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Mopar is celebrating a big milestone this year, and they’re doing it with the help of the SEMA convention in Las Vegas!
Celebrating 85 Years of Mopar
Way back in 1937, Chrysler used an unfamiliar term on cans of Chrysler Motor Parts antifreeze. “MoPar,” as it was written at the time, was an abbreviated way of saying, “MOtor and PARts.” We’ve got an in-depth look at this decades-old story in our What is MOPAR? piece, but 85 years after being used as a marketing term on a can of antifreeze, Mopar has become a service, parts, and customer care provider in more than 130 markets worldwide. Mopar has more than 500,000 parts and accessories to its name and employs 26,000 technicians. Mopar is also a term used to reference vehicles for any Chrysler-built vehicle, from Plymouth to Chrysler to Jeep to Dodge to RAM.
Mopar is celebrating its 85th anniversary in a big way with the help of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) convention in Las Vegas. We already mentioned SEMA in our list of the Best Indoor Car Shows. This year, Mopar is bringing performance to SEMA in the forms of exhibits and concepts. There was a lot on display at SEMA. Take a look at some of the happenings as this year’s milestone celebration wraps up!
An All-Encompassing Event
The 2020 SEMA event added a virtual aspect to the event. Mopar is keeping some of the 2022 event virtual, too, allowing users to click on displays, see photos of new vehicles, and follow along with updates on social media channels. All the parts that are physically on display in Las Vegas are already available online.
Vehicles from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Wagoneer, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo are all on display at the 2022 SEMA show. For Fiat and Wagoneer, it’s mostly accessories that are being featured. It’s the same story with Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. Jeep and Dodge, though? They have some very cool models representing at SEMA. These vehicles are polished, they are powerful, and they will grab your attention!
Some of the Showstoppers
We’ll have a full 2022 SEMA round-up, but here’s a quick look at a few of the Mopar highlights! The Ram 1500 TRX Gold Shot, painted in yellow and black, utilizes 37” BFGoodrich tires to enhance performance. 4,300 lumens are distributed by LED lights. Inside, the black and yellow contrast is used on the front and rear leather seats.
When it comes to performance, this is the truck to pay attention to. It has 702 horsepower under the hood! It’s being touted as the quickest and most powerful truck in the world. A Mopar bed step that lowers with a push makes it easy to load and unload a variety of cargo, including a pair of motocross bikes.
An orange Jeep CJ Surge concept is a true battery-electric 4×4 concept. It’s powered by 400 volts, 200 kW of electric drive, and 24 lithium-ion battery modules that are mounted in the rear of the cabin. The black hood, blue stripes, and orange coloring capture great design elements of the past. While a zero-emission goal takes a peek into the possible future. The concept gives Mopar designers and enthusiasts a blueprint for building or converting classic cars to EVs. This Jeep sits on 18” by 9” Black Rhino Solid wheels with blue accents on the rim.
Another fun vehicle that mixes the past, the present, and the future is the Ram 1500 Backcountry X Concept. It sits on a Mopar 2” lift kit, has FOX shocks, and rides on 37” BFGoodrich tires. The two-tone silver and black coloring (with a little bit of orange in there, too) gives off a retro vibe, but also looks very sharp. The story with the Ram 1500 Backcountry X Concept, however, is the storage capacity.
A telescoping storage-rack system that was shown at the 2021 SEMA show is attached to this Backcountry X concept. The RamPack storage compartments are located on each side of the truck bed. The single, carbon-fiber hatch-type panel expands storage by more than 12.3 cu-ft. A Mopar spray-in bed liner protects the floor of the bed, so there won’t be any scratches incurred when loading or unloading cargo.
More Mopar and More SEMA to Come
After 85 years of existence, evolution, and expertise, Mopar doesn’t plan to go away anytime soon. As you saw with the Jeep CJ Surge concept, there’s room for Mopar in the EV field. It seems they’ll be keeping up with the trends going forward, wherever they may lead. Not only will there be more Mopar in the future, there will be more SEMA in the very near future. Be on the lookout for our full 2022 SEMA recap, rounding up all the best vehicles from the annual convention!
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