One of the consistently best displays at the annual SEMA Show is the Toyo Tires Treadpass. It gathers a diverse collection of builds in different style and themes, from slammed tuners to sky-high off-roaders. This year, Toyo has previewed a few selections that will be shown there.
Striking the strongest nostalgia chord with us is a 2021 Chevy Silverado RST Crew Cab with a “Smokey and the Bandit” theme. Built by Texas’ Legendary Concepts in partnership with Saleen, it features a custom wide-body and aero kit and a blueprinted L83 5.3L engine supercharged to over 700 horsepower. Finished in black with gold highlights, it evokes the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am from the Burt Reynolds road movie. Naturally, it features a golden screaming chicken on the hood.
Also sure to be an eye-catcher is a 1982 DeLorean DMC-12, but this one is about as far a departure as possible from the movie car that made the model famous. Instead, it comes with a custom wide-body kit designed by Khyzyl Saleem, an artist for the Electronic Arts video game company. The cyberpunk-ish car is said to take cues from top ’80s machines, including a Ferrari F40-style engine cover for a mid-mounted engine and an IMSA-inspired twin-turbo layout.
Other cars in the display include a caged, open-top 1972 K5 Blazer with chopped doors that solves the design issue of a slight step between the bed and door line on the stock version. Also debuting is one of the most impassioned third-gen Nissan Z builds we’ve seen, Brandon Miller’s 1986 300ZX full of one-off custom parts and painted in Nissan’s iconic Safari Gold color. Rounding out the headliners is a 1000-horsepower Mazda RX-7 with a bridge-ported 20B triple-rotor engine from the Japan-market Cosmo and a tasteful and gorgeous Lexus LC500 Convertible.
This is just a small taste of Toyo’s display cars, which will number 35 in total. Others promised will include an E30 BMW M3 by artist Joshua Vides, and Ken Block’s Audi. All, of course, will wear Toyo Tires, but there will be a little something for car enthusiasts of all stripes.
Source: www.autoblog.com