“We are proud to be the OE supplier of custom seat covers and car covers for such a cool car!” he said. 

“The Fiat 500 is the right car for the times we live in,” Varick said. “We were very pleased to be asked by Fiat to envision a future trim level for the brand-new 500 and to have such an exciting new vehicle in which to showcase Brandmotion products and capabilities.”

“I personally admire the car. It’s a small car done right. Its beautiful exterior design makes it über cute, and cute sells! But it’s not only looks. At this price range, weight and wheelbase, and with the right modifications, it will also be a hot road-racing car.”

Katzkin Leather is a supplier of high-quality leather seat designs for the Fiat 500 that complement and transform the car’s unique character. Katzkin also offers seat heaters, seat massagers and LiquiCell comfort pads.

“The Fiat 500 is a high-personality car that breaks the paradigm that small cars aren’t cool,” said Dave O’Connell, chief designer for Katzkin Leather. “By design, it makes a solid and confident statement that it’s fun to drive and also enhances the experience of owning a truly unique vehicle. The car possesses a strong visual personality, both in terms of exterior and interior design. It’s very compact in size but very large and expressive in terms of vehicle character. At the same time, it offers almost a blank canvas as to which direction you could take it in terms of personalization. “It was a pleasure and an honor to have this vehicle in our booth at the SEMA Show, and it was a lot of fun to work on. We didn’t try to change the car at all. We just built on its inherent strengths of design and character. It shows the value and power of strong design and how important the role is for design to play in making products more desirable to your customers.”  

“Broadfeet Motorsport Equipment chose to display a Fiat 500 to show that the automotive industry is not just about 4x4s and heavy-duty trucks anymore; that medium-size CUVs and small compact cars, such as the Fiat 500, have their place as well,” said Broadfeet Sales Manager Cesar Florez.

Broadfeet Motorsport Equipment currently carries a front 2.5-in. A-bar and a rear bumper guard for the Fiat but may also offer other products in the future.

“Congratulations to Fiat for making a cool vehicle,” Florez said. “We hope that it brings our company more sales and more challenging ideas. People loved the car at the SEMA Show, and the designs were great. Stay tuned for the 2012 SEMA Show. We have something up our sleeves, and we’ll be sure to surprise everyone.”

“The Chevrolet Camaro has proven to be a hugely popular platform for Extreme Dimensions,” said Geoffrey Brown, the company’s marketing manager. “It’s a timeless design that lends itself to a wide range of aftermarket aerodynamic options. With Extreme Dimensions winning the GM Design Award at last year’s SEMA Show, it only made sense for us to bring the new Camaro convertible to the Show this year. We have been able to design and manufacture a number of body kits based off the gorgeous factory lines of the Camaro, and they all look fantastic.

“Although there were hundreds of incredible vehicles built for the SEMA Show this year, it is no surprise that Chevrolet walked away with this award. The Camaro is an iconic vehicle that will never cease to amaze its audience. The beautiful design matched with its fantastic performance make it a tuner’s dream. Congratulations to Chevrolet for making yet another generation of the Camaro that is rightfully sure to go down in the books as one of the most talked about vehicles at the SEMA Show for many years to come.”

“The Camaro engine allows the use of a wide array of available performance products, often with little or no changes. Having a broad base of other aftermarket and GM Performance Parts to work with also helps. One company can’t supply everything that everyone wants for the vehicle, so having a broad range of companies involved expands what we can all provide.

“The ZL1 Camaro takes the factory Camaro to a new performance level, and we look forward to expanding on that even further. It’s great to see the Mustang and the Camaro in such fierce competition between the OEMs. Nothing brings out great products—both in the OEM world and in the aftermarket—like great competition.”

“The Camaro is such a great vehicle for aftermarket upgrades that we had to include it in our booth,” said Dan Nicholas, vice president sales/marketing for Jet Performance Products. “It’s one of those cars that is great stock but so much better after the aftermarket gets a piece of it. It has that great musclecar stance that catches your eye. So many people came by the booth and stopped to take pictures of the car and then were shocked to learn how many upgrades we had done to it.”

Jet Performance Products include performance programmers, performance modules, mass air sensors and skip-shift eliminators, and the company is working on several products for the Camaro that it plans to show off at the Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council Media Trade Conference to be held January 24–26 at the Embassy Suites LAX South Hotel in El Segundo, California.

“I am so happy that Camaro won the award,” Nicholas said. “I think back several years ago at the SEMA Show when everything was truck-based and the only car stuff was sport compact. It’s so good for the market to have musclecars back in front.”  

“The musclecar wars are back, and nothing says it like Chevy’s commitment to the Camaro,” said Doug Evans, executive vice president and group publisher for Source Interlink Media. “When you think of musclecars, you think Camaro. Many of our 60-plus titles and 100 websites are devoted to musclecars of the ’60s and ’70s. The Chevrolet Camaro of today is a fantastic car that provides us the opportunity to speak to a whole new generation of enthusiasts in addition to our loyal reader base that may drive a vintage version and also wants a new model.

“The designers at GM did a great job of capturing enough styling cues from the first generation of cars to give the current version a nostalgic feel while incorporating all the features and performance you’d expect from a new vehicle. In addition, the Camaro is friendly to the aftermarket and offers the consumer dozens of ways to personalize his car using parts and components built by SEMA-member companies. “We have several magazines that include Camaro content, including Motor Trend, Automobile, Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Chevy, GM High Tech Performance and Chevy High Performance.

David Hamburger, director of marketing for SLP Performance Parts Inc., said that the Chevrolet Camaro has been a core part of SLP for 25 years. SLP was the Tier 1 supplier and final assembler to GM for the ’96–’02 Camaro SS, building more than 45,000 of the cars.

SLP has continued the tradition of designing and manufacturing performance parts and packages for the fifth-generation Camaro, and sales continue to strengthen.

“The Camaro is a fun car to work with,” Hamburger said. “We are able to design and manufacture high-performance parts and appearance items, and our staff is constantly able to add more content each time we play with the Camaro. SLP would like to congratulate GM for producing the outstanding product that won the SEMA award.”

The THI family of companies—Extang, TruXedo, UnderCover, BedRug and Advantage Truck Accessories—manufactures a wide selection of tonneau covers and bed protection for all of the F-Series offerings.

“The Ford F-Series remains the most popular truck in America,” said Steve Kelley, vice president of sales for Extang. “With multiple bed-length choices, the step gate and various cargo-carrying accessories, it basically needs only a tonneau cover and bed protection to complete the package! Combined with America’s best-selling tonneau covers, we thought the Ford F-Series represented us best at the SEMA Show this year. They are great trucks to drive and depend on, and we have many in our fleet across the THI group. In addition to the four F-Series trucks that we displayed in our SEMA Show booth, we also had many others with THI products on display in other areas, including our new F-450 Super Duty. We were able to work with some terrific folks to show our products on their trucks.”

Vortech  Engineering selected an ’11 SVT Raptor F-150 for its exhibit at the 2011 SEMA Show because of the performance profile of Raptor owners and the way Vortech’s new supercharger system for the truck packaged perfectly under the hood.

Custom parts and accessories for the Jeep Wrangler remain in high demand as owners look for ways to make their Wranglers more their own. Enthusiasm for the Wrangler has led to its winning of multiple industry awards, including the SEMA Most Accessory-Friendly SUV in 2007.

“There are so many ways to fit and attach customized parts to the Wrangler, and since Jeep came out with the Unlimited, the longer wheelbase has made all the difference getting up obstacles much easier,” said Scott Doughty, Mountain Off-Road Enterprises CEO. “We manufacture specialty Jeep-only aftermarket parts, and since the Wrangler can be customized so many ways, I see why it was chosen for the SEMA Award. People want to see what our products will look like on their own Jeep, and showing our Wrangler in our SEMA booth is what sells our products.

“We have been around since 1995. We manufacture parts going from CJs all the way up to JKs. We make bumpers, fenders, oil and transmission skidplates, a dual battery tray and a new retractable Hide-A-Step that shortens the step up into the Jeep Wrangler by 11 in. but is also removable with two quick-disconnect pins.

“SEMA exhibitors couldn’t have picked a better vehicle. The Wrangler is a story of the American Way. Congratulations, Jeep Wrangler!”

“The Jeep Wrangler provided the perfect platform to display our intake kit and toolbox while drawing attention to our booth,” said Mike Morrow, vice president of marketing for Spectre Performance.

“We manufacture a true cold-air induction system that draws air from the firewall area and a sheetmetal toolbox that installs into the cavity that formerly housed the air filter. We’re also considering other sheetmetal components similar to those that we manufacture for the old-school musclecar market. The Wrangler is a versatile and popular platform for both the true off-road enthusiast and the occasional weekend off-roader.”

The Jeep market is a very important part of our business, and the Jeep JK is a build we are very proud of,” said Lee McGuire, director of marketing and operations for Skyjacker Suspensions. “Not only do we use it at various shows, but it also gets taken out and really used at events and on the trails. You have the ability to add so many suspension accessories and upgraded components to make it a truly great trail-ready vehicle. We offer 2-in. leveling kits, 2.5- to 7-in. suspension kits, dual steering stabilizers, shocks, front and rear track bars and grab handles. We really have any suspension upgrade or component you could want to make your JK into a capable vehicle on-and off-road.

“Our Jeep JK project Green Hornet includes a number of other accessories and components in the build to really show why the Wrangler is such a sought-after vehicle to customize. All the added accessories just show what you can really get out of the right combination of products on your Jeep.”

“We are proud to be the OE supplier of custom seat covers and car covers for such a cool car!” he said. 

“The Fiat 500 is the right car for the times we live in,” Varick said. “We were very pleased to be asked by Fiat to envision a future trim level for the brand-new 500 and to have such an exciting new vehicle in which to showcase Brandmotion products and capabilities.”

“I personally admire the car. It’s a small car done right. Its beautiful exterior design makes it über cute, and cute sells! But it’s not only looks. At this price range, weight and wheelbase, and with the right modifications, it will also be a hot road-racing car.”

Katzkin Leather is a supplier of high-quality leather seat designs for the Fiat 500 that complement and transform the car’s unique character. Katzkin also offers seat heaters, seat massagers and LiquiCell comfort pads.

“The Fiat 500 is a high-personality car that breaks the paradigm that small cars aren’t cool,” said Dave O’Connell, chief designer for Katzkin Leather. “By design, it makes a solid and confident statement that it’s fun to drive and also enhances the experience of owning a truly unique vehicle. The car possesses a strong visual personality, both in terms of exterior and interior design. It’s very compact in size but very large and expressive in terms of vehicle character. At the same time, it offers almost a blank canvas as to which direction you could take it in terms of personalization. “It was a pleasure and an honor to have this vehicle in our booth at the SEMA Show, and it was a lot of fun to work on. We didn’t try to change the car at all. We just built on its inherent strengths of design and character. It shows the value and power of strong design and how important the role is for design to play in making products more desirable to your customers.”  

“Broadfeet Motorsport Equipment chose to display a Fiat 500 to show that the automotive industry is not just about 4x4s and heavy-duty trucks anymore; that medium-size CUVs and small compact cars, such as the Fiat 500, have their place as well,” said Broadfeet Sales Manager Cesar Florez.

Broadfeet Motorsport Equipment currently carries a front 2.5-in. A-bar and a rear bumper guard for the Fiat but may also offer other products in the future.

“Congratulations to Fiat for making a cool vehicle,” Florez said. “We hope that it brings our company more sales and more challenging ideas. People loved the car at the SEMA Show, and the designs were great. Stay tuned for the 2012 SEMA Show. We have something up our sleeves, and we’ll be sure to surprise everyone.”

“The Chevrolet Camaro has proven to be a hugely popular platform for Extreme Dimensions,” said Geoffrey Brown, the company’s marketing manager. “It’s a timeless design that lends itself to a wide range of aftermarket aerodynamic options. With Extreme Dimensions winning the GM Design Award at last year’s SEMA Show, it only made sense for us to bring the new Camaro convertible to the Show this year. We have been able to design and manufacture a number of body kits based off the gorgeous factory lines of the Camaro, and they all look fantastic.

“Although there were hundreds of incredible vehicles built for the SEMA Show this year, it is no surprise that Chevrolet walked away with this award. The Camaro is an iconic vehicle that will never cease to amaze its audience. The beautiful design matched with its fantastic performance make it a tuner’s dream. Congratulations to Chevrolet for making yet another generation of the Camaro that is rightfully sure to go down in the books as one of the most talked about vehicles at the SEMA Show for many years to come.”

“The Camaro engine allows the use of a wide array of available performance products, often with little or no changes. Having a broad base of other aftermarket and GM Performance Parts to work with also helps. One company can’t supply everything that everyone wants for the vehicle, so having a broad range of companies involved expands what we can all provide.

“The ZL1 Camaro takes the factory Camaro to a new performance level, and we look forward to expanding on that even further. It’s great to see the Mustang and the Camaro in such fierce competition between the OEMs. Nothing brings out great products—both in the OEM world and in the aftermarket—like great competition.”

“The Camaro is such a great vehicle for aftermarket upgrades that we had to include it in our booth,” said Dan Nicholas, vice president sales/marketing for Jet Performance Products. “It’s one of those cars that is great stock but so much better after the aftermarket gets a piece of it. It has that great musclecar stance that catches your eye. So many people came by the booth and stopped to take pictures of the car and then were shocked to learn how many upgrades we had done to it.”

Jet Performance Products include performance programmers, performance modules, mass air sensors and skip-shift eliminators, and the company is working on several products for the Camaro that it plans to show off at the Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council Media Trade Conference to be held January 24–26 at the Embassy Suites LAX South Hotel in El Segundo, California.

“I am so happy that Camaro won the award,” Nicholas said. “I think back several years ago at the SEMA Show when everything was truck-based and the only car stuff was sport compact. It’s so good for the market to have musclecars back in front.”  

“The musclecar wars are back, and nothing says it like Chevy’s commitment to the Camaro,” said Doug Evans, executive vice president and group publisher for Source Interlink Media. “When you think of musclecars, you think Camaro. Many of our 60-plus titles and 100 websites are devoted to musclecars of the ’60s and ’70s. The Chevrolet Camaro of today is a fantastic car that provides us the opportunity to speak to a whole new generation of enthusiasts in addition to our loyal reader base that may drive a vintage version and also wants a new model.

“The designers at GM did a great job of capturing enough styling cues from the first generation of cars to give the current version a nostalgic feel while incorporating all the features and performance you’d expect from a new vehicle. In addition, the Camaro is friendly to the aftermarket and offers the consumer dozens of ways to personalize his car using parts and components built by SEMA-member companies. “We have several magazines that include Camaro content, including Motor Trend, Automobile, Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Chevy, GM High Tech Performance and Chevy High Performance.

David Hamburger, director of marketing for SLP Performance Parts Inc., said that the Chevrolet Camaro has been a core part of SLP for 25 years. SLP was the Tier 1 supplier and final assembler to GM for the ’96–’02 Camaro SS, building more than 45,000 of the cars.

SLP has continued the tradition of designing and manufacturing performance parts and packages for the fifth-generation Camaro, and sales continue to strengthen.

“The Camaro is a fun car to work with,” Hamburger said. “We are able to design and manufacture high-performance parts and appearance items, and our staff is constantly able to add more content each time we play with the Camaro. SLP would like to congratulate GM for producing the outstanding product that won the SEMA award.”

The THI family of companies—Extang, TruXedo, UnderCover, BedRug and Advantage Truck Accessories—manufactures a wide selection of tonneau covers and bed protection for all of the F-Series offerings.

“The Ford F-Series remains the most popular truck in America,” said Steve Kelley, vice president of sales for Extang. “With multiple bed-length choices, the step gate and various cargo-carrying accessories, it basically needs only a tonneau cover and bed protection to complete the package! Combined with America’s best-selling tonneau covers, we thought the Ford F-Series represented us best at the SEMA Show this year. They are great trucks to drive and depend on, and we have many in our fleet across the THI group. In addition to the four F-Series trucks that we displayed in our SEMA Show booth, we also had many others with THI products on display in other areas, including our new F-450 Super Duty. We were able to work with some terrific folks to show our products on their trucks.”

Vortech  Engineering selected an ’11 SVT Raptor F-150 for its exhibit at the 2011 SEMA Show because of the performance profile of Raptor owners and the way Vortech’s new supercharger system for the truck packaged perfectly under the hood.

Custom parts and accessories for the Jeep Wrangler remain in high demand as owners look for ways to make their Wranglers more their own. Enthusiasm for the Wrangler has led to its winning of multiple industry awards, including the SEMA Most Accessory-Friendly SUV in 2007.

“There are so many ways to fit and attach customized parts to the Wrangler, and since Jeep came out with the Unlimited, the longer wheelbase has made all the difference getting up obstacles much easier,” said Scott Doughty, Mountain Off-Road Enterprises CEO. “We manufacture specialty Jeep-only aftermarket parts, and since the Wrangler can be customized so many ways, I see why it was chosen for the SEMA Award. People want to see what our products will look like on their own Jeep, and showing our Wrangler in our SEMA booth is what sells our products.

“We have been around since 1995. We manufacture parts going from CJs all the way up to JKs. We make bumpers, fenders, oil and transmission skidplates, a dual battery tray and a new retractable Hide-A-Step that shortens the step up into the Jeep Wrangler by 11 in. but is also removable with two quick-disconnect pins.

“SEMA exhibitors couldn’t have picked a better vehicle. The Wrangler is a story of the American Way. Congratulations, Jeep Wrangler!”

“The Jeep Wrangler provided the perfect platform to display our intake kit and toolbox while drawing attention to our booth,” said Mike Morrow, vice president of marketing for Spectre Performance.

“We manufacture a true cold-air induction system that draws air from the firewall area and a sheetmetal toolbox that installs into the cavity that formerly housed the air filter. We’re also considering other sheetmetal components similar to those that we manufacture for the old-school musclecar market. The Wrangler is a versatile and popular platform for both the true off-road enthusiast and the occasional weekend off-roader.”

The Jeep market is a very important part of our business, and the Jeep JK is a build we are very proud of,” said Lee McGuire, director of marketing and operations for Skyjacker Suspensions. “Not only do we use it at various shows, but it also gets taken out and really used at events and on the trails. You have the ability to add so many suspension accessories and upgraded components to make it a truly great trail-ready vehicle. We offer 2-in. leveling kits, 2.5- to 7-in. suspension kits, dual steering stabilizers, shocks, front and rear track bars and grab handles. We really have any suspension upgrade or component you could want to make your JK into a capable vehicle on-and off-road.

“Our Jeep JK project Green Hornet includes a number of other accessories and components in the build to really show why the Wrangler is such a sought-after vehicle to customize. All the added accessories just show what you can really get out of the right combination of products on your Jeep.”

2011 SEMA Person of the Year: John Menzler

One of SEMA’s most prestigious honors, the SEMA Person of the Year Award recognizes individuals for their distinguished service to the trade association and the industry. “[Menzler] is quick to offer advice and guidance to anyone who needs it,” said emcee Dave McClelland during the banquet. “Helping others bring their ideas alive is a common thread running through his active involvement in SEMA councils and committees and in his mentoring and volunteer work, such as during this year’s Childhelp and Victory Junction Pinewood drag race.”

The SEMA Chairman of the Board has the opportunity each year to present the Chairman’s Service Award to one outstanding individual. However, that prerogative is not acted upon annually, making the honor especially prestigious. SEMA’s current Chairman, Paul “Scooter” Brothers, welcomed Gresham to the stage during the SEMA Industry Awards Banquet with the following statement: “My choice for this award is a man who’s been invaluable to me, SEMA and the industry as a whole. His wisdom and guidance have helped with huge SEMA projects, such as the Data Pool, as well as some exciting future SEMA initiatives, so his outstanding service is not over yet.”

SEMA Warehouse Distributor of the Year: Motor State Distributing

Quality performance parts and accessories, prompt, courteous service and fair pricing were important in 1964, when the company started as a part-time venture in George Lane’s tiny garage. Today these attributes still guide day-to-day operations at Motor State Distributing.

Bob Cook Sales was created in June of 1979 with a goal to provide superior representation on behalf of its manufacturer clients to the automotive aftermarket. Through a quality mix of performance and accessory products, Bob Cook Sales covers mass retail, farm stores, fleet accounts, imports, restoration, speed and performance, expediters, export, accessory boutiques, race teams, traditional warehouses, performance distributors, jobbers and street-rod markets.

PWA Manufacturer of the Year: Painless Performance

PWA presents its Manufacturer of the Year Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the specialty-equipment industry and in appreciation of conscientious efforts in support of the warehouse-distributor concept of merchandise distribution.

PWA presents its Person of the Year Award in recognition of outstanding contribution and in appreciation of conscientious dedication as an individual member to the specialty-equipment industry.