by Matthew Konkle
Executive Editor
LAS VEGAS—By Thursday morning at SEMA, your feet have opinions.
Your voice is starting to go, your phone is running out of room for photos, and the list of booths you still want to visit somehow keeps getting longer.
Before we tackled any of that, though, there was breakfast.
For our final installment of this year’s SEMA Three 3.0, we’re starting with a familiar Las Vegas tradition, checking out an exhaust upgrade headed for JK Wranglers, and wrapping things up with the Head Honcho.
Three more stops before we close the notebook on this year’s series.
One: Siegel’s Bagelmania, A Tradition Worth Ordering Ahead
Some SEMA traditions involve concept vehicles, favorite booths, or catching up with people you only see once a year.
One of ours involves bagels.
We’ve been making a point of visiting Siegel’s Bagelmania at least once during SEMA for years, and this time our stop came Thursday morning.
At this stage of show week, having a familiar breakfast destination is a small but meaningful victory.
The business has been feeding Las Vegas since 1989, when it opened as Harrie’s Bagelmania on East Twain Avenue.
Longtime customer Stephen Siegel purchased it in 2018, and the business eventually moved into its much larger home beside the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Its roots remain in New York-style bagels and Jewish deli favorites, which helps explain why this has become a recurring stop on our SEMA calendar.
Of course, we are hardly the only people who have figured that out.
It’s always crowded in the morning when we visit, and during SEMA, a quick breakfast stop can turn into a substantial commitment if you arrive without a plan.
Pro tip: Order ahead and use the pickup counter.
It simply makes more sense than standing in the ordering line when you already know what you want and have an entire convention center waiting for you.
You still get your Bagelmania fix, with a little more time left for the reason you came to Las Vegas.
Consider it the first useful upgrade of the day.
Two: Valvetronic Designs JK Axle Back Exhaust
Back on the show floor, our next stop brought something worth hearing about for Wrangler JK owners.
Valvetronic Designs is expanding its Wrangler exhaust lineup with a new JK system, bringing its adjustable-sound approach to another generation of Jeeps.
We already carry the JL Wrangler version at Quadratec, and we’ll soon be adding the JK offering as well.
The appeal of a valved exhaust is easy to understand if your Jeep handles both weekday commuting and weekend entertainment.
Sometimes you want a more assertive exhaust note.
Other times, you would appreciate being able to dial things back.
Valvetronic’s existing JL system uses controlled exhaust valves and a wireless remote to let drivers choose between quieter and more aggressive sound profiles.
The new JK offering extends that same basic idea: giving owners a choice about how much voice their Wrangler displays.
That flexibility is what makes this worth a look.
Exhaust sound is personal, and the tone you enjoy on a Saturday afternoon may feel a little different during an early Monday departure.
Being able to change the character of the system gives an owner more say in that daily experience.
It’s also good to see continued development for the JK platform.
Plenty of these Wranglers are still commuting, traveling, and heading down trails, with owners far from finished making them their own.
We’ll have more on this JK system as it joins our lineup.
And for those who have a JL:
Three: An Old Honcho with a New Foundation
There is no shortage of fresh paint at SEMA.
Walk far enough and you’ll see just about every color imaginable, usually polished well enough to check your reflection.
But our final vehicle pick of this year’s SEMA Three takes a different approach.
This 1976 Jeep J10 Honcho, built by Tony Carvallo and his family for Off the Grid Surplus owner Josh Patterson, wears its age as part of its appeal.
Nicknamed the Head Honcho, the truck caught Patterson’s attention on Facebook Marketplace in Texas, where its patina and colors made it a natural fit for his clothing brand.
Carvallo’s task was to preserve that character while giving Patterson a truck he could actually take wheeling.
And underneath is where this one gets particularly interesting.
The vintage body rides on a 2025 Wrangler JL four-door frame stretched five inches, giving the old pickup a modern foundation and access to the JL’s extensive aftermarket.
That includes Dana Ultimate 60 axles, a Rock Krawler long-arm suspension, FOX 3.0 internal bypass shocks, Steer Smarts steering linkages and track bar, and a PSC steering system.
It rolls on 40-inch tires and Raceline wheels, with carefully cut and rolled fenders providing clearance while preserving the weathered look.
Fortunately, the undercarriage mirror display gave showgoers a better look at the hardware doing the work beneath that old body.
Under the hood, though, Carvallo kept a little more of the truck’s original personality.
An AMC 360 V8 remains at the heart of the build, paired with a Turbo 400 automatic transmission, Atlas transfer case, and Adams driveshafts.
A Holley Sniper fuel-injection system replaces the carburetor, while a MagnaFlow exhaust handles the soundtrack.
It’s a combination that keeps the AMC connection while adding some welcome convenience to starting and running an older truck.
Up front, a custom bumper by Emergency Fab positions a vintage WARN winch with modern synthetic rope low enough to leave the classic grille in view.
A set of Baja Designs LP6 lights adds another modern touch without taking over the front end.
The same thinking carries into the cab, where cowhide-look upholstery and a retro-style Bluetooth radio fit the truck’s personality, while modern controls are tucked away to preserve the older appearance.
But the detail that might keep you at this truck the longest is out back.
Along with custom apparel cabinets and a slide-out clothing rack, Carvallo built a slide-out RC crawling course into the bed.
Even the miniature terrain has a story: he shaped leftover packing foam from the build’s aftermarket parts and covered it with Portland cement.
And that makes it a fitting final vehicle for this year’s series.
That’s a Wrap for the 2026 SEMA Show
Across the entire Las Vegas Convention Center complex, we’ve found plenty to talk about, from Jeep concepts and unexpected builds to products that could become part of your next round of upgrades.
But the best part of being here is making those connections between something on a display stand in Las Vegas and something you might actually want to do with your own Jeep.
Sometimes it’s a major change. Sometimes it’s a small improvement that makes the vehicle easier to enjoy every day.
And sometimes it’s simply an idea you hadn’t considered until you turned the corner into another booth.
