SEMA 2018

The Specialty Equipment Market Association show is held in Las Vegas annually, and this year Nissan is hitting SEMA with its own one-two combos. The automaker has four performance models on display, including an all-out time attack.

We looked at the cars of SEMA last week, and this week we dive into the trucks, utility vehicles and vans. The group includes the usual mile-high trucks and gaudy Wranglers but also some new twists, like Iceland-ready adventure vans, UTV/pickup truck half-and-halfs, and super-sized military jeeps.

The "Halo Project" Subaru from Mississippi State University looks like any other SEMA SUV – flared fenders, a powerful bumper, big tires and a loaded roof rack. But this R&D project is far from a basic show car, featuring an all-electric powertrain and full autonomous hardware suite.

This year's SEMA Show proved a bit tamer than last year's (no all-new 300-mph supercars or $1.5 million off-road motorhomes, we're aware of), but it was still wall-to-wall with lusty sports cars, delicious retromods and all other styles of wild one-of-a-kinds.

Los Angeles-based Icon does the "electrified classic" a little differently, preserving the aged look and patina of a 1949 Mercury while adding a 200-mile (322-km), 400-hp (298-kW) dual-motor electric powertrain.​ It's a sleeper for the electric age.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association show often has some odd one-off designs and weird concepts to showcase. Toyota flipped the dough on this year’s show with a mobile pizza maker conceived out of a Tundra pickup truck and some pie-making expertise from Pizza Hut.

Nodding at the past while looking into the future, Chevy presents the eCOPO Camaro at SEMA 2018. Fifty years after the introduction of the original COPO Camaro, it takes the high-performance Camaro electric, dropping in a plug-and-play motor for more than 700 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque.

Nissan arrived at the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas with five unique one-offs to wow the crowds. Ranging from a souped-up orange 370Z to a DJ booth made out of a Kicks crossover, the showcase is interesting, to say the least.

For SEMA 2018, Honda has brought together the separate worlds of its powersports and automotive lineups. Part Ridgeline pickup, part Pioneer 1000 side-by-side, the Rugged Open Air Vehicle is 110 percent off-road fun.

The Honda Ridgeline is probably the very last overland base vehicle choice among all American-market pickup trucks. But that hasn't dissuaded Honda from developing the Ridgeline Overland Project, a SEMA show truck that will lead to a lineup of available off-road accessories.​