What's all this about?
There's a massive aftermarket tuning show held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre every year called SEMA, which stands for Specialty (bear with us, it's an American word) Equipment Market Association.
So what?
SEMA is big news not just to the modifying companies worldwide but also to the mainstream manufacturers, and as such the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Group is taking 11 Mopar-tuned special vehicles along to this year's event, which runs from November 4-7 in Nevada's premier gambling resort. These will be part of FCA's enormous exhibition at SEMA.
Mopar?
A portmanteau of the words 'Motor' and 'Parts', Mopar is a brand that has been around since 1937, with a long association with various go-faster US muscle cars. Today, however, it is the FCA Group's service, parts and customer care arm, and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories annually across more than 130 markets. Find out more about it at www.mopar.com.
OK, so what can we look forward to from FCA at SEMA?
It's probably worth ignoring some of the US-centric vehicles that are part of this tuned-up fleet, like the Ram commercials, the Poison Dart R/T or the Chrysler 200S Mopar Concept. However, there are a few intriguing machines among the Mopar-festooned showpieces. There are two Fiats, the Abarth Scorpion (presumably yet another fast 500) and 500L Custom; two versions of the freshly-launched Jeep Renegade, called the Trailhawk Frostbite and the Limited Rip Tide; and a couple of modern US muscle motors: the Dodge Charger Mopar Concept and the Dodge Challenger T/A Concept, which stands for 'Time Attack'.
Anything else of interest?
Only the stylised outline of a Dodge Viper ACR Concept, which is probably the most exciting model of the lot.
Why can't I see all of these cars?
Because this is that classic pre-motor show PR stunt: the teaser image. Or, in this case, the 11 teaser images. Damn them all to Hades...
Matt Robinson - 21 Oct 2014