It wouldn’t be SEMA without the gratuitous hotness showing off the latest products in the booths by some of Las Vegas’ very puurrrty girls. We managed to capture many of them in their most sultry poses and thanking the electronic genius for auto-focus and steady-shot. Otherwise our shaking hands would have produced a lot of barely-in-focus, fuzzy pictures. But I have a feeling that you would look at them anyway.

Below are a few of my favorites. I apologize for not getting their measurements, interests, and favorite past time. Our complete collection can be found in the photo gallery.

Click on any image for the full size version

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Hey Everyone at CarReview.com - It’s Thomas, founder of Microcarmag.com, here with my Day 1 report from the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Day 1 started with such fury as we witnessed the unveiling of some killer rides and heard announcements from some of the major automakers in our industry! The very first unveiling had Peter Klut from Dream Car Garage, a SPEED Channel show following the work of Peter’s crew at Legendary Motorcar, showing us an awesome 1970 Super Cuda that combined classic design with carbon fiber and Chip Foose green paint at the BASF paint booth.  Klut’s special guest at the unveiling was none other than the famous designer Chip Foose!  This unveiling was just the tip of the iceberg for our Day 1.

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The 2009 SEMA show started off with a lot of energy and optimism for the new year that is almost at our door. New ideas, renewed enthusiasm, and the penchant for going bigger while being eco-conscious all in the same breath. Below are a few photos that our friends from Microcarmag.com sent us. The full set can be found in the CarReview photo gallery.

More interesting tidbits and a lot more exciting stuff to follow in the next few days. Click on the thumbnail  below to view the fullsize image.

Ken Block Monster Subaru

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Hyundai’s Genesis Coupe garnered a lot of good press and gearhead interest from the get go. And it seems to be fully justified and also understandable. The Hyundai Genesis is well styled (enough), rear wheel drive, and above all, reasonably priced. It’s a car that a young tuner-oriented kid can sink their teeth into, and there’s already a pretty decent aftermarket for the car.

And Hyundai just added a new wrinkle to the mix with its announcement that it will be making a Genesis Coupe 2.0T R-Spec for 2010. With a starting price of just $23,750 and hitting the dealer showrooms fairly stripped down, that way being all the better for future customization by the end user, the R-Spec promises to be even more of what the aftermarket tuner wants.

Photo gallery of R-Spec after the jump
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Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’, if ya don’t stop drivin’ that hot rod Lincoln. Yeah, way back when, Lincolns were not cars to be trifled with. They had big enough plants and there was enough go fast goodies out there that you wouldn’t treat them the way … well, the way you’d look at a Lincoln today.

Sure, for the past however long, they’ve been very nice and luxurious Fords, but performance cars? Not so much. Lincoln is looking to change that with three customized rides rolling out at this years SEMA show.

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San Mateo, Calif., October 27, 2009 - MicroCarMag.com, your source to the microcar world, announced that during the week of the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas they will be the content provider of coverage to CarReview.com.

During the week of November 3rd, MicroCarMag.com will provide the readers of CarReview.com with the most up-to-date coverage directly from the show floor. Coverage will contain daily video wrap-up, high quality photos of the latest products and industry happenings.

“We are excited to provide CarReview.com with content from the SEMA show floor,” stated Thomas Musante, founder of MicroCarMag.com. “We welcome the opportunity to reach a wider audience through this partnership.”

CarReview.com is an online community of automobile enthusiasts who take pride in maintaining and upgrading their vehicles. Visitors of the site regularly research cars and follow the latest industry and automotive technology news. CarReview.com is the perfect resource for finding the right car or truck to buy for you. Plus, it lets enthusiasts share how to make their cars go faster, handle better, and look “good“. Follow the latest news and reviews from CarReview at reviews.carreview.com or twitter.com/CarReview

MicroCarMag.com, founded in 2009, is your source to the microcar industry and can be found at Microcarmag.com and on twitter.com/microcarmag.

Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, a name that should really need no introduction to serious American hot rod enthusiasts out there, will be bringing a version of the latest Trans Am to this year’s upcoming SEMA show. It’s got all of the Trans Am goodies you remember:

Duck-tail spoiler, fender vents, twin-port front grille, raised white-letter tires, a 445 cubic inch V8, honeycomb wheels and that hideous screaming chicken hood decal.

Wait a second, the Trans Am was a Pontiac, and Pontiac is now, officially, sadly, dead, you say. Indeed you are right, but that’s didn’t stop Lingenfelter, now did it?

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American muscle is dead. SEMA 2009 is quite possibly the final sunset into which the American pony car will ride. While it may be hard to see daylight fading in SEMA’s glare of eight customized Camaros sponsored by GM, or the usual heard of V8 tuners ready to add more excess, if you step outside the corral, you will find that the American pony car’s muscle no longer fits its market or our times.

Build a Camaro SS add the RS package along with a couple of options and soon you’re in the $40K stratosphere; hardly a reflection of the original pony car ideal of taking an inexpensive sedan chassis, adding some sporty lines with a powerful engine and keeping the price point accessible. Even though we see the current Mustang GT does a reasonable job of holding on to this heritage, it’s still a top end model and priced accordingly. The Challenger SRT may be retro fabulous, but is ultimately a ridiculous machine. Sure, these are halo models intended to help shift secretary specials, but something has been lost in translation so that the fast and furious versions are now priced to be garage queens and the intended market will look elsewhere for practical rear drive performance with flair.

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Back in the Saddle?

With the Car Allowance Rebate System a.k.a ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program officially over and American auto sales needing another stimulus, the industry and consumers are looking forward to the custom tuned delights promised by the annual SEMA show. While SEMA 2009 promises the usual range of over the top tuner specials and reminders of upcoming products from the major brands, stalwart Mustang tuner/manufacturer Saleen hopes to make a splash with its new S281.

While little information is currently available on the S281, exciting teaser images have been released and they suggest that Saleen intends to stay in the game, despite the economy and uncertain direction after the departure of Steve Saleen in 2007.

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by Edsel Rollin

Las Vegas-The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro was unveiled as the official vehicle of the 2008 SEMA Show on Nov. 3 at the keynote speaker’s luncheon in Las Vegas.  Chevrolet presented not just one, but a quartet of stunning concepts based on the all-new 2010 Camaro at the highlighted event.

“We are so excited about the return of the Camaro,” said Ed Peper, North America vice president of Chevrolet.  “The Camaro will deliver cutting-edge new technology and unprecedented design features to consumers early next year.  We are looking forward to bringing this much-anticipated vehicle to market.  We are confident that there is nothing else like this amazing car out there today.”

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By Edsel Rollin

Millions of tires and rims and brakes and exhaust manifolds and suspension kits. Seas of hot tricked-up custom vehicles with all the bells and whistles on the planet. Loud music, flat screen TVs showing non-stop music videos and car commercials and flashy booths featuring car racers and DJ’s and former star athletes. It’s called SEMA. And it represents everything that is excessive today in the world of automobiles.

But, what I love most about SEMA (this was my third year covering it) is the women. Scantily clad babes wearing enough makeup and perfume to stock an entire Sephora store, these beautiful treasures strut and pose and smile and sign autographs all day long during the four days of SEMA. With their perfect teeth and curvaceous figures, their high heels and skimpy outfits, it’s wall to wall babes every year at SEMA and I love it.

As for the news portion of SEMA, a press release from the SEMA website is below the jump. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the show was attended in record numbers and packed the entire time, despite our rocky and uncertain economy.

Time to get outta Dodge and head to Las Vegas for the 2008 SEMA show. Three new Challenger concept vehicles will be under the spotlights at the Dodge booth this year. The new 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT10 with a smokin’ 600 hp Viper V10 engine laying power to the wheels. A Dodge Challenger Blacktop, built by the Mopar Underground design team, improved breathing by adding a cat-back dual exhaust, cold air intake to the already hefty 5.7L HEMI® V8. Visual cues are set by the 22 inch Viper wheels, custom spoilers, front brow, and black-on-black racing stripe paint scheme.

Also in the corral this year is the Dodge Challenger Targa which is a all-out competition car that completed the Targa Newfoundlands race this year. The Mopar hood is equipped with a scoop to make room for the 540-horsepower, 490 lb. ft. of torque, 392 HEMI® V-8 Mopar crate motor. Mated to a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox, the engine blasts power to the rear wheels through a production 2009 modified gear ratio in the rear end. Looking svelte, sleek, and downright ornery is the Challenger Blacktop. Details of the Challenger Blacktop, conceived by the Mopar Undergroud team, follows below the jump.

(photos of the SRT10 Concept, Challenger Blacktop, and Challenger Targa cars below the jump)

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Hyundai is partnering with three aftermarket tuners to highlight their new Genesis coupe and sedan. Last month it was announced that HKS USA, Inc. will build a high-performance Genesis Coupe for the 2008 SEMA show. The all-new, rear-wheel drive Hyundai model will make its 2008 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) debut at the Las Vegas Convention Center November 4 - 7.

“Genesis Coupe has the basic DNA that HKS looks for – an excellent chassis, rear-wheel drive, aggressive styling and a new generation turbo-charged engine. These attributes provide the opportunity for HKS to maximize the Genesis Coupe driving performance capabilities for the serious driving enthusiast,” said Rick Lafferty, president, HKS USA, Inc. “HKS is allocating R&D, engineering and prototyping resources to lay the groundwork for HKS-brand Genesis Coupe performance parts. We are looking forward to working with Hyundai to realize the full performance potential of the Genesis Coupe.”

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SEMA: 2008 Honda Accord Coupe HFP

Albeit less impressive than the Accord Coupe HF-S Concept that we showed you yesterday (click here), the Accord Coupe HFP is a nicely customized vehicle that’s sporty but not flashy. It is equipped with dealer-installed Honda Factory Performance (hence the name “HFP”) components including a sports suspension package, 19-in. alloy wheels in 245/40R-19 rubber and a full aerodynamic body kit (front, sides and rear).

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November 1, 2007 - 12:01 am ET

LAS VEGAS — Toyota pulled the covers off the 2009 Corolla sedan and Matrix sport wagon today at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show here.

The new Corolla, the 10th generation of the world’s best-selling compact sedan, stays about the same size, but its appeal could be greater because of an expanded lineup.

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