The Best Muscle Cars of the 2025 SEMA Show (Video)

We explore the biggest, baddest and most brutal American muscle cars on display at the SEMA 2025 show in Las Vegas.

AutoGuide.com was on the scene at SEMA 2025, hunting down big, brutal, beautiful American muscle. The search began at the impressive Toyo Tires Tread Pass, which featured an awesome collection of high-horsepower builds.

A few cars immediately stood out. Even for an admitted Ford enthusiast like AutoGuide's James Reeves, an incredible 1969 Chevy Nova was impossible to ignore. Reeves spoke with Sean from Empire Fabrication, the shop that built this beast, to get the details.

The 1,200 HP '69 Nova by Empire Fabrication

"This is a 69 Chevy Nova," Sean explained. "It's got a 427 Nelson Racing Whipple supercharged LS in it."

The car sits on Detroit Speed subframes and a Detroit Speed Quadlink in the rear. The build quality is immediately apparent in the details. "The engine bay is all custom one-off metalwork," Sean noted, "and then the dash is all custom one-off... and aluminum bottom half."

But the custom work hides some surprising modern luxury. "Also in the doors, we put 2024 Cadillac Escalade soft-close," he said. "So, it's got soft-close in the doors, soft-close in the trunk."

It's not just show; this Nova is seriously powerful. The entire car is programmed off two MCH PDMs and runs on a Holly Terminator X system. The Nelson motor was dynoed at 1,200 horsepower and is expected to put down about 900 horsepower to the wheels.

The 1,140-WHP Brazilian Four-Door Galaxy

Next, AutoGuide found a truly unique machine: a four-door 1977 Ford Landau, known as the Brazilian Galaxy. This amazing car has a 460 engine stroked to 547, putting down a staggering 1,140 wheel horsepower (from an estimated 1,400 crank horsepower).

The car is also helping launch a new product. "The news on this car is we put some Shelby tires. Shelby is launching the tires," the owner told AutoGuide.

The best part? It's a four-door. "We have 1,140 on the wheel, but you still can bring your kids to school." That driver would definitely be the coolest parent in the pickup line.

A South African-Built '67 Shelby GT500

The team then checked out a stunning 1967 GT500, officially licensed by Shelby and built by Factory High-Tech in South Africa.

"We have an independent rear suspension in it, coilovers in the front," Lance, a representative, explained. "Guys can go with the GT500 engine, the 760 horsepower."

The interior is fully modernized with Recaro electric seats and digital gauges throughout, all wrapped in an all-steel body. When asked about the price, Lance quoted around $325,000. Compared to some of the other builds at the show, that's practically a bargain.

A Modern Take on a Trans Am Classic

"I'm a Pontiac girl at heart," the owner of a pristine Trans Am told Reeves. "So, I've always loved Trans Ams ever since I was a child."

This build, which was just finished for the show, is a perfect blend of classic style and modern performance. "She is on a Roadster Shop Spec chassis," the owner said. "It is an LS6 built by Keith Dorton... she has a Procharger on it."

The team updated the classic look with an Exalta flat gray paint job, which makes the iconic "Eagle" soar off the hood. The wheels are custom 18s and 19s, designed in-house to look like the original turbine wheels, just "a little bit bigger, a little dishier."

The interior was completely remodeled, keeping the original seat design but updating it with perforated leather. "It looks like a pace car or what Pontiac would have done at that time," she said. "It looks perfectly executed."

A Lamborghini-Inspired '67 GTO

Reeves also spoke with Steve, who gave one of the most direct and thorough rundowns of his 1967 GTO.

"Didn't do a lot of mods to it," Steve began. "We changed the door handles to Grand Prix handles. We made some notch cutouts in the rear bumper for the exhaust tips."

The paint is a new Lamborghini Urus dark blue, and the off-white interior is also a Lamborghini color. The luxury details don't stop there. "The carpet is out of a Rolls-Royce," Steve said. "My other company, Composite Speed, did all the forged carbon on the inside of the car."

Under the hood, Penta Motorsports built the stroker. "That is the original 400 that came in this car. It's now a 462." It's mated to a Hughes Performance 4L80 transmission, which was modified with a custom cast bell housing to bolt up to the Pontiac block. The car is rounded out with a Billet Specialties True Track system, full Detroit Speed suspension, JRI shocks, Baer brakes and a US radiator.

The 'Tuxedo' Ring Brothers '69 Mustang

A final highlight of the tour was with Jake, the owner of a jaw-dropping 1969 Mustang built by the legendary Ring Brothers.

"I contacted Ring Brothers about 2 and 1/2 years ago," Jake said. "If I'm going to get a 69 Mustang built, it's going to be by Ring Brothers because their work is phenomenal."

Jake found the original car sitting in a garage in Florida, sent it to the builders, and gave them two requests: "No chrome on the outside, and paint it black."

The result is stunning. "My request from Ring Brothers was to kind of make the interior look like a tuxedo," Jake noted, pointing out the intricate stitching and black chrome accents on the door sills and throughout the interior.

The builders also worked their magic on the car's proportions and functionality. "The wheelbase is moved up... about an inch and a half," Jake explained. "They make the rear side scoop active. So, there's actually a 3D printed duct that runs the length of the car... and the air comes out between the tail lights."

Powering this masterpiece, which took around 5,500 hours to build, is a Waggner-built Coyote engine tuned to 800-850 horsepower, running through a T-56 transmission. Jake's impeccable taste and the Ring Brothers' execution made for a fitting example of the incredible muscle on display at SEMA 2025.