Nissan reveals three SEMA 2026 show builds on 28 October, including a 300hp Sentra Spec-V and Chris Forsberg's twin-turbo Datsun S30

Nissan put out its SEMA Show plans on 28 October 2026, and all three cars are show builds in the old sense: no production promise, just three corners of the owner scene made real. They go on stand at booth 21521 in Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center from 3 to 6 November.

The headline car is the Sentra Spec-V concept, a nod to the Sentra SE-R that reached North America 35 years ago. Nissan says it runs a turbocharged 2.0 litre engine making 300 horsepower through a six speed manual, with GT-R sourced Brembo brakes, NISMO suspension parts, Recaro seats and a body kit topped by a GT-R NISMO rear wing. Next to it sits Project NAT2, an SCCA Touring 2 spec Z built by the Nissan Acceleration Team, a volunteer group of company employees. The third is the one the custom crowd will queue for: a Datsun S30 restomod by Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg, with the current Z's twin turbo V6 dropped in and carbon fibre panels on the old shell.

Kim Less, Nissan's vice president of Aftersales and Customer Loyalty, called the trio a look at "what's possible with cars like Sentra and Z". None of the three is India bound, and the Sentra was never sold here, but the Datsun badge will ring a bell for anyone who bought a Go or a redi-GO before the brand was wound down in India.

The reveal list has been filling up all month

SEMA builds are drip fed, and October has been busy. The Weekly Driver's running tally of publicly confirmed show vehicles stood at 43 as of 24 October, after the first 24 were listed on 6 October and 16 more were added on 20 October, when SEMA published its reveal schedule. That batch included Steve Irwin's Toyota Land Cruiser at the Terrain Tamer 4WD booth, a 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago at WD-40 and a 2013 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 race car at Meguiar's. Twenty five unveilings are set for opening day alone.

Motorcycles finally get judged at SEMA

The bigger change for this desk is on the judging floor. SEMA confirmed on 29 June that the 13th Battle of the Builders would add a Bike Builder Shootout, the first custom motorcycle class in the competition's history. It runs alongside the four car classes: Hot Rod and Hot Rod Truck, 4 Wheel Drive and Off-Road, Sport Compact, Import Performance, Luxury and Exotic, and BFGoodrich Young Guns for builders aged 29 and under.

The format is the one that makes Battle of the Builders worth watching. Judges cut each class to a Top 10 and then a Top 3, and those finalists then judge each other to pick the winners and the overall champion. Cuts are announced at 3:30 pm on the Battle of the Builders stage at Central Hall booth 24743 on each of the three trade days, with the overall car and truck winner named at 11 am on Friday 6 November, during the public day.

For Indian builders, SEMA remains a hard show to reach, but it is the one where a one-off bike built in a two-man workshop can end up being judged by the people who built the cars parked next to it. Worth watching the Shootout result on 5 November.

Sources

• Nissan taps into enthusiast culture with Sentra Spec V concept revival, two Z concepts at SEMA
• SEMA 2026 Builds: Every Vehicle Announced for the Show, The Weekly Driver
• SEMA Opens Entries for 2026 Battle of the Builders
• SEMA Show 2026: Dates, Friday Tickets, Hours and Hall Guide, The Weekly Driver