Pirelli Celebrates SEMA Show in Grand Style

When the world famous SEMA Show opened in Las Vegas recently, crowds flocked to Pirelli's display to see what the tire company known for setting the stage of what is cutting edge in performance and style for the coming year had on their minds.  Whether it was 'celeb' automotive designer Chip Foose, a racing secret, or rap star Fifty Cent showing off his latest ride equipped with Pirelli tires, dealers, enthusiasts and anyone who was anyone made Pirelli a must see at this year's show. 

Making one of the biggest announcements of the show, Pirelli unveiled the new Pirelli PZero Racing tire that will serve as the official tire for the Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series. The announcement marks the return of Pirelli on the American motorsports scene after a one-year absence.
"When it comes to the SEMA Show, there are few companies that can even come close to what Pirelli brings each year," said Foose who took a break to sign autographs for a winding line of fans at the Pirelli display.  "Pirelli built its reputation for setting trends and they're ahead of the game in sizing and technology.  There's a reason why major auto manufacturers, celebrities, customizers and even the competition spend time in Pirelli's display at SEMA."

In addition to teaming up with Foose, Pirelli also announced that it would team up with automotive lifestyle and trendsetter DUB to sponsor the 2008 DUB Custom Auto Show and Concert series. More than 250,000 people attended the 16-city tour in 2007 that featured some of today's hottest acts along with a celebrity car showcase that include rides from the garages of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Leinart, Tony Hawk, Reggie Bush and many others.

For the 2007 show, Pirelli teamed with partner Unique Autosports to outfit rapper 50 Cent's "Unique Whip" with Pirelli tires.  The one-of-a-kind G8 Pontiac performance sedan made its debut under the lights at SEMA.  If this was not enough, Pirelli tires were featured on too many vehicles to count and the company also announced that it will continue as the exclusive tire provider for RINSPEED while adding WALD of Japan to its list of tuning partners.  RINSPEED, the legendary Swiss Porsche tuner, originally chose Pirelli as its exclusive tire supplier for the U.S. market in 2006.  WALD is one of Asia's premier tuning companies and specializes in tuning high-end cars from Europe and Japan.

"At the SEMA Show the aisles are filled with every major decision maker in the automotive world and they're all interested in seeing the next big thing," said Rafael Navarro, director of public relations and motorsports for Pirelli North America.  "It's not a question of if you're going to be there, it's a question of how big you are going to be when the doors open."