, I had the good fortune to attend the SEMA Show and the AAPEX show, which together makes for a few great days of car parts and junk.  SEMA is the biggest aftermarket consumer parts show on the planet and AAPEX is the biggest aftermarket wholesale parts that you can find.

Boss Turbo Power: 1980 Other

The term SEMA show car gets thrown around the internet like a pair of used underwear at a Bruce Springsteen concert, but the truth is that only a small percentage are truly worth a second glance.  Instead of the typical pearl paint, body kit, bolt-on performance parts, & giant wheel combo, this next SEMA show car is a true custom built by hand and offered for a used Honda Van price.  Find this 1980 Other here on eBay bidding for $3,150 reserve-not-met with $16,000 buy-it-now located in McKinney, TX with 5 days to go.  Tip from Rich.

10k: SEMA Booth Survivor: 1971 Datsun 240Z

Ah, good old SEMA.  The yearly display of cars and chicks in Las Vegas-- officially known as Silicone, Energydrinks, Machines, and Ass.  If you've ever been to the invite only (no looky-loos) Automotive aftermarket industry exposition of boobs, bros, and bosozoku, you'll know what it means to be a SEMA car.  It means that you've had retired strippers posing on the hood, children in strollers bumping into your fenders (seriously, who brings a baby to an industry trade show -- oh yeah, about a thousand people), and crowds of people wandering aimlessly by, hoping for some worthless piece of free tchotchke or an autographed poster from a booth professional.  But when the show is over, you are now just another magazine car looking for a new owner.  Find this 1971 Datsun 240Z offered here on eBay currently bidding for $11,500 with one day to go, located in Erie, CO.

10k: Classic SEMA Car: 1998 Ford Taurus SHO Rage Concept

The third generation Ford Taurus SHO was built from 1996 to 1999, with the last example leaving the assembly line in June of 1999.  It seems strange then, that Ford would have released a Ford Taurus Rage Concept car at the November 1998 SEMA (Special Equipment Manufacturer's Association) trade show, but sometimes in these big companies the guy who is folding the toilet paper has no idea who is going to wipe the butt and doesn't care.  Regardless, an SHO concept car has been bouncing around on ebay for at least the past decade with various sources of conflicting information dating to the early days of the internet. Find this 1998 Ford Taurus SHO Rage Concept currently bidding for $10,600 reserve-not-met with 4 days to go on ebay, located Warren, MI.

5k: SEMA Show Car: 2004 Saturn Ion Redline Rally Car

The Saturn Ion Redline is the sister car to the factory hot rod Chevrolet Cobalt SS and was first launched in 2004.  The Saturn brand was unceremoniously sacked as result of the 2008 global automobile market crash and the only two casualties that anyone should care about from the different kind of car company was the Sky Redline and the Ion Redline. Find this 2004 Saturn Ion Redline SEMA Show & Rally Car for sale in Lakeland, FL currently bidding for $3,800 no-reserve with 1 day to go.

DT Does SEMA 2012: Creativity Runs Rampant

Last week this DT editor traveled to the most wretched hive of scum and villainy known to man. Although the southern Nevada desert landscape does resemble the wastelands of Tatooine, we're not referring to Mos Eisley Spaceport - no, the closest place on Earth is the seething mass known as Las Vegas. For one week every fall, Sin City turns into the epicenter of the biggest car show in the country and a festival of aftermarket excess, a force to recon with in the automotive industry and the debut venue for thousands of new products every year. We are referring of course to the SEMA Show, which is an assault on the senses and sensibilities of anyone who has the terrible luck fortune to walk its halls. Not only will you find hundreds of show cars, hot rods, drift machines, and booth babes, the show can be a great place to spot one-off creations that incite reactions of confusion, awe, appreciation, and regret (that you didn't think of the idea first). With an eye towards the weirder and wackier side of the vehicles on display, we give you the best custom creations Daily Turismo could find at the 2012 SEMA Show.