- Pit+Paddock celebrates its maiden SEMA Show with a sizeable outdoor booth and pop-up Cars+Coffee experience.
- Complimentary espresso drinks and custom enamel mugs were given to hundreds of SEMA exhibitors and attendees, thanks to our partner Turbosmart.
- Latte sippers walked around our curated display of vehicles, including a modified Ferrari F40, Riley Stair’s Pontiac Trans Am, Rywire’s EV-powered S2000, and more.
- Larry Chen and Dai Yoshihara were among the industry guests hanging out in the coffee lounge.
After a year’s hiatus, the SEMA Show came back strong in 2021 with more than 50,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors. Admittedly, it was nowhere near the attendance the SEMA Show attracted a couple of years ago. However, it was still a promising indication that much of the industry was ready to get back to normal and see each other in person again.
PIT+PADDOCK BOOTH
To celebrate the return of SEMA, Pit+Paddock did a big thing. Just a short seven months after announcing our rebrand from Front Street Media, we put together a SEMA booth of our own to show the aftermarket community what our brand was all about. Our booth was located just outside the main Central Hall and featured a curated display of vehicles that would inspire enthusiasts and builders and give show-goers a place to meet, hang out, and relax.
We parked the vehicles in a starting grid-like floorplan which pays homage to our affinity for motorsport, which follows the same type of display we introduced at our launch event at Evasive Motorsports earlier this year. Sitting in pole position was an iconic Ferrari F40 first discovered at the Toyo Tires Shutter Space gallery. The twin-turbo mid-engine legend sat on custom KW coilovers, BBS Motorsport centerlock wheels and sported a one-off titanium Boden Autohaus exhaust. Next to it rested one of the most stunning and well-appreciated builds in recent history – Riley Stair’s 1970 Pontiac Trans Am. The 1,000hp, 10,000rpm redline Rockstar has amassed several awards since its debut three years ago and still carries a certain presence and likability that no other American muscle car can claim. Behind Riley’s Firebird was the only non-white vehicle in our booth – a freshly Voltex-kitted R35 Nissan GT-R from Evasive Motorsports. Lastly, wearing Turn 14 Distribution colors were Rywire’s EV-powered Honda S2000 and Chris Marion/Dai Yoshihara’s S2000-swapped Mercedes 190. Both of these vehicles had already debuted at the T14 x Period Correct Capsule Event in 2020; however, they have never broken ground at the SEMA Show.
CARS+COFFEE LOUNGE AND EXPERIENCE
With hundreds of exceptional builds at SEMA, it’s tough not to get overwhelmed. To make things a little bit more enjoyable and relaxed at our booth, we came up with an experience that follows the spirit of our very own Cars+Coffee meets that we’ve been hosting at T14 headquarters in Horsham, PA. For those that stopped by Pit+Paddock every morning, we hosted a coffee lounge that offered complimentary espresso drinks with the help of our industry partner Turbosmart. It became a fun and relaxed place to chill amidst the craziness that often comes with SEMA. This was coupled with influential icons like Larry Chen and Dai Yoshihara signing autographs and giving out free posters and coffee mugs.
One of Pit+Paddock’s biggest aspirations is bringing together enthusiasts, celebrating car culture, and creating out-of-the-box experiences, which we hope our SEMA presence did. It’s safe to say SEMA is back, and we’re looking forward to returning next year with a star-studded roster of feature cars, more surprise guests, and of course, coffee to help you wake up each morning.
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