SEMA 2024 w/Integrity Auto Repair

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my 2nd time at SEMA, it’s that 4 days is never enough – at least for me. You would think I would have learned that from last year, but coming from a guy that doesn’t remember what he ate yesterday – this isn’t so surprising. Last years “time is an illusion” feeling was only amplified by not realizing how fast the trip was coming up. One second we’re getting our badges in the mail, the next I’m trying to figure out my packing situation the night before we leave – another thing I didn’t quite learn from last year.

If you don’t remember last years article- my nine to five, or eight to six if you wanna get technical, is running media and marketing for a local automotive repair shop. I guess taking photos of vehicles for fun wasn’t enough. Throughout the day I document what our technicians and service advisors do, showcasing the services we offer to our community here in the RGV. Last year after we returned, the shop owners decided to have a competition between the techs. The winner would be heading out with us to Las Vegas so they could also be insanely overwhelemed like I was the first time. So I joined the Rubens (shop owners with the same name – still fun), and our tech Albert. And as I learned, the second time at SEMA is just as overwhelming.

Now I’m not sure if it’s just because of the size of the event, taking an average of twenty-thousand steps, the temperature change, or because of this years trip also landed on daylight saving on top of the 2 hours difference. Either way – this year I feel like the hours just flew by. The morning routines were simliar like last year, after a bite to eat we would head down into the Vegas Loop run by a nonstop caravan of Tesla vehicles. After feeling like Super Mario for a few minutes, we got to our destination – The Las Vegas Convention Center. Once we figured out a game plan, we were off. It’s been weeks since the event itself, and I’m sure you’ve all seen the videos of the builds that quite didn’t “belong”, shotty welds, odd choices and so on. But man, it’s just incredibly hard to not give these vehicles the time they deserve to be appreciated. I don’t know how many more of these I’ll be a part of, but for as long as I go – I hope this isn’t something that fades in time.

Sometimes being behind the camera can separate you from what’s going on in front of you. I get caught up in capturing, that I sometimes forget to really acknowledge what’s on the other side of the lens. These vehicles started off as nothing more than an idea – regardless of what space they’d occupy once they were at the show. And aside from seeing the latest innovations in the automotive industry and the incredible tech being used, these are still some of the craziest examples of how far you can push the envelope. I mean, a vehicle with several 3-D printed components and a fuel cell that was integrated into a rear diffuser – insane. And while there were times that felt like a blur, and my poker face is incredible even though my luck at the tables is hilariously low – these trips are still some of the high points in anything I’ve done automotive related, and I’d wager they always will be. Huge thanks again to the guys at Integrity Auto Repair for once again having me along for the ride. Enjoy the gallery – and don’t forget to connect with the team at the shop!

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Words and Photos By : Bobby Villarreal