We return to Vegas with the SpeedLiner, the F40, a new ‘70 Camaro project and the incredibly popular Kenny Hoover!
The Spectre team is used to long days spent at the rig, answering questions and talking cars, so the 2010 SEMA show was no problem for us. Heck, it’s indoors!
Spectre hasn’t been an exhibitor at the SEMA trade show for several years and as our readers know, a lot has changed at the company in the last three years! We wanted to show up and fully represent what Spectre Performance stands for.
What does Spectre Performance stand for? Speed, quality, innovation and participation; we are real car guys and girls. We have project vehicles and performance goals and we wanted our booth to reflect that. We didn’t bother having a booth made of drapery and rigging, why would we when we have the award winning Spectre Transformer Big Rig? While other companies were setting up banners, we drove the whole truck inside the convention center and unloaded the display cars.
The booth was filled with our fastest rides, literally. A display for the Spectre 341 Challenge featured our mid-engine El Camino in front of a backdrop of Virginia City. On the other side of the rig we parked the autocross ready GTO. The Spectre Speedliner was on display at the front of the booth in two parts – body shell and chassis. Directly behind it was the Double Dually push truck. Above it all sat Amir’s record setting Ferrari F40 on the truck lift gate, just to remind folks that there’s still a 341 record that’s up for grabs. Last but not least we also debuted a new (or reborn, really) project vehicle: our old yellow ‘70 Camaro is now an all-black and carbon pro-touring supercar, featuring a heavily massaged LS1 and T56 six-speed, carbon fiber body panels from Anvil, Baer brakes, a Hotchkis Total Vehicle System and a full array of new Spectre production sheet metal parts – from our new wing and air dam to door panels, radiator plenum panels and more.
Speaking of records, we can’t have the SpeedLiner without Kenny Hoover, and he was in a place of honor at the nose of the car, signing autographs and talking to fans. Kenny went through over 2,000 posters in a single week, signing them for people from all around the world. Who’d have ever thought when we started this record attempt that we’d finish out the year with our picture hanging in a garage in Finland?
Another popular stop in the Spectre booth were the new product displays. We have a huge amount of new products coming out in the following months, and SEMA was the first time anyone was able to see parts like our new black filter line up close. Our LS line, including LSX Conversion kits, LSX intake manifold, and new LS over the top intake, was getting a lot of attention, as was the introduction of our sheet metal wings, air dams, door panels, battery box and more. People have been asking us for years to produce the Spectre wings and interiors that we run on the Spectre competition cars, and we believe in listening to our customers. Apparently, you guys were right, because we won runner-up in “best new interior product” for the door panels!
The Spectre cars weren’t limited to the booth space. We were honored to have two cars chosen by Car Crazy to sit outside in the Car Crazy Corral. Amir debuted the Maverick on stage in its first public appearance in road race ready form, and Brandy spoke with Barry Meguiar all about the Mach1, autocrossing, and Spectre Performance products.
The SEMA show ended on Friday, but there were several Spectre-equipped cars participating in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational in Pahrump on Saturday. We stopped by Spring Mountain on the way home to root for Brian Finch and JF Launier, both of whom finished in the top 20. After a day of tire smoke and cone marks, we headed back to Los Angeles to get ready for the Pleasanton Good Guys show. Trade shows are fun, but we really belong on the track!
