2002 SEMA Las Vegas

One of the most tastefully done show cars at SEMA was the Prodrive RSX. Yes, that's right, Prodrive, famous for their Subaru product line (and successful racing efforts with that marque) is moving into the Honda marketplace. Their RSX-S featured a full suspension setup that will soon be available to the public. The body was painted in a matte titanium silver finish with a darker gray highlight on the top surfaces of the car. Along with a subtle, but attractive body kit, this car, to me epitomizes what a tastefully modified car should look like. Unfortunately, don't look to see the matte paint finish on any street cars soon, as it looks a bit fragile (hence the many "do not touch paint" signs on the car).

The surprise of the SEMA show for us was the huge number of modified Civic SI's found in exhibitor booths. The only car that might have been featured more frequently was the new 350Z. Fortunately, with a few mods, the new SI becomes a real looker, and it appears that tuners and manufacturers have quickly realized the potential of this car. While many different approaches were taken with various performance parts, body kits, and paint jobs, the most eye catching example was the black and orange looker in the DC Sports booth. Note the metallic foil applique. A stunning paint job by any definition.