They say shoes can make or break an outfit. The same can probably be said of wheels when it comes to cars, and the 2014 Specialty Equipment Market Association show had its share of outstanding and questionable wheel choices. The list below showcases how standout cars such as a classic 1971 Corvette and an exotic Porsche 918 Spyder stood out even more thanks to great sets of wheels.
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More from the 2014 SEMA Show:
- Best of Show: Hottest 2014 SEMA Show Cars
- Craziest Cars: The Wildest 2014 SEMA Show Cars
- Ford Mustangs at the 2014 SEMA Show
- Top 5 Chevrolet Camaro Show Cars at the 2014 SEMA Show
This Corvette is packed with modern hardware, including its 6.2-liter LT1 V-8, adjustable coil-overs, and brakes sourced from the C6 Corvette Z06. The exterior, however, was refreshingly retro right down to the 18-inch wheels inspired by the rally-style set offered on the original car.
A 1992 Acura NSX rolled into SEMA with a sharp Rocket Bunny treatment. In addition to the wide body, the metallic blue NSX sports Rocket Bunny wheels by 6666 Customs (17 x 10.5-inch in the rear, 17 x 9.5-inch up front) wrapped with Nitto NT05 rubbers.
Our parent company, The Enthusiast Network, had a big presence at the 2014 SEMA Show with a large booth in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. One of the cars on display was this "Sliced" Charger built by the folks at the Roadster Shop. They designed these gorgeous wheels, which were machined by Greening Auto Company.
The HRE Wheels booth was fairly popular thanks to a Porsche 918 Spyder wearing two of its wheel designs. The driver's side was sporting HRE P101 monoblocks, though my favorite were the 501 monoblocks featured on the passenger side.
Ken Block will demolish Gymkhana 7 in this all-wheel-drive Mustang dubbed the "Hoonicorn." This beast of a Mustang looks absolutely solid, and the 18-inch, three-piece forged wheels from fifteen52 (model Tarmac R40) stand out with a copper finish.
This RWB-built 993-series 911 grabbed a lot of attention at SEMA, and it's easy to see why. The wide fenders are eye-catching, and the blacked-out wheels, which come from iForged, provide a nice contrast to the blue paint job.
The Lexus RC F is proving to be a very capable car on the track, but it can also be a stylish show car. The VIP Auto Salon showed off its version of a RC F with wild Oracle Seafoam paint, but the Vossen VPS forged wheels are relatively tame and look pretty good on the coupe. These are 20-inchers, but 18s or 19s would probably look just as good.
Vorsteiner was at SEMA and unveiled its wide-body "GTRS4" BMW M4. The entire look is smooth and clean, from the wide fenders (no Rocket Bunny-style bolts here, folks) to the forged, three-piece GTRS4 wheels. If the simple five-spoke design doesn't impress you, then maybe its dimensions will: 20x 10.5-inch up front, while the back wheels are 13.5-inches wide to fit 275 and 345-width rubbers, respectively.
The folks at Roadster Shop had another impressive build at SEMA with this "Rampage" Camaro, which was on display at the GoPro booth. Complementing this Camaro's carbon-fiber body were wheels by Jonbloed (18 x 12 front and rear) with a gold finish.
This RC 350 F looks ready for the track, and the custom Enkei 6666 wheels designed by TRA-Kyoto definitely look racy. The silver-finished, 19-inch wheels are wrapped with Toyo 888 tires.
As MotorTrend’s road test editor and fleet manager, Erick Ayapana spends a bulk of his day pestering automakers for vehicles to test and shaming staffers for curbing wheels. Erick is a SoCal native who spends his free time doing SoCal things and pondering the world’s unsolved mysteries, including the proper way to launch a Subaru WRX with a manual transmission.
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