Decked-out Sierra 2500 SEMA show truck features a massive lift, huge wheels, custom audio equipment, and lots of flashy hardware.
When it comes to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show that takes place in Las Vegas every year, it’s not a matter of “Go big or go home.” You either go big or stay home. People go to SEMA to be wowed. You bring a vehicle that’s going to stand out and stun people or you don’t even bother making the trip there. Clearly, the people behind the construction of this custom GMC Sierra 2500 Denali were determined to make it to the show in Sin City.
According to this video from YouTuber Salinas Photography, it belongs to Jimmy Kost, the owner of 1st Class Audio & Tinting in El Paso, Texas. Instead of outsourcing the build, he had the crew at his shop do it. They made an already large truck into a huge one, boosting it up on a 16-inch lift. SEMA is no place for stock wheels and rubber, so the 1st Class team threw those out and replaced them with a set of massive 28-inch deep-dish chrome wheels wrapped in 42-inch off-road tires.
No SEMA truck build would be complete without an aftermarket grille so 1st Class put in a new one that makes a not-so-subtle statement. Kost’s truck is no longer just a GMC. It’s a BOSS. Lower down, there’s an angular new bumper that rocks fog lights on both ends and a wide auxiliary light bar in the middle.
Out back, there’s another aftermarket bumper with integrated assist steps cut into it. A special hitch drops down from the 2500’s stratospheric height to pull Earthbound trailers.
Kost’s squad used a palette of white, lollipop red, and chrome to color-coordinate the entire package to an impressive degree. Pops of red highlight the grille’s short and simple message, and surround the lights in the front bumper. Red and chrome are the dominant colors for most of the underbody hardware, such as the shocks, rear differential, and leaf springs. Even the flashy wheels have pointy red lugnuts. It makes us wonder: Which colors did they use for the ladder that you need to get into this monster?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
