The Cars To Look Out For At SEMA 2024

We’re entering the time of the year when new car news pretty much comes to a halt as manufacturers prepare to hibernate for the winter and unleash a swathe of forgettable electric crossovers upon us as the year turns once more.

Handily, it’s the perfect time for the aftermarket to sweep in and steal some headlines. What better place to do it than SEMA?

2024’s SEMA Show will take place from 5 to 8 November and, as always, will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. There’s always some mad stuff to look forward to, usually involving crazy engine swaps with four-figure horsepower numbers. We’ve picked out a few cars to keep an eye out for this year.

Plymouth GTX Electromod

Here’s one we suspect will cause a bit of outrage. Stellantis has dived into its deep muscle car archives for SEMA 2024 and has pulled out a rare groove in the form of a Plymouth GTX.

Only, rather than stuffing in a last-remaining Hellcat engine or the Hurricane straight-six from the new Charger, it’s made this one electric.

It’s designed as a showcase for its ‘e-Crate’ kit, a purchasable EV swap designed to drop straight into several late ‘60s and early ‘70s muscle and pony cars built by Chrysler. An interesting idea, although we’re intrigued to see how many takers are out there…

Ringbrothers Buick Grand National

Wisconsin-based Ringbrothers has been a mainstay of SEMA in recent years, bringing some pretty mad things like a 1100bhp AMC Javelin AMX in 2017 and a 1000bhp Dodge Charger last year.

2024 is no exception, with its headline a Buick Grand National using a completely overhauled 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 producing an eye-watering 1246bhp. Oh, and that’s going through a manual.

Called the ‘Invadr’ in a not-so-subtle nod to a certain Star Wars villain, it’s joined by an LS3-powered restomodded Chevrolet Blazer and a hot pink, Hellcat-swapped 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda.

Toyota 4Runner TRD Surf

You can guarantee at least one concept car at SEMA that we really wish would make production, and Toyota may be taking that prize this year.

This is the 4Runner TRD Surf, a throwback to the original ‘80s 4Runner by turning it into a convertible. Toyota says it’s a nod to its popularity in SoCal – that’d explain the surfboard out the back, then.

It gets a fully-custom suspension setup aimed for a little more comfort, 37-inch BF Goodrich tyres and a retro-tastic livery complete with ‘Turbo’ down the side. Much want.

Toyota GR86 Rally Legacy

Scratch that, this is the one car from SEMA this year we wish would make production. It still comes from Toyota, though.

Essentially a mashup of the two very best cars Toyota makes, the GR86 Rally Legacy combines the lightweight coupe body of the GR86 with the stonking three-cylinder turbo engine and lively four-wheel drive system from the GR Yaris. Except because those last bits are actually taken from the North American-market GR Corolla, it has 300bhp rather than the 276bhp the Yaris gets here.

Oh, and in case you somehow hadn’t noticed, it’s also been decked out like a ’90s Celica GT-Four rally car. Toyota, what do we have to do for you to put this into production?

Ford F-150 FP700S

Remember the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning? Long before that nameplate became an EV, it adorned a slightly bonkers version of the pick-up – its second generation with a great big supercharger strapped to it.

Ford is bringing a spiritual successor to SEMA this year, the FP700S. This regular car, rear-driven version of the truck uses a 3.0-litre Whipple supercharger strapped to the 5.0-litre V8, making it good for 700bhp and 590lb ft of torque.

Better yet, this isn’t some flight-of-fantasy concept. Ford promises that soon, US customers will be able to buy this supercharger package as a fully warrantied, dealer-fit kit. Just don’t expect the Lightning name to come back for it.

Kia PV5 WKNDR

The Kia PV5 electric van isn’t even due for production until next year, but Kia’s already turned the concept version into the overlanding van of the future. Kitted out with a pop-top roof, knobbly tyres and a nifty modular interior storage system, this thing was made for appearing in highly-saturated Instagram stories featuring the dying embers of a campfire and several acres of flannel shirt. Kia's given the EV9 a similar treatment, too.

Nissan Frontier Tarmac

Nissan’s bringing a host of stuff to SEMA, much of it not very interesting. There are some neat retro appearance bits for the Z sports car, and a couple of concepts that aim desperately to un-boring the Kicks, a small crossover that does the same job in the US as the Juke does in Europe but is marginally less ugly.

One thing caught our eye, though: the Frontier Tarmac. A sideways-ready concept developed alongside pro drifter Chris Forsberg, it takes the Frontier – the smaller of Nissan’s two US-market trucks – and straps a massive supercharger to its 3.8-litre V6 for 440bhp, all going to the back wheels.

Other highlights include trick adjustable coilover suspension, those beefy flared arches, and most importantly, a great big wand of a handbrake for initiating ludicrous skids. Excellent.