The 2021 Las Vegas SEMA Show Featured Some Awe-Inspiring Vintage Jeeps
Carlos Kirby
· 3 min read
With things reopening in this nearly post-pandemic world, many people were excited to get back to concerts and sporting events. Not us. Specifically, we were dying to see all the cool new
Jeep
customizations at this year's SEMA automotive trade show.While Jeep has made some very cool designs over the past few years, we wanted to see what the independent gearheads were up to.
What is SEMA?
SEMA is an automotive trade show that originated in 1963. What does SEMA stand for? Today, the acronym means "Specialty Equipment Market Association." It is held in Las Vegas every November.
Each year, the show attracts over 150,000 visitors, according to
MotorTrend
. Despite the large turnout, this is not a public event. It is only open to industry insiders. Attendees must be part of a racing team, a manufacturing company, aftermarket parts companies, and media outlets.
Each year at the show, individuals bring in their unique cars. Some are historical classics, others have extreme custom jobs. While SEMA is known for showing a large variety of different cars, we thought that Jeeps were unfairly being overlooked.
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Our favorite vintage Jeeps at this year's Specialty Equipment Market Association
MORE: Should Jeep Change the Name of Its Midsize SUV?
1967 Kaiser M-725. Make no mistake, Jeep was born as a military car. While Jeep is primarily associated with World War Two, the army would continue to order Kaiser M-725’s long after the war.
The 1967 Kaiser M-725 is big for a Jeep and had a closed box design. It had a variety of uses, including ambulance work and transport engineers.
1979 Jeep J10 Honcho "Waterboy" Baja 1000 Racer. This Jeep will look familiar to racing fans over a certain age. For those of us who are younger, it still looks pretty darn cool.
This "Waterboy" Jeep was built to emulate Paul Rice's race truck from the 1980s. Its baby blue paint and all-terrain tires would make anyone want to get into rally racing.
Willy's Elk Wagon. We had to include one of the weirder Jeeps found at SEMA. That's why "Willy's Elk Wagon" is here.
If you have a redneck uncle, you might find a rusty beast like this on their lot. It is a vintage 1941 Jeep model, brought back to life by Crown Automotive, a replacement part company.
1978 Jeep Cherokee Chief. This was an impressive specimen even by SEMA's high standards. This Cherokee Chief underwent an extensive restoration process, and the results are gorgeous.
The inside fabric is made from Levi's denim, including actual brass rivets. It turns out, this was a factory option in 1978, making this the most groovy car at the show.
SEMA vs. AAPEX
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SEMA is often confused with a rival automotive show called AAPEX. They occur at the same time in the same city, so it's no surprise they are often mixed up.
The big difference between the two is that AAPEX is more focused on the industrial side of the car industry. You could say AAPEX is for engineers, and SEMA is for engineers after they've had a few beers.
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