On paper SEMA 2004 was a little over three years ago. It doesn’t seem too much, but let’s think back to where you were a little over three years ago. What job you were working, what car you were driving, what your hobbies were, etc. Needless to say plenty has probably changed for you, as it has for us. SEMA 2004 was a special time for Tunerzine as that is when we launched the website and in essence is our birth date. So we thought it would be fitting to take a look back at the trends of 2004 and how things have evolved over the years.
Falken Tires had one of the most impressive displays and almost shocked the world by showing off several drift car entries for the 2005 season. One of the biggest surprises was the display of the now infamous Falken Tires Ford Mustang. Looking extremely basic at the 2004 SEMA show, the unmistakable characteristics of this drift machine still holds true today. Who would have thought at the end of the 2005 year this Mustang would conquer all the drifters at a D1 US vs. Japan competition at Irwindale Raceway?
Vince Tiaga of former Golden Eagle fame had his brand new Mazda 3 on display in the Konig Wheels booth. Sporting an interesting green shade of paint, this was one of the first times the All Motor Mazda 3 was seen. It was also one of the few times that people would get to photograph it in this shade. It would be ultimately converted to look similar to the Bergenholtz Racing Mazda 6, a traditional paint/graphics scheme that was nostalgic to Team Wicked Racing.
Drag cars were all the rage at the SEMA 2004 show. The Pro RWD class was heating up and several racers along with manufacturers and race car builders wanted to get involved in the class. This Dodge Stratus was debuted featuring a twin turbo Chrysler 3.2L V6 and was to be driven by team owner, A.J. Berge. Sadly we never saw much of this vehicle, and definitely not in the Pro RWD class at the NHRA Sport Compact races.
The major announcement coming from Subaru and the Easy Street team was the announcement of their AWD Modified class race car. Ali Afshar had teamed up with “famed” tuner and builder, Bob Norwood. Needless to say things didn’t go as planned with this car and Afshar had to take matters into his own hands. We were glad that Afshar had things sorted out, but perhaps it took too long. We were excited to see the potential of this AWD race car back in 2004.
Stephan Papadakis was still drag racing and the AEM Pro RWD Civic was beautiful to say the least. One of the nicest drag cars ever built, and probably the most famous Honda drag car ever, the AEM Pro RWD Civic was something to really respect and envy in person. Hosted in the Honda booth, the drag car gathered the crowds with its unique paint scheme and “hood” display. This car would go on to be retired at the end of the 2005 season, something many of us weren’t too pleased to hear!
Turbonetics had Performance Motorsport’s Pro RWD 350Z entry on display. This vehicle was to be driven by Andrew Rubio, but only saw competition seat time by famed drag racer Vinny Ten. It only made a couple of appearances in the 2005 season and shortly disappeared and believed to have been sold overseas. The potential was there for these Nissan 350Z drag cars, but race teams quickly realized how expensive it had become to compete in the Pro RWD class.
Drifting was growing and the presence of Japanese cars were extremely appealing. But one of the most interesting things we’d like to note was that back in 2004, tons of drag cars were center stage within the show floor. The drift cars? Most of them were spotted outside the actual convention halls and almost seemed to just be second rate entertainment. How things have changed over the years…
Junction Produce made an appearance at the 2004 SEMA Show and the VIP style of tuning began on the stateside. Eager builders got to see first hand the style of jet black sedans dumped with sleek body kits, large grilles and aggressive offset wheels. The VIP trend would soon be partnered with Falken Tires and grow even more heavily onto the stateside. But believe it or not, 2004 was one of its first sightings here on the stateside.
Last but not least, back in SEMA 2004… the word “NORAD” was cool. For those that don’t follow drag racing, NORAD was the association of popular drag racer Chris Rado and (again) race car “builder” Bob Norwood. Norwood’s expertise back in 2004 seemed to be unrivaled and his ideas were classified as “ingenious” and was supposed to help pave the way in sport compact drag racing forever. Needless to say things were discovered with Rado such as they were with Afshar and the word “NORAD” couldn’t be wiped from our history books quickly enough.
So there you have it, a look back at some of the hot stuff at SEMA 2004. It seems as if drag racing was at a rise, but people began to realize how technology and pushing the envelope would ultimately become too costly and entries would be making exits quicker than another year would go by. Drifting was on the rise and many companies were jumping on the new trend, including Falken Tires. What will 2008 hold in store for us?
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