Nichola Beckford/Contributor 

Going on now for almost a decade, Toyo Tyres Treadpass has been a must see at the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show at the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC), Las Vegas, Nevada. For 2022, it wasn’t any different. SEMA isn’t a car show, but it does have a lot of them on display, and even then referring to Toyo Tyres Treadpass as a car show does it a disservice given the amount of effort put into it. Sitting between two of the convention centre halls, it’s more of an art show, just with cars, and it never fails to disappoint.

This year at Treadpass, located between the Central and South halls of LVCC, there were 28 highly modified vehicles making their world debut. Each one of them could be a feature on their own, but here are the top three.

3: Gooichi Motors 1993 FD RX-7

The FD generation Mazda RX-7 is a bona fide Japanese performance classic with a very vocal fan base who love its beautiful styling and use of the rotary engine. Its uniqueness means uproar anytime its sanctity is violated. Most recently the rash of engine swaps to the American made General Motors LS engines has continuously created derision and outrage online. So when this car first appeared with a 1,200bhp LS motor in 2018, the hate was immediate. Rather than redress, South Florida based Gooichi Motors turned the wick up. Also known as the PistachioFD, it dropped its old Rocket Bunny body kit for a new widebody kit designed by top internet automotive digital render artist Khyzyl Saleem. The slap to the haters come in the form of a Mercedes M120 engine now sitting in the engine bay. That’s a German made V12 now powering the Japanese sports car.

2: S-Klub 300 SL Speedster

Another classic, on the surface. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is an automotive icon. However, many aren’t aware that there was a roadster version of the seminal machine. They’re just as valuable, holding an average market price of US$1.3 million. So, what insane person would modify such an expensive car? John Sarkisyan would, but he didn’t.

Working with Smokedogg Customs the car is actually a resto-mod, using modern underpinning over a replica body. Underneath, the S-Klub 300 SL is a 2002 SLK 32 AMG, meaning it has the factory AMG-tuned 3.2-litre supercharged V6. The body itself is a fibreglass shell built to mimic the original shape, but fit the dimensions of the modern chassis beneath it. Where possible OEM parts are used to complete the illusion that this is a genuine 300 SL roadster.

What sets the car apart from the field is the level of craftsmanship that has gone into its creation. The exterior lines are flawless making it visually undisguisable from the genuine article. The paint is crystal clear. All the small details like the metal highlights of the engine that peek through the bonnet and the pair of double exhausts that exit from the side of the fenders, enhance its looks. Then there’s the interior. Here the effort goes off the scale. The leather wrapped interior is a work of art. Every surface is covered by stitching or quilting. Metal accents make the whole thing pop.

1: Garage Active R32 GT-R

In 2021 Garage Active broke the internet and top automotive photographer Larry Chen’s social media when it unveiled its all carbon fibre R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, the famed ‘Godzilla’ of the Japanese performance car scene. This year Garage Active easily topped that feat by releasing another all carbon R32 GT-R, this time in the most popular colour of the car, Midnight Purple III. Word was that the car almost didn’t make the show as an offer of US$1 million was made when the car was completed. Pictures don’t do this car justice as the paint has been flawlessly applied in a manner to ensure the just as flawless carbon weave can be seen. There are a whole list of other modification as the GT-R is taken down to bare metal and rebuilt in with its carbon fibre body. If that wasn’t enough, under the bonnet was the first and only RB30 engine from Japanese tuning gods HKS. This means the original RB26, and its 2.6-litres of displacement is now 3-litres, as modified as the exterior is, and putting down massive power. Less weight, more power, a one-of-one engine, currently one-of-one carbon body in the colour of GT-R fanboy’s wet dream puts the Garage Active R32 GT-R as the Treadpass best.