ne of my life’s many duties is to attend the SEMA Show each year. Now, if you haven’t attended most would tell you that you have missed an opportunity. There is no denying that the SEMA Show has changed, as has everything, over the decades. However, I like to think it has evolved to be more in-tune with what today’s hobby is all about or soon to grow into.

Having said that, I did notice an evolutionary “skip” this year. A noticeable change that has occurred, as if skipping a few steps along the evolutionary trail, that I am wondering how many picked up on and does it make a difference to them? There is a change in the types of booths and display vehicles we are now seeing. Don’t get me wrong, there are still many of the proponents who have been there for years while others have opted to move to the curb, so to speak. Not that the companies are fading but rather they have adopted a different approach to business that is more ideally suited to their profile. The general makeup on the SEMA floor (and it’s a large floor) is changing with the types of parts and display vehicles taking part within the “automotive performance” world. I did notice that this year there was a conspicuous drop in early hot rods and Corvettes. Normally these hot rods would be a staple of the show and, yet, were conspicuous by their very absence. So, what’s there for the seeing?

A growing example would be the EV industry and the offshoot that is the performance EV industry. One can also see a continuing growth in the off-road or overland industry. It’s familiar to all of us yet it is growing with more technology driving this industry forward. To me a significant segment is now the number of “new” cars that make up the performance aspect of the show. Whether they be U.S. or of foreign manufacture, they were there in force. The floor of the SEMA Show is evolving and to some it may be evolving away from them.

Why?

Here’s the way I see it. In the early days of rodding, the ’40s and ’50s rodders built themselves what they drove and raced. By the time we got to the ’60s and ’70s these rodders were still building for themselves but now they were being asked to build hot rods for others and build their custom parts for a growing market. The performance parts industry in the ’60s, while still fledgling in size, was growing rapidly. Detroit was taking notice, and this spurred another element of our hobby/industry toward “factory-built hot rods.” This allowed more individuals to enjoy hot rodding even though they couldn’t build these cars themselves.

Then came the mid to late ’70s when the “clean air” movement really began to have an impact and the factory hot rods went away. To continue to enjoy our hobby the growth of shops and manufacturers continued and with it bringing into our sphere of influence more equally enthusiastic individuals but possibly less mechanically attune. Hot rodding continued to do well, very well up through the century mark—the millennium. It was at this point, especially by the mid ’90s, that Detroit once again figured out how to give hot rodders of all talent levels more sophisticated, over-the-counter-purchased hot rods. Staggering performance in both powertrain and suspension. What the new factory hot rods can do is truly stunning. And SEMA took notice and absorbed this element and continued the show’s meteoric rise.

So, why were there so few early hot rods and Corvettes at the SEMA Show? I can’t say for sure. But to me part of the answer lies in the country’s tremendously gifted growing list of builders who have neither the time nor personal resources to build for themselves. They too are businessmen, and their lifestyle requires that they build for the new wave of hot rodders—individuals who have passion and buckets of enthusiasm but lack the personal skills to build. Like I said, I don’t have a definite answer but it is becoming apparent our hobby, at least the early hot rod segment, is undergoing a seismic shift. Stay tuned, it should get very interesting.