2006 SEMA Show Gallery: That Ain't Right

2006 SEMA Show: That Ain't Right – Photo Gallery: It most often happens late at night when inspiration is low and desperation grows. Or when the creative process implodes and the idea you thought was visionary becomes weird and twisted. And it can happen to anyone, at any time. Sadly for custom car designers, when it happens to them there's no going back, and what was once a normal looking vehicle turns into, say, a pink 1964 Chevy truck with green flames and a keg inside.

Apologies

Granted, you may like the strange and the weird. If so, we apologize in advance to you, and to those who dream of adding jewels to their cars. To Garfield fans, our apologies – please. And for those who like 30-inch wheels on their Caprice Classics, or hair on their Vegas, forgive our short and shallow interpretation of style. For the rest, we've put together a short list out of many, many cars on display at this year's SEMA show. It's the cars that made us shake our heads and ask…why, or, what? In the order of least to most strange, then, here are the cars we found in Las Vegas that just ain't right.

Jimmy'Z Mini Cooper

Whew. Now we know that wood paneling, orange paint and Mini Coopers go together. Imagine our surprise – and imagine the face on the CEO of Jimmy Z Apparel when the bill for this beauty came due. This is California cool like an earthquake and a smog alert.

P001 EXP from Xconcepts

Just in time for your next dangerous excursion to the grocery store, the P001 EXP by Xconcepts is sure to provide the kind of protection you need in Suburban Land. You may never know if you hit someone or not in this tank, and maybe that's the point?

Mini-iTek

Proving to the world that yes, you can make Minis look even smaller. And that sometimes bright paint just can't hide, um, an interesting design.

Rhinestripes Chrysler Crossfire

And we thought the Crossfire was sort of a girl car the fake ice. Rhinestripes, the company, will attach the shiny stones as pinstripe accents. Or make the Chrysler emblem shine. They're guaranteed to blind you in the rearview mirror, or as oncoming traffic. Sunglasses come standard with every purchase, to protect your eyes… and your identity.

Asanti Chrysler 300 Limo

A Chrysler 300 Limousine with Lambo doors and enough interior room to live in. Baby, you can go ahead and drive that car, because even a rapper would slink away at this over-the-top expression of the rich and famous life.

Phat Ride

So this is what happens when a DUB intern goes insane. Or perhaps it's one of those cool trick paintings come to the auto world…just let us know when you see the eagle fly, okay?

Camouflaged Honda Fit

Either someone just wallpapered a Fit, or Honda's little car is about to go hunting pheasant. Either way, it's giving us a headache.

Ale' Fuel Vapor Car

Look at the front end closely. Go ahead – look, at the orange fish – or is it a turtle? We can call it Ale' the Fish, perhaps, or maybe the Snapping Turtle. Behind the bad paint color and design, however lies an engineering marvel that runs on fuel vapors, gets 92 mpg and is a super low emissions emitter – without a catalytic converter. So what if the kids on the street call you the Fish Man – get yours today!

1988 Chevy Caprice by Rides Magazine

Looks like the kids at design school sure had fun doing their mid-term project. With scissor-style doors and 30-inch wheels, one wonders why they didn't get crazy and add, say, fur-lined seat covers, orange tinted windows and a smiling cat. Wait – that's another Caprice…