(Photos by Rob Bennett) SEMA ready and road ready are very often two different things. It is not uncommon to find cars that don’t even run sitting in the show. Those that do run are usually not shaken down enough for a road trip, and sometimes they never make it more than a few hundred feet outside the building without getting hot or dying. But they do seem to be getting better, and this year our dude on the street Rob Bennett stood out back and watched the cars pulling out of the building. We’re not talking the SEMA Ignited Cruise to the show, we’re talking cars pulling out of the building before showing off.

Here’s Rob’s words.

My 1st SEMA was 1987 when Chevrolet paid me to display my Pro Street 65 Malibu in their booth. My next show was 1994. Since I have attended sporadically usually every 3 to 4 years. I’ve attended the past 8 shows after convincing my employer we needed to attend.

I sell junk for trucks as an occupation but I’m a gearhead at heart.

The SEMA show is the one place where you can see all the new builds from legends like The Ring Bros, Kindig, Foose, Rad Rides and The Roadster Shop not to mention seeing the Ridler winner every year with no ropes or fancy displays keeping you 50 feet from the car.

About 6 years ago I stumbled across the exit doors at the closing of the show. The 1st few years there where only about 20 spectators who knew about this fantastic viewing point. This year the exit plan had all of the cars going to the after show cruise coming right through my spot. The car count increased but so did the spectators, by the hundreds.

Check out the photos below.

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