On October 31st, 2012, 50 Scion FR-S vehicles assembled a caravan to drive out to Las Vegas for the 2012 SEMA Show. The Japanese automaker was on hand to capture the action, releasing a short teaser video of its trip.

50 Scion FR-S owners headed to Toyota headquarters in Southern California in the very early morning hours of Halloween before starting the 300 mile journey to Las Vegas. According to Scion, the caravan stretched more than a mile long when the vehicles were lined up in single file on the freeway.

SEE ALSO: FR-S Times Seven in the Scion Booth: 2012 SEMA Show

Eventually all 50 caravan drivers made it safely to Las Vegas where they were all given their own parking spot at the convention center and had an opportunity to sit in on a press conference at the Scion booth. Later that evening, all caravan participants were treated to a dinner at Tao Restaurant & Nightclub where the event came to a close.

Watch the teaser video of the Scion FR-S caravan to SEMA below.

A couple of weeks ago, Kia debuted five Justice League concept models at the 2012 SEMA Show, and now the Korean automaker has released a video of the unveiling.

In a sea of modified and custom cars, setting yourself apart from the crowd is no easy task. This year, Kia decided the best way to do so was to create superhero-inspired rides from its model lineup, which turned out to be a huge hit with the show goers. The lineup included a custom Kia Rio with an Aquaman theme, a Flash Forte Koup, a Green Lantern Soul, a Cyborg-inspired Forte Five-Door, and an Optima featuring plenty of Batman goods.

SEE ALSO: Kia Debuts Justice League Concepts: 2012 SEMA Show

Watch a video of the unveiling from the 2012 SEMA Show below.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

GALLERY: Kia Aquaman Rio

GALLERY: Kia Flash Forte Koup

GALLERY: Kia Green Lantern Soul

GALLERY: Kia Cyborg Forte Five-Door

GALLERY: Kia Batman Optima

The FR-S fervor that was last week’s SEMA show is now starting to come down. While almost every aftermarket company featured their latest product on the Scion or Subaru coupe, I took a moment to talk to the owners of what I believe is the most important FR-S of the show.

The Ken Stout Racing (KSR) FR-S (pictured above) is not a crazy riced-out example of how much can go into an FR-S, it’s an honest race car that will participate in one of the most grueling and entertaining race series going on in North America. The Pirelli World Challenge is a racing series that’s been going on since 1985 and has since expanded its series to include more races and more classes of race car.

After winning the Touring Car Championship in 2010 in a Scion tC, Robert Stout is ready to compete again with Scion’s new platform, the FR-S.

“It’s great to be back with Scion for sure but even better now as I’m one of the very few to ever say they are a factory driver for Scion,” Robert Stout said. “Of course it speaks volumes about the success we’ve had together dating back to 2010 but much more importantly it tells a more complete story about relationships and character.”

Stout knows they have a lot of work ahead of them “We have a lot to do just to catch the guys in GTS but we’re ready to give it a shot and couldn’t be prouder to fly the colors of Scion, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Lucas Oil and all of our other partners.”

The team at KSR know that the GTS category is tough, with high powered vehicles like Mustangs and Camaros running the race with more than double the power that the stock FR-S puts out.

“There is no question that we will have the lowest horsepower car in the class but we believe that if we can get the [power-to-weight ratio] in line with the other cars in the class that we will still be competitive,” Team Principal Ken Stout said. “The goal is to attain a little over 300 horsepower.” he added.

The plan for winning races with a lower power, light weight race car is simple in theory “We will need to stop and turn a little better than the others and hopefully our tires and brakes will be just a little better at the end of the race than the others for some final lap passes.” Stout said. These races are a sprint, and by the end of them, cars often have fading tires and brakes, impacting their lap times later in the race. The FR-S’ low weight should help reduce the stress and wear on the brakes and tires, allowing it to stay fresh when the other cars are running out of steam.

The FR-S race car seems to be a perfect candidate for the Pirelli World Challenge. “The car has a great platform for racing; it is light weight right out of the box at 2700 lbs. It also has a great weight biased and a low center of gravity. These are very crucial to a successful racing car and are critical if you are the lowest horsepower car in the field.” Stout said.

TRD ON THE TRACK AND STREET

The team expressed concerns about the stock car’s power. While the car’s stock 200 hp might be enough for the road, it’s a different matter on the track.

“The stumbling block was horsepower but when TRD jumped on board it changed everything by providing what we feel will be enough power to compete if we maintain our light-weight format.” Stout said.

With help from TRD, the FR-S could get a serious boost in power. Not only that, but TRD’s parts, like the supercharger that’s under KSR’s hood, will almost certainly be available as aftermarket add-ons for the FR-S. TRD is supplying much more than power, though.

“TRD has provided us with great brakes that fall under the rules for the GTS class but we still have a lot of testing to do to find the best wheel / tire combination.” said Stout.

“TRD is a world class company and has been consistent with superchargers over turbo chargers,” explains Stout “When we went to them for help they explained that the supercharger installation provided a more professional approach for their customers and was consistent to the brand using the Toyota Tundra and the Scion tC as examples. Fortunately for us the initial plans for the blower were already in place.”

YOUTH BRANDED RACER

With the FR-S taking on the pack at the Pirelli World Challenge, it has a strong chance to bring younger racing fans to the motorsport world.

“Winning the “Best Sport Compact” award at the SEMA show has already proven just how hot this car is,” said Stout. “The FR-S also carries the all important “younger demographic” something Sports Car racing is in need of. There are a lot of young drivers in the sport that are very talented but the sport needs that younger viewer as well and the FR-S will bring them.”

With a high critical response from both enthusiasts, owners and now race teams, this new Scion is already proving to be a success. Hopefully all the praise and excitement of the FR-S can translate into some wins on the track.

With winter temperatures on the way, TGIF[R-S] will be slowing down. We will have a few impressions of how the FR-S fares in the snow and colder temperatures.

GALLERY: KEN STOUT RACING PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE FR-S

The SEMA Show is known for a few things: wildly modified cars, beautiful scantily clad women and… like all auto shows… someone walking into your shot.

We’ve compiled all three (more of the last two) into one video and have subsequently cracked the code to successful marketing campaign: sex appeal and humor. Enjoy.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Mopar and Fiat came out swinging at the 2012 SEMA Show, bringing a trio of modified Fiat 500 models to show off the versatility of the Italian automaker’s compact model.

With how diverse and intricate each build was on each different Fiat, AutoGuide got a closer inspection with a first look video that you can watch below.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

GALLERY: Fiat 500 Beach Cruiser

GALLERY: Fiat Abarth Cafe Racer

GALLERY: Magneti Marelli Fiat Argento

Dodge knew that it had to come out strong with its new Dart model at the 2012 SEMA Show, and the American automaker did not disappoint. 

A trio of Mopar-modified Dodge Darts made their way to the Las Vegas Convention Center and AutoGuide decided to take a closer inspection at all three with this first look video.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

GALLERY: Dodge Dart Leadfoot Blue

GALLERY: Dodge Dart Carbon Fire

GALLERY: Dodge Dart Slingshot

Shoehorning a Viper V10 engine with 650 hp into the engine bay of the Dodge Charger is something that belongs at the 2012 SEMA Show. And that’s exactly what the Dodge Charger Juiced concept is.

In a way, photos hardly do the Charger Juiced any justice, which is why we ventured back to get a first look video of the V10-powered Charger.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

GALLERY: Dodge Charger Juiced

With all the feedback we received on our Top 10 Worst Cars of the 2012 SEMA Show post a video followup was too tempting to pass up.

Get a up close look at all the over-the-top custom rides from the world’s largest aftermarket car parts expo and be sure to leave your feedback. (Everyone else has).

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

In a sea of custom Scion FR-S’ and Subaru BRZs at the 2012 SEMA Show, it’s surprisingly hard to compile a list of the top 10 without some criteria. So to compile our list of favorites, we decided to look at all the 86s and judge based on cleanliness, originality, and functionality – and of course, how it looked on the show floor.

Kicking off our top 10 list is a Subaru BRZ we spotted outside the convention center which to us, defines what a custom daily-driver BRZ should be. Nothing over-the-top, nothing too flashy – just simple and clean, with functional modifications. The Chargespeed carbon fiber lip kit complements the stock bodylines of the BRZ perfectly, while the custom blue Volk Racing TE37SLs pay tribute to a classic wheel that has truly lasted the test of time.

Each year, the South Hall at the 2012 SEMA Show is filled with wheel and tire manufacturers looking to grab the attention from buyers. What better way to do that than with a Lamborghini Aventador?

This year there was an underwhelming number of luxury and exotic vehicles compared to previous SEMA Shows, but nonetheless, there was plenty of eye candy to appreciate as wheel companies strive to wow crowds of show goers. Highlights include plenty of McLaren MP4-12Cs, a few Lamborghini Aventadors, and several Audi R8s.

Enjoy the gallery below of the luxury and exotic cars from the 2012 SEMA Show.

GALLERY: SEMA 2012 Luxury and Exotics

Back by popular demand, we’ve compiled the Top 10 Worst Cars of SEMA. Forgive us for being light on details; it’s apparent that the number one qualification in order to make our list of botch jobs is for the car be so highly customized it’s no longer recognizable.

We hope you’re in for a scare this Halloween because this self-proclaimed “Swagnum” modified Dodge Magnum ranks just 10th on our list of terrifying mod-jobs at SEMA.

Previewed prior to the opening of the 2012 SEMA Show, several Volkswagen Beetles were scattered throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center, seemingly as if they had no home.

That’s because the German automaker didn’t set up a booth at this year’s show, leaving its show cars to fend for themselves.

Nonetheless, the Beetles’ presence was certainly felt – especially the Super Beetle in the H&R booth (pictured above). Out at the FMS Automotive booth, the company had a sharp contrast of modern vs. classic on display, while the ‘Beach Battle-Cruiser’ was close by.

GALLERY: 2012 SEMA Volkswagen Beetles