Despite the wash of journalists that will be MIA at SEMA in November (us included) thanks to a shoestring budget, this year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association show promises to be a dazzling one. As always, the Ford Mustang will be strongly represented by a group of 8 custom rides, the majority of which are surprisingly inoffensive.

Of course there are a few underwhelming entrants, most notable among them the Ford Vehicle Personalization Mustang that appears to be a hastily composed tribute to the Bandit’s Trans Am, but on the whole it looks like Ford’s Mustang display at SEMA will definitely be one worth checking out. Hit the jump to check out Ford’s full gallery and list of this year’s custom ponies.

Counting heavily on consumers’ fond memories of the Challenger of yesteryear to carry the bloated pony through the rest of the race, Dodge has announced the addition of a genuine throwback to the exterior color choices: Plum Crazy Purple. To heighten its exclusivity and ensure its collector status decades down the road, it will only be offered as an option for SRT8 and R/T models and also feature an optional black or white side-stripe.

Race-Prepared 2010 Camaro

Like a flashback to a time when Detroit steel dominated the world; Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers will all be represented in the season-ending Bosch Engineering Oktoberfest race this weekend in Richmond VA. All three of these modern pony cars compete in the series’ Grand Sport class, a group that includes cars that have only been minimally modified to 350-405 horsepower and top out at 160 mph. Unlike most other racing, the opportunity to see a car that is very much like one from the factory being put through its paces is more than a little satisfying.

What could be more American than stuffing your face with mass-produced chocolate bars and then entering to win a modern-day musclecar, the 2010 Chevy Camaro? They’re both full of empty calories but a lot of fun, so why not indulge? After all, the Camaro didn’t exactly come in as a featherweight, what, with all of the brake balancing weights haphazardly glued all over the rotors like some sort of cracked-out kindergarden art project. But hey, the car is unabashadly badass, and who the hell doesn’t like chocolate? As long as you can keep your diabetes in control it’s a combination made in heaven. And seeing as how it’s built to fit our good ol’ cornfed bodies, you shouldn’t have to go on a vitamin-water-and-glue-huffing diet to fit in the damn thing. Hop on over to Hershey’s to enter, and of course, no purchase is required.

About a week ago, we brought you the first photos of the new 2010 ROUSH STAGE 3 and what little details we could scrounge together. Now, we’ve got the full scoop:

ROUSH unveiled two new models recently, the aforementioned STAGE 3, and a new model dubbed the 540RH.

Now, the STAGE 3 makes use of the same hand-built 4.6L V8 used in the P-51B, except this one finds an additional 30HP by way of a massive Roush-Eaton TVS intercooled supercharger, forged aluminum pistons with an increased dish to lower the compression ratio from 9.8 to 8.6, forged steel H-Beam connecting rods and a forged steel crankshaft, new fuel rails, fuel injectors, and a remapped ECU program for a grand total of 540 ground-pounding horses. And thanks to the forged bottom end, ROUSH can offer an impressive 3 year/36,000 mile warranty to owners.

Months after GM confirmed the production of the 2011 (ish) Chevy Camaro convertible, a herd of the production-ready ponies have been spotted outside the GM factory in Melbourne, Australia. Snapped by an enterprising Camaro5 forum member, the relatively high-quality spy shots are the first signs of life we’ve seen since GM rescued the Camaro drop-top from the scrap heap.

There is simply no way to properly introduce Bullitt.

For those who have seen it, you already understand why it’s so good: the gritty depiction of San Fransisco’s underbelly, the mystery, the drama, and quite possibly the greatest car chase scene of all time between a ‘68 fastback Mustang and a menacing black Charger. For the rest of you, you indeed have my sympathies.

Following the jump, there is a brilliant, albeit short, 10 minute video giving you a behind the scenes look at how Bullitt was brought to life in Steve McQueen’s image. The thing to remember about this movie is the fact that it was made in the pursuit of portraying reality–the dark, dirty, uncanny truth within the story. The chase scenes were real, having predated CGI and special effects technology. The locations were real, such as the architect studio where McQueen’s on screen girlfriend worked, and even some of the “actors” weren’t actors at all–such as the hospital scene, portrayed by real surgeons and nurses.

If you’ve already seen the movie, you’ll probably get more out of the video than those who haven’t. But who knows, this just might whet your palette enough to get you off your ass and into Blockbuster.

There’s also the epic car chase scene included for your enjoyment and drooling purposes.

Okay, some of us are actually a bit bummed that Pontiac is dead. But we feel a lot better after hearing this news: Trans Am Depot will premier their conversion kit inspired by Kevin Morgan’s sultry concept sketches at this year’s Trans Am Nationals. The final car will be based on the current Camaro platform (much like the original Firebird, no?) and will be offered as dealer-installed conversion only.

There’s no word yet on official performance specs nor on pricing, but rest assured, it will be very Camaro under there (whatever that means).

There’s a Press Release after the jump detailing the extent of the exterior and interior modifications thus far, as well as a photo gallery of the inspirational sketches for this retro beauty.

Oh, and lest I forget, a completely worthless teaser video, as well!

With prices at the pump still high, turbocharged four and six cylinder engines are quickly becoming a viable performance alternative to fuel-chugging V8’s. So East Texas Muscle Cars came up with an ambitious plan:

Tune a streetable 2010 V6 Mustang to lap the Nurburgring Nordschliefe faster than the Nissan GT-R.

“We wanted to do something a little different,” says company spokesman Mike White. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in something like this for the V6 Camaros.”