SEMA is a group that helps businesses in the car industry. They organize a big event in Las Vegas every year where companies show off new car parts and accessories.
The Mazda Miata is a small, sporty car that people love to drive because it's fun and easy to handle. It's been around since the late 1980s and is known for being a good value for a sports car.
Edelbrock is a company that makes parts to help cars go faster and perform better. They have been around for a long time and are respected in the car community.
Iskenderian is a company that makes special parts for cars to help them run better and faster. They have been in business for many years and are well-known in the racing community.
Emissions compliance means that cars and parts must follow rules about how much pollution they can produce. It's important for keeping the air clean and is regulated by government agencies.
An air intake is a part that lets air into the engine so it can run. If someone wants to change their air intake, they need to make sure it follows pollution rules.
An intercooler is a part that cools down the air going into an engine, which helps the engine work better. If someone wants to add an intercooler to their car, they need to make sure it meets pollution rules.
A turbo is a part that helps an engine get more air, which makes it more powerful. If someone wants to add a turbo to their car, they need to make sure it follows pollution rules.
CARB EO is a special approval from California that says a car part is allowed to be sold because it meets pollution rules. It helps ensure that the part won't make a car pollute more than it's supposed to.
ADAS means Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. These are safety features in cars that help drivers avoid accidents, like automatic braking and alerts for lane changes.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car, and the 1976 model is one of the older versions. Older cars like this can have trouble meeting today's emissions rules, especially in places like California.
Full EV vehicles are cars that run only on electricity. They don't use gas or oil, which means they don't produce exhaust fumes, making them better for the environment.
Hydrogen internal combustion engines are engines that run on hydrogen gas instead of regular fuel. They can help reduce pollution while still working like regular engines.
A catalytic converter is a part of a car that helps clean up the exhaust gases before they leave the vehicle. It makes the air cleaner by changing harmful gases into less harmful ones.
An EO number is a special code that shows a car part meets California's strict pollution laws. If a part has this number, it means it's approved for use in cars sold in California.
Emissions systems are parts of a car that help clean the air before it leaves the exhaust. They make sure that cars don't pollute the environment too much.
The EPA is a government agency that makes sure cars and other products don't harm the environment. They set rules that cars must follow to be legal on the road.
A diesel particulate filter is a part of diesel engines that helps clean the exhaust by trapping soot. This helps make the air cleaner and meets legal requirements.
Direct injection means that fuel goes straight into the engine's combustion chamber instead of mixing with air first. This helps the engine run better and cleaner.
A gas particulate filter helps clean the exhaust from gas engines by trapping tiny particles that can be harmful to the environment. It's becoming more common in newer cars.
Dieselgate is a scandal where Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions tests for their diesel cars. They used special software to make it look like their cars were cleaner than they really were, which caused a lot of trouble for the company.
OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer. These are the companies that make the original parts for cars, like engines and brakes, which are used when the car is first built.
CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design. It's a way of using computers to create detailed drawings and plans for parts, like those used in cars, to ensure they fit perfectly.
The Ford Mustang is a classic American car that many people think of when they hear 'muscle car.' It's known for being fast and stylish, and lots of people enjoy making it their own with different upgrades.
The Jeep Plant is where Jeep cars are made. It's in Toledo, Ohio, and has been important for making popular Jeep models like the Wrangler and Cherokee.
The Jaguar SS100 is a really old sports car from the 1930s that many people think is beautiful. It's rare now, and collectors love it because of its history and design.
The Jaguar S-Type is a fancy car that was made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It's known for being stylish and comfortable, making it a nice choice for people who want a luxury vehicle.
The MG MGB is a small, classic British sports car that many people find fun to drive. It's known for its good looks and is popular among collectors who love older cars.
The MG Midget is a tiny sports car that people enjoyed driving from the 1960s to the late 1970s. It's simple and fun, making it a favorite among those who like classic cars.
The Chevrolet Camaro is another famous American muscle car that came out in the 1960s to compete with the Ford Mustang. It's known for its sporty look and strong engines, making it a favorite for people who love fast cars.
The Shelby Cobra is a classic sports car from the 1960s that is famous for being very fast and powerful. It's a rare car that many collectors and car lovers admire because of its unique design and racing history.
The Ford Pinto is a small car from the 1970s that people often remember because it had some safety problems. It was affordable and popular at the time, but it's not always seen as a safe choice today.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a big, tough SUV that can handle rough roads and off-road adventures. It's been around for a long time and is known for lasting a really long time, making it a favorite for people who need a reliable vehicle.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Bring a Trailer Podcast. Alex Porter coming to you from Bring a Trailer headquarters in San Francisco. Join today by Jim Moore, VP of OEM and product development at SEMA Garage, or at SEMA, I guess I just say, right, Jim? And you overseas SEMA Garage, is that right? I already butchered your title even though we cleared it before I started recording. No worries at all. It's not the easiest.
This title in the world, it isn't mouthful. I am the VP OEM and product development for SEMA, overseeing the SEMA Garage program. And I thank you, Alex, for bringing me on the show. It's a pleasure to be here. Shout out to HUD, my colleague who kind of put this all together and was hanging out with you at the SEMA show a couple months ago. Is that right?
I randomly ran into HUD at the SEMA show, and HUD and I go back probably 15 to 20 years ago, we worked together in the automotive industry, greatest industry on Earth. And at that time, I think my greatest memory of HUD was him wrangling his two Miatas. So he's always had an interesting car collection.
I love that. I meet a lot of folks who knew HUD. It's always like, oh yeah, we go way back. And everyone's always got an interesting story. Everybody's got a HUD story. Yeah, totally, totally. Well, he's a great guy and I appreciate him putting us together. I want to dive into your background a little bit and find out how you got into cars. I agree it's the best industry in the world. But before we do that, before we started recording, I was mentioning that would really like for you to explain to me and to our listeners and to our community. All the different SEMA entities. As I was telling you before we started recording, I think of
SEMA as the trade show. And I think that's how most people do. But I know I know that there's actually a bunch of entities, including the one you oversee, SEMA garage. So maybe you can lay out the whole broad organization for us.
Yeah, absolutely. Your perception of SEMA is I think consistent with a very broad group of people. And that is they know us from obviously our most prominent element, which is the SEMA show in Vegas. In fact, many people just assume SEMA is based out of Vegas.
And in fact, we are based out of Los Angeles. We kind of always look at California as a little kind of the epicenter of car culture in America. And certainly going back all the way to the 50s and the 60s when SEMA was really formed, some of the most prominent companies you can think of, the Edelbrocks, the Iskenderians and such.
Those were our original members. It's SEMA stands for specialty equipment market association. We are a business trade association. Our mission is really to help promote vibrancy within our within our automotive industry, help ensure that the many members that we have have a pathway to grow their business.
And our job really is representing them as our members. And we do that through our government relations efforts. We do that through our business development efforts, things like our trade shows. We have councils and networks that help promote education and training initiatives.
We have research arms that do market research and help give market insights and intelligence and my personal favorite on a little bit biased. But we have the SEMA garage and the SEMA garage is a really unique program in that the association is invested almost $25 million over the last 10 years in developing two advanced product development centers, one here in Los Angeles and one in Detroit.
And those are really kind of the development labs for our industry. They're designed to give our members the tools that they need to help develop products and ultimately get them to market faster.
So I love it because it helps me keep my kind of finger on the pulse of what the coolest newest most innovative products are. And frankly, I also find it tremendously fulfilling to be able to work with our members and help them get those products to market faster.
I can sit here and go all day on how we do that. But I would say kind of the big areas that we focus on are emissions compliance. And we think about an automotive industry, especially in today's environment where so much is focused on emissions and climate related initiatives.
We are working hand in hand with regulators and state and federal agencies, EPA, CARB, California Air Resource Board and our members, because you have to remember any product that ultimately touches the emissions functionality of a vehicle.
The burden is on that manufacturer to prove that that product doesn't take the vehicle out of emissions compliance.
Every state is different here in California, as you know, Alex, we have smog checks. And every two years, your car has to go into a smog check. And if you're going to bolt a turbo or bolt intercoolers or even an air intake on your car, you've got to be able to prove to the state during that smog check that that product is approved.
And we actually help our members kind of go through that really challenging process of testing and submission of all the paperwork and negotiating with the agencies to help them get what we refer to as a CARB EO, which is an executive order.
The lack of a better term kind of get out of jail for free card. It allows them to sell their products in any state, California, especially, and ultimately prove to both the regulators and that customer that that product has been tested, not take the vehicle out of emissions compliance.
It's a huge, huge problem for our industry, because if they sell products that are outside of emissions compliance, they're on the hook for a significant find some of these fines can exceed, you know, $20,000 per product sold.
So, you know, that puts an opportunity for a regulator to physically regulate a business out of business through penalty, if need be. So that's probably one of our single biggest initiatives that we have with the same garage, but we also focus on a rapid product development initiatives.
And we help our members gain access to OEM CAD information. We have a vast library of 3D scan data on vehicles so that they can help digitally design their products to fit, and probably one of the biggest kind of emerging initiatives is our ADAS compliance programs.
And that is understanding how bolting products on the cars such as bumpers on the trucks can impact the functionality of ADAS advanced driver assistance systems, the functionality of things like automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, cross traffic, warning and all those types of issues.
So that was a mouthful. I probably downloaded way too much on you, but that is that is just kind of the tip of the spear of a lot of the things that we're working on.
Man, so I could spend the next hour talking to you about California bar stickers and carb compliance issue that we and we and our users and our buyers and sellers are not only constantly, I shouldn't say battling, but like thinking about worrying about because California is kind of the hub of car culture and people are buying and selling here all the time.
Even if they're not located here, if you like collector cars, you're going to end up dealing with cars from California, but because it's so labyrinthine, it's so confusing.
It's not exactly, I have a Porsche from 1976, which is like the worst in the world. It's supposed to pass.
One year in, one year in.
I know, I know. Anyway, so I want to dive into all that, but to go back to the origin stories of SEMA, I made the mistake that you pointed out and assumed you were in Las Vegas.
When you first jumped on the call, so I'm one of those who doesn't understand SEMA's history.
So how far back does the organization go? It predates, I assumed the trade show is what started it, but that seems like it's not true.
I mean, it's a scondarian and Edelbrock, you're going back to the 50s.
67 was the birth of the SEMA show and and the SEMA show is really kind of where it all started.
In fact, there's a fantastic painting.
Was it always in Vegas or was it somewhere else to start with?
Nope, nope, it started out here in Los Angeles. In fact, it started out under the bleachers of Dodger Stadium in 1967.
I love that.
So it ran for a few short years here in Los Angeles.
And then it transferred to Las Vegas.
And I think that's really where we really started rolling.
That's where we gained a lot of momentum.
And it is kind of morphed into the show that you know today.
And when it was in California in those early days, was it aftermarket parts?
I mean, is it hot rod speed equipment kind of back then when it's under the bleachers at Dodger Stadium?
It really was, you know, you know, I've heard a story.
I'll give you a 60% sure that this story is correct, but that early on with Rebel models,
they, you know, we all know these little models and back in the 60s when they started doing these.
Rebel models, I think started using some logos and putting logos on these model cars and some of the aftermarket companies that were out there
starting to get pretty well known in the space, realized like, wait a minute,
you're using our logos and putting our logos on these cars.
We should kind of get together and figure out how to create a business association
so that we can start helping to manage our licensing and our trademarks.
And that really kind of became, I think, the origin of, well, okay,
now if we're a couple of our companies have come together to create this association,
let's start a trade show or a business meeting.
And, you know, you see that just grow into this massive $330 billion industry that you know today.
Crazy. That's really cool.
Can you talk a little bit about the kind of evolution?
I mean, I think now of the show of being these kind of extreme builds and like really wild kind of cutting edge,
maybe not cutting it. Well, no, there's probably cutting edge technology,
but also just kind of like an aftermarket show car display, right?
Like really wild stuff, how far can the industry, the aftermarket industry push things?
Was that always the case or did that evolve over the decades?
Well, I think like any car show, it probably started out as just, you know,
bring the best version of what you have.
Sure.
And, you know, as our industry has continually evolved,
our definition of what's the best you can bring has also continued.
Sure.
And I think it really highlights the vibrancy and the innovative spirit that exists within the entire SEMA community.
You know, you go back 20, 30, 40 years and what may have been high tech was,
you know, the way that you jetted a carburetor.
Totally.
And, you know, how long the the header tubes were and how those tubes came together.
And those are still things that absolutely are continuing to evolve.
But now we layer on fuel injection, now we layer on, you know,
computerization and digitalization, you know, all these new technologies.
And it seems like every time one of these new technologies comes down, you know,
the pipe, everybody gets nervous about, oh, is this the end of our industry?
And in reality, one of the things that I think is the best success story of our industry
is looking at see how our industry has continued to learn and innovate and find new ways
to exploit these technologies.
And so, you know, you come to a show today, you still have those traditional hot rods.
But you also have full EV vehicles.
You have aftermarket hybridization of vehicles.
You have, you know, at our SEMA show this year alone, we had hydrogen internal combustion engines.
We were exploring renewable biofuels and talking about how things like ethanol are not only renewable as a biofuel,
but they actually have the potential to unlock greater levels of performance in vehicles.
So, you know, when you look at what's happening in our industry right now with the new technology
that is really redefining the entire landscape, I personally see it as an amazingly exciting opportunity
for our industry to really catapult ahead in new ways as they innovate.
In fact, it's kind of the basis of I think who SEMA is.
We are pro-innovation.
We love technology.
We are technology neutral.
And it's one of the reasons why I think for some of your listeners, they may look at SEMA and say,
oh, you guys are these hot rod guys.
You're all about engines.
And I'm reading that you're against EVs.
We're not against EVs.
We love EVs.
Do we think EVs should be mandated by the government?
No.
Do we think that we should give the market the opportunity to continue to evolve and innovate and find new pathways to become more efficient?
Yes.
And I think that that's really kind of the spirit of who we are as an association and a community.
Yeah.
I think you sound very bullish on the future of the automotive industry and on the future of automotive enthusiasm.
And this has kind of become a refrain.
I talk to a lot of our guests.
We end up somehow on this topic because I think there's a lot of fear mongering about it.
And I'm like you, I'm optimistic.
I'm bullish.
I think the history of cars and the automotive industry in general, but also aftermarket stuff and modifications and hot rodding has always been evolving.
There's always fears that, oh, this is the end, you know, and I just don't share those fears.
I'm like you, I think that people are enthusiastic in this space and they're exploring new things which might be a little uncomfortable for folks, but there's still a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and innovation.
You know, there's an analogy that I love and you talk about am I bullish about the future with all these new technologies?
The answer is absolutely yes.
I would say go back to like 1940.
And what was a guitar?
A guitar was a secoustic instrument that you could sit up on stage and you could pluck your strings.
And tell me was that the end of the guitar when the electric guitar came on the scene in the 1950s?
Some people were probably worried it was, right?
It is certainly because it's a new technology, but in reality the electric guitar didn't replace the acoustic guitar.
It expanded the definition of what a guitar was into an entirely new genre.
It birds an entirely new level of music.
There's still people that are incredibly passionate about acoustic guitars.
There's people that have developed an entirely new sound of music with electric guitars.
And I think like internal combustion engines and EVs have a very similar kind of storyline where I think in EV is just going to help continually redefine our definition of what a car is and can be.
And I think it will open up an entirely new genre of accessorization customization in person for our members.
Yeah, that's already happening, right?
I mean, it's happening right now.
It's almost like too late, like the Pandora's Box is open.
I mean, electric cars existed a hundred years ago too, right?
So it's not even really a new technology.
When are we going to bring back steam cars? That's the big question, I guess, Jim.
Give it time. All good technology comes around totally.
So if you don't mind, I don't want to get too wonkish and bore people.
But I would love to dig a little deeper into what you guys do in terms of working with companies on making sure that they're up to a mission standards.
Is that you mentioned it's mostly California focus.
Maybe you could just paint for me just kind of a broad situation about where smog testing even exist.
It's primarily California, right? So I think Washington state has eliminated it.
It didn't exist in a lot of states.
So this is primarily a California function.
It is. So if we take a step back and look at what the history is,
a lot of people are kind of familiar with the air quality crisis of California back in the early 70s.
California's unique geography where you have the greater Los Angeles basis surrounded by mountains, a huge port.
A lot of cars, a lot of traffic.
It would tend to collect a lot of the smog in the area.
And so California was early in understanding the need to help regulate emissions.
And they created the air resource board, which is what we kind of know today as the California air resource board car.
Exactly. And following that a couple of years later, we had the Clean Air Act, which is a congressional act.
And then we had the federal agency of the EPA that was created.
So because Carb existed before the EPA, but the EPA is a federal agency that still has jurisdiction over Carb,
there, there became a quote unquote waiver program.
So EPA exists, but it allows Carb to create its own rules in California and gives them an annual waiver to be able to do that.
California sets higher emission standards than the other 49 states.
So what happens is if you want to sell a product in the United States in 50 states, you have to meet the higher standard of Carb.
And if you can meet that Carb standard, then you can sell in any state.
You can elect to not sell your products in California, but we all understand how big the California economy is.
The notorious 49 state cars, they used to call it, right?
Exactly. Exactly.
So in some of our members choose to do that, they choose to work through their program or work their products.
They choose to create products that may only be allowable to sell in 49 states excluding California.
So that's where you kind of get this weird 49 state plus California relationship in a lot of our emissions regulation.
And it creates a lot of challenges.
Sure. Sure. There's no doubt about it.
I've had, oh boy, I could tell you a whole experience on buying the right catalytic converters for my old X and SX.
Yeah, you can't get the cheap ones. You got to pay for the real deal ones with the part number on them.
You got it. And that is that EO number that they talk about the EO number.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
So presumably over the years, it was companies working on things that would directly impact the emissions systems, right?
So exhaust systems, things like that intake systems.
But today it's probably all electronics, right? It's tunes, it's chips, it's that kind of stuff.
It is definitely expanded out. So you just have to remember that really anytime from the point at which air enters the engine, which is your air cleaner all the way through the engine, all the way through the catalytic converters until it exits catalytic converter.
That is effectively a regulated process where you have to keep your emissions within a very, very tight box.
And that's impacted by airflow, fuel flow, you know, your engine management and engine control.
So yet all of these different types of things, I mean, even even changing, you know, gearing in your transmission can ultimately in some ways impact it.
So we have to pay attention to all these different parameters and really make sure that we're helping build the pathways for our members to be able to navigate their products through that compliance.
Totally. And talk to me a little bit about how the garage seem a garage facilities themselves.
You said they're like an area for the partners to actually work on things. So there's people in there physically experimenting with products.
We've got a team of about 20 different people, lab technicians, mechanics, engineers that help work consultively with our members to help them get through that process.
So basically a member can come to us with a product and say, what do I need to do with this product to get it legal?
We can take that product and frankly completely turn key for them.
We then assign that program to an engineer, that engineer will help create all the necessary administrative paperwork for application purposes.
We hand it off to our lab team. We run an EPA and carb compliant emissions lab.
We do diesel, as well as gas for, you know, which is confusing.
It has its own set of rules for California with different years that cut off 91 for a diesel, right? Instead of 75?
Yeah. And with the new diesel particulate filters coming out.
So, you know, you've got catalytic converters on cars. You've got diesel particulate filters.
And now with the advent of direct injection in gas engines, well, guess what?
We're going to start getting gas particulate filter cars.
Of course.
So that's in our future.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, we get to do, we go through and actually test the vehicles in their stock form.
We modify the vehicles.
We do those same tests with with the modified vehicles compare the results.
And the results have to be within a very tight percentage of each other.
Once we've done that, we assemble all that data and submit it to the regulation, whether it be, you know, carb.
We work with directly with the with carb in their aftermarket department for their engineers, submit all that, answer any questions that they have.
And ultimately help pursue that carb issues them that executive order.
And that relationship has got to be one of the most valuable parts.
That is your, that is Seema Garage's relationship with regulators, right? Because that's the, that's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
We value our relationship with carb.
It is, we see it as both collaborative and in partnership.
It's interesting.
It's that we don't agree necessarily with all of the regulation and initiatives that carb has.
But we have a deep level of respect for ultimately what they're trying to achieve.
And I think that our overall working relationship is really positive.
I mean, it has to be.
Of course.
At the end of the day, we're in this together.
We're collaborating to build a better pathway.
Totally.
And is that same kind of relationship or same kind of process apply when you're working on something for the EPA, too?
Or is this essentially, once you've met California standards, that's what matters, because then everything else follows in its wake.
Yeah, the question is really kind of enforcement.
And carb enforces differently than EPA.
Whereas harvesting proactively looks at the results and has to approve the results before they issue you the allowance to sell the product.
EPA sets the standards, but the burden is really on the manufacturer to say that your product meets those standards.
Gotcha.
And in the end, you can sell, but if they audit that and test that and find out that you in fact do not meet the standards, then you have big problems.
That's diesel gate.
That's like Volkswagen.
A little bit.
Yeah.
And that's actually one of the initiatives that that SEMA has.
We have an in house program called SEMA certification, where we actually test products as an independent third party for our members.
Give them that test report so that they can go sell their product and should their products ever be.
Totally.
Recall their audited.
All they have to do is slide that and say, I did all of my testing.
Yeah.
Met all the things.
We're good.
And it really gives a manufacturer a piece of mind, too, to know that there's no.
Absolutely.
I think it also is meaningful that our members can say when they're marketing their products and advertising their products that these are emissions compliance.
Totally.
Totally.
It makes them feel good.
Makes the customers feel good.
I've certainly bought a few products that I wish had been more thoroughly vetted.
Can you talk a little bit about, again, we're talking about how things have evolved.
And I think HUD mentioned that you guys also work on kind of unlocking access for organizations to OEM.
Software.
Is that sort of what you do, right?
Which is an interesting line of questioning.
So when you think about SEMA as an organization, there's about 7,000 members, member companies that SEMA.
3500 give or take a few are actual manufacturers.
These are companies that make products.
Every single product that's made for a car, if you imagine the car is the canvas, your product is the paint, they have to go together.
Right.
And when we think about like everybody who is, you know, bought accessories for their car has probably had that horrible experience where they get the product and it just does not fit.
And it's frustrating and they have to make the decision to I return it or do I try to make it fit.
And at the end of the day, that doesn't help anybody.
It creates problems for the manufacturers because now the manufacturers are like people are putting stuff on our cars that doesn't work.
And now they're blaming us because it doesn't work.
And so it may create warranty issues.
Who knows.
So SEMA actually works directly with a number of OEMs to help gain access to their original CAD data.
And these are the factory blueprints for these vehicles.
We actually archive these in a library and then work with selected members that are approved.
We know who's getting the data.
We know where the data is going.
We know when they're getting it.
And we actually allow access to that data so that if a company is going to create a new air intake for an engine, they can actually start building off of the factory blueprint file, the factory CAD file for that engine.
And it creates near perfect OEM level fitments.
And everybody wins with that.
The consumer who's buying the product, they have a high level of trust that that product is going to fit.
The OEMs know when you bolt something on my car, it will enhance it.
It in theory, if done through this process, will be a significantly higher quality product.
And you know, it's not lost on the OEMs that the enthusiast community is a great advertising tool.
100%.
I mean, if you've got a bunch of people showing pictures of their car and showing what their car can do, Ford will sell more Mustang.
Totally.
There's a lot of Mustang flying around.
It's again, it's why everyone's in Southern California.
You're a point.
I mean, it's the hub of car culture of the earth, right?
Yeah.
Whether you like carb standards, you got to be there if you want to be part of carculture.
It's a great place to be if you love cars.
Absolutely.
I see sketches behind you that this is an audio only format, but they look at art center-ish
or like they were done by, you know, car design students, a lot of whom pass through Southern California.
You got it.
What is it?
The art center of design and pass it.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So I'm, as you're speaking here, Jim, I'm blown away by the depth of knowledge you have and the kind of articulate way that you're able to explain everything, which is hugely appreciated.
What's your background?
You've come from a car family.
Do you pick this bug up on your own?
How does this all start for you?
I am probably a consummate car guy.
I'm a product of, I like saying I'm a product of Detroit, even though I grew up in Northern Ohio.
I grew up in Toledo, Jeep Plant, Go Jeep.
Yeah.
You've completely kicked the accent.
I hate to tell you.
Also.
You've got me to charm up it down, Jim.
Just don't let me go back to Ohio with a California accent.
No, it's, you know, I am.
I never wanted to do anything else.
I mean, from my earliest memory, I just knew I was going to be working in and around cars.
It's always been my, my number one passion.
You know, starting out all the way back into, to high school.
I was reading Car and Driver magazine and I noticed on the mast head that it was based out of Ann Arbor.
And it was just like, oh, well, I guess I'm going to go figure out how to work Car and Driver magazine.
And that's kind of where, I mean, I would say it probably started.
I had the privilege of working with some amazing people.
Detroit is not a bad place to be if you love cars.
Got surrounded by some amazing product.
And, you know, that fuels your passion.
Working with great people, being around great products.
It just helps you fall in love with it more and more.
And from there, I got into the racing side.
I used to work at Ford Motor Company and there afford racing division.
And got exposed to a whole host of great personalities in that world.
What era was that? What kind of stuff were you, were you working on?
So I was back in the late 90s, early 2000s, post-CART IRL split.
Okay.
We did a lot on the CART side.
We were working John Force and NHRA, Colin McCray and World Rally, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace in the NASCAR world.
I'm trying to think who else we had Jackie Stewart in the Formula One.
Man.
So we had a lot of names and teams to be associated with.
I'm very excited.
Being able to go to work every day and have an opportunity to work with some of those personalities
and do it through the perspective of a manufacturer was a real privilege.
Yeah, and you were on what you were on the product side of things.
You were on on Biz Dev side of things.
I know you've worn a lot of hats.
Yeah, mostly on the marketing side where we worked heavily on kind of understanding and tying the brand into those initiatives.
And promoting awards overall racing efforts.
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
And you were back to high school hands on guy too, right?
Working on your own cars.
There has always been a car in the garage.
You know, I, it's, it's funny.
I grew up and there was two black exhaust marks on the inside of our garage door.
Or my dad would tell us that was when I got our 38 Jaguar SS100, finally started the first start and it blasted a big guy.
Oh, man, SS100 in the city.
Oh, yeah, SS100.
I don't, I don't remember it.
I don't remember it.
Oh, you forgot to drive it.
I never got that one was gone before I was born.
But the only lasting memory I have of the Jaguar era was the 66XK, which is a whole story into itself.
No, amazing.
You were also at Ford when it was Ford Jaguar, right?
Isn't that the era?
It was just at the end of that.
I think there was a gentleman by the name of Neil wrestler at Ford at the time who was overseeing the premier automotive group.
I think that was went into the 2000s.
Yeah.
But yeah, they, they brought together Jaguar Ford Volvo Lincoln all under one roof.
Yes, that's right.
There was the Lincoln, gosh, I can't remember what it was called now, but it was a real pretty Lincoln sedan from the late 90s.
It was also a Jaguar S-type.
They were like the same car underneath and they were both.
I really remember that.
I remember that.
I said, could have been the Lincoln Ella.
Oh, God, somebody's screaming at there.
Well, there was LS, but I don't think that was the one that was Jack.
That was its own vehicle.
I definitely remember the LS.
What I'm talking about, right?
They were really well reviewed probably by car and driver.
I'm sure car and driver like them as well.
Good event.
Good event.
And then how far back do you go with SEMA, Jim?
So it's interesting.
I was with SEMA around 2014 to 2017 right after the SEMA garage was started.
And I helped oversee their OEM relations efforts.
I left for a few years.
And then about seven months ago, I ran into Mike's Bagnolla, the CEO of SEMA in an airport lounge at LAX at six in the morning.
And one thing led to another.
And the next thing I know I'm back at SEMA and love in life.
That's great.
That was a random encounter.
Well, it was random for me.
Apparently he tells me he was already thinking about this.
So it was just fortuitous for him.
I guess it's fortuitous for both of us.
It was kismet.
That's what it was.
Yes.
So a couple of things I wanted to hit you up on before we part ways because they were so interesting to me.
HUD mentioned a rat rod MGB.
Can that be right?
Is that a real thing that's happening, Jim?
So it's I an MGB would be entirely too large.
This is an MG midget.
Oh, it's okay.
So my brother and I have a healthy fascination with what we refer to as crap cans.
Yes, right.
That was I was saving that term.
That was another.
Yes.
Yes.
It is absolute favorite thing is crap cans.
That's what I said.
Absolutely.
Favorite things as crap cans.
And, you know, he's he's back in Ohio and he has the privilege of having a relatively decent sized shop and the ability to store cars.
But I'm in California where I have the benefit of being able to find cars.
Sure.
That's still exists.
So, you know, as as every good car person does where you're constantly trolling every available online resource up to an including.
Bring a trailer.
Always looking for ways to spend your money.
We just randomly come across these, you know, some three, four thousand dollar cars that you just like.
That just needs to be in the collection.
So we've got a I say we he's got most of them.
I've got one or two of them.
But there is a 66 MG midget with no windshield Brooklyn windscreens completely stripped down.
I think it's got electrical conduit for for an exhaust pipe still runs.
There is a 65 beetle that I think has every single accessory from the JC Whitney catalogs grown at it.
Does it have the Venetian blind things on the window?
It does have the Venetian blind.
As well as the front windshield that that tilts out the air conditioning is the front windshield that tilts out.
Oh, yes, absolutely.
I think you don't have a I bet you don't have wheel spats on the back though 65 is too late for wheel spats.
No wheel spats, but he does.
He does have a sharpie marker on it for every time it dies.
It gets a hash mark on the side of it with a daily bug.
So yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like plumbing runs.
Yes, that's classic.
There's a nine 87 Jag XJ SV 12 because everybody needs like a $2,000 V12 in the car.
You guys you guys inherited the British car bug from your dad.
It sounds like right?
You know, it's so odd because for for a kid that grew up outside of Detroit,
I did not fall in love with American cars until much later in life.
It was all about the foreign cars growing up.
And I would say it wasn't until college that I discovered like, oh, yeah,
all roads do lead to LS.
Totally.
But British cars mainly or German cars too.
I mean, you mentioned a beetle, but mainly British cars, British cars.
Yeah, well, so my dad was always into Jaguars.
That was always his passion, but then later in life transition to Mercedes diesels,
which is the antithesis of exciting vehicles.
Well, except I don't know, be careful, man, because on BAT,
these W123 diesels, people pay a fortune for them.
They do.
They are not fast.
They are not exciting.
But people are willing to pay a fortune for them.
Yeah.
There's style.
They're not exactly my cup of tea.
I used to work on it back in the day.
And even 20 years ago, we used to see examples that had three, four,
five hundred thousand miles.
So that's one of the things.
And they're also pretty stylish.
And they're one of those cars that's, you know, a compromise between,
this is just my kind of guess.
They're a compromise between vintage.
They have a vintage look and kind of a classic stateliness to them.
If you can deal with the lack of performance, they're quite usable,
even for a modern driver.
They are quintessentially classic and reliable.
Yeah, totally.
Totally.
With some style.
Yes.
Yes.
With some style.
Yeah.
I do have a soft spot in my heart for Mercedes diesels.
I am of the opinion that a 87-126-300SDL Mercedes is probably the finest vehicle
ever manufactured in the history of the world.
I'm totally with you.
I just give me my 126 with the gasoline engine, please.
Just go.
Give me the gas motor, but that chassis, incredible.
Yeah.
Do your brother and you kind of exchange these cars?
Do they make the trip back and forth from Ohio to California?
Or is it a permanent fix set in each location?
You know, I keep trying to talk him into sending a couple of those out,
but he just hasn't taken up the offer yet, but I'll continue to work.
You think that a roadster with Brooklyn screens,
that's got California's written all over it.
I mean, it doesn't seem like Ohio is the right place for that.
I will say it is a fun car to drive, but I think the novelty of driving that cross-country
would wear off within the first two miles.
You also mentioned, when we were corresponding a couple of weeks ago,
80s muscle cars, which is interesting to me because you normally think of muscle cars
as being earlier in that.
Is that like a Fox-body Mustang?
Is that what you mean Fox-body Mustangs and Camaros?
Is this part of your kind of conversion into American cars?
You know, I think so, and it is what I love about classic cars.
This classic cars are directly related to the demographic that's buying those cars.
Totally.
And it's like, you know, I am a product of the 80s
and the cars that were aspirational for me in the 80s that I remember like
were the cool cars to have.
They are right now.
Those are the cars that are just really coming out.
And I just like, you know, the, as much as everybody loved to hate the Fox-body Mustangs,
they were always cool.
They were always fun.
And then they were just nothing for so many years.
And I was just, it was just recently at our PRI show,
Seema Owns PRI.
And that is a partnership where it's actually the Seema PRI organization.
And I was shocked.
I think I counted 12 different Fox-body Mustang builds on the show floor.
Oh, yeah.
They are back with the vengeance.
I would say go buy as many Fox-body as you can.
Totally.
And any condition.
People are buying them on, bring a trailer.
I mean, like some of the saline, the saline cars,
and the cobras and cobras.
Yeah.
I mean, you can spend pretty damn close to six figures on one of those right now.
I just saw that road roadster shop by just launched a chassis for Fox-body Mustangs.
Totally.
When roadster shop is arrived, make a chassis.
You know that that car is in it for the long run.
Yeah.
I've always had a soft spot for the SVO Mustangs.
I had a turbo coupe.
You remember those?
They had like a Morkur engine in a teabird in the late 80s.
So I used to own a Morkur.
When I worked at Ford, we worked with SVT.
At that time, there was a gentleman by the name of Onorio John Coletti.
Oh, John Coletti, who ran the SVT team.
We used to work with him.
And yeah, they had that 2.3 liter turbo.
Yes, indeed.
SVO Mustang.
I think they made that for what?
One or two years?
So there's an, oh, gosh.
I could really go deep on this gym.
There's an older one that's like a McLaren build ASC McLaren.
That's a non-intercooled four-cylinder.
But then later, they have the engine that was in your Morkur.
Yeah.
That's the Pinto 23 single red cam with a turbo and an intercooler top-mount intercooler.
They put it in the Mustang for three or four years.
That's the one I want.
It's got the asymmetrical hood scoop.
But as a teenager, I had the T-bird version of that car,
which is a really heavier, larger car.
But I loved it.
It had the dual, you know, snout intakes on top.
And they put rack and pinion steering in it and bigger wheels and bigger brakes.
You know, they don't meant to be a little bit European in nature.
And then Morkur, especially, right?
You ever missed that car?
You know, mine was an automatic.
So I don't miss it as much as I probably should.
Yeah, totally.
But in classic car, I always had the manual transmission sitting in the corner of the garage that you bought.
Like, you know, the newspaper ads.
Totally.
I just never got around to the install.
But it was a fun car.
It was a very fun car.
What do you find yourself looking at these days?
What's on the either on the shopping list or just the interest list?
What are you fantasizing about these days?
You know, I can't get enough old trucks, old farm trucks.
I'm always looking at old farm trucks.
I really, really would love to find like an old Ford high boy, four by four, my daily.
You missed the boat on those two, Jim.
I hate to tell you.
I know.
I'm too late to the game.
I'm too late to the game.
My daily is still my one true love in life.
I got a 1997 land cruiser that's just about to roll over 300,000 miles.
Amazing.
I love the 80 series land cruiser.
Totally.
And everyone else, you didn't miss the boat on that one.
I did not.
I got on the boat right when the boat left the harbor, which is good.
Fantastic.
Before we end, I'd be remiss if we didn't talk a little bit about bringing trailers partnership
with with SEMA.
We've done quite a few charity auctions for a number of different kind of SEMA causes.
Yeah.
Up top, I asked you to kind of break down all the different organizations within SEMA that kind of have SEMA names.
One of them is SEMA cares, which is kind of the charitable wing.
Is that right of SEMA?
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you know, it's really important in one of the real kind of pillars of SEMA as an association is helping our membership, helping our community.
And one of the ways that we do that is through our charitable contributions, charitable support.
So SEMA cares, which benefits a lot of children's charities under privileged children and kids in need.
We work to help kind of coordinate some of these builds, working with our members, helping work with other media properties, and ultimately even auction houses such as yourself and some of the other, you know, that are out there in the industry.
So what we're doing out there to help try to one build awareness for the ways that our community can kind of come together and help generate money to support these causes, but also help just get people engaged.
Helping our members getting engaged.
Yeah, and getting the youth engaged too.
We were talking off Mike a little bit about kind of prepping the next generation and about the enthusiasm that's coming up.
One of the things we've done is we've auctioned a number of these builds that are done by high school auto shop classes in conjunction with SEMA and then will auction on BAT.
And that's such an important initiative obviously both supporting the few auto shops that remain which are so great.
I was an auto shop kid, but also I think you said this gym training the next generation of mechanics, right?
We need those folks out there.
It is a huge priority for SEMA to help really foster and develop the next generation of mechanics technicians.
And ultimately just people that are going to carry this industry forward.
Helping get people involved early through programs like their high school shop classes through other initiatives that even through our racing efforts on, you know,
are I just getting youth involved and engaged is always a priority for us.
Absolutely.
It's vital and it's again, it's another reason that I'm optimistic.
Yeah.
There's a lot of kids out there who love putting these jeeps together.
There's jeeps and forerunners as I recall.
Yeah.
And they did an amazing work and we're super enthusiastic and really took me back to when I was a teenage kid working on all my cars.
So anyway, working on that turbo T bird, which did have plenty of problems as I recall.
Awesome, Jim.
Well, thanks for doing this.
Any parting shots?
Anything else we missed?
Anything else we should chat about before we close out?
I think we did a pretty good job.
We covered a lot of ground.
I mean, this is a conversation I think could certainly go on all day long, but we didn't talk enough about black boxes and car regulations at all.
We'll save that for round two.
Totally totally.
No, just what I would say is, you know, a lot of people think of SEMA purely as being focused on the business side of the community.
And whereas that is where we have always been, we do understand that there is an opportunity for a broader audience, even at the consumer level, to kind of get involved.
And so I wouldn't encourage anybody out there.
If SEMA is something that you're interested in, SEMA is something that you want to help kind of become a part of.
Visit SEMA.org.
There's ways for people to get involved.
There are SEMA plus, become more involved in the ad because the efforts and our grassroots efforts through other companies that make products out there that maybe just looking for a better support.
If you're not a part of SEMA, look us up.
Give us a call.
Talk to us.
We're here to ultimately help grow the community.
So check us out.
Call us if you have any questions.
And come to the dang show.
I've meant to do it for like 10 years, and I've never done it Jim.
So I got to get out there next time.
Maybe you and I could walk around instead of HUD.
We'll let HUD stay at home and you and I can cruise the floor.
How does that sound?
You can come as my personal guest.
In fact, we've got a show coming up November 4th through the 7th, 2025.
So there you go.
Put it on your calendar.
And let's make it happen.
Count on me being there, man.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I really appreciated Jim.
It was my pleasure.
Thanks so much, Alex.
And thanks to you all out there for listening.
As always, we'd love to hear your questions, concerns, feedback.
You can reach us through podcast at bringatreatler.com.
And we'll catch you next time.
About this episode
Jim Moore, VP of OEM and product development at SEMA Garage, shares insights into the evolution of SEMA and its role in the automotive industry. He discusses the importance of emissions compliance, product development support, and the relationship with regulators like CARB and EPA. The conversation also touches on the history of SEMA, the significance of the SEMA show, and the future of automotive innovation, including the integration of electric vehicles. Jim's passion for cars and his personal automotive journey add a relatable touch to the discussion.
Alex meets Jim Moore, the Vice President of OEM and Product Development at Special Equipment Market Association. They discuss his oversight of the many-faceted SEMA Garage program and the organization's beginnings in California. Their wide-ranging efforts and services include government agency relations, business development, market research, product labs, navigating vehicle modifications and emissions compliance, providing a library of OEM CAD files for accurate product design, and consulting on the impact of modifications on advanced driver assistance systems. Alex and Jim talk about finding new ways to innovate using the breadth of technological advances offered by the modern car industry; a bullish view on EVs as an expansion of the car hobby rather than a replacemebt for it; Jim's own automotive baclground, including work with Ford Racing and names such as Force, McRae, Wallace, and Stewart; SEMA Cares charity efforts; and his absolute favorite thing: a collection of charming crapcans.
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