My 11th SEMA was just as busy as I’ve ever been or seen the show. There were shoulder-to-shoulder crowds just about everywhere across the vast Las Vegas Convention Center all 4 days of the show.
SEMA attracted 2,400 vendors and had over 1,400 vehicles on display, across 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space, this year. Around 160,000 people from 140 countries attended. It is one of the largest trade shows in the world, and the largest car show. It’s all about the automotive aftermarket, which is a massive industry.
As per usual, I walked nearly every square foot of the show — yes, my legs are tired. I searched high and low to specifically bring you the most interesting and truly new products and adventure vehicles on display.
SEMA 2024 Adventure Vehicle Scene
This year, I found lots of interesting new vehicle builds, but honestly not many new adventure vehicle builds. This is because many adventure vehicles on display I’ve already shown you from other shows — like Overland Expo — many builds were just poorly executed bolt-on monstrosities, and because there seemed to be way less of an overland and off-road adventure vehicle presence in general this year. In particular, the Overland Experience area of the show was extremely small and poorly attended by both vendors and showgoers.
This year, I saw only a few modern Chevy/GMC trucks, a lot fewer Jeeps, a lot fewer 4Runners, a similar large volume of Broncos, a few INEOS examples, an impressive showing of the new Tacoma, and lots of the new Land Cruiser 250s. This was also the year of the Cybertruck and kei trucks, which both were very good at attracting attention.
This year, there was also the introduction of lots more powersports products to the show. There were PWCs, motos, UTVs, and a few accessories. Most of the big vehicle brands in this space were at the show, but only a handful of accessory companies, and most of those were low-cost knockoff brands.
5 Top Vehicles: SEMA 2024 Best in Show
Enough with the event overview. Let’s dive into my picks for the best adventure vehicles of SEMA 2024.
EarthRoamer LTx
EarthRoamer has been making top-spec expedition campers for 26 years now. The next generation of its flagship product is now here, the LTx. This Ford F-550-based vehicle has an all-new layout. The new layout has a large rear dinette and a pass-through gear tunnel that doubles the rear storage capacity. The entry door to the camper has also been moved way forward and widened. Of course, the entire electrical system has been fully overhauled and updated. It is now a 24V system, a 18KWh lithium-ion battery bank, larger inverters, and more solar.
Besides the big layout and electrical system changes, the EarthRoamer LTx also gets a new walnut interior option, new roof rack that is mounted with no holes in the roof for better weatherproofing, and even a new bike rack accessory for the rear boxes to make loading and unloading much easier.
While we’re just getting our first look at this new overland machine, current EarthRoamer owners got a preview back in September. Between then and now, 28 of the new LTx models have been sold, so if you put in your order now, you can expect a summer 2026 delivery. And no, these campers aren’t inexpensive. While pricing starts in the $700,000s, a properly specced one is in the $900,000s.
Proffitt’s Resurrection Cruisers ‘Taco Tuesday’
The ‘Taco Tuesday’ 1959 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ28 pickup restomod by Proffitt’s Resurrection Cruiserswas located in the Toyo Tread Pass area at SEMA, where there are always some outrageous and impressive builds. Even among some truly bold vehicles, its Lime Rush Green paint made it stand out from the crowd.
The idea behind this build was to have all the tech, reliability, and comfort found in a modern Tacoma with the style and rugged capability found in a classic Land Cruiser. While much of the build is custom, it utilizes a ton of OEM Toyota parts throughout, mostly from Tacoma.
Under the hood is a supercharged 3.5L Toyota V6 backed by a six-speed manual transmission. The truck rides on solid axles and 37-inch tires. Combine that setup with lockers, a winch, Maxtrax, and a rooftop tent, and this build is ready for off-road and overland adventures.