LAS VEGAS -- The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association Show -- a.k.a. SEMA, a.k.a. one of the largest trade shows in the nation -- is many things, but above all, it is a gathering of the weird. Of the seemingly impossible. Of the stuff that appears only in daydreams and movies best viewed under the influence of drugs.

That, of course, is what makes SEMA great: It's an excuse for anyone and everyone who makes stuff for cars to go absolutely nuts. Where else are you going to find a V8-powered, fluid-drive off-road buggy like the one above (81 inches tall, 111-inch wheelbase, air suspension, perfect for the zombie apocalypse), parked within spitting distance of the first Cobra that Carroll Shelby ever built? You can walk for days and still not see all the wonderful and weird stuff that SEMA has to offer.

Not that we didn't try. Condensing the show's strangeness isn't an easy task, but we took a shot. Here's a glimpse of what makes SEMA great.

Photo: Sam Smith / Wired.com