Let’s cut to the chase, because this definitely isn’t your grandpa’s set of rusty old manifolds. The HDR Sequential 8-1 Headers from Stainless Headers are a next-level, hand-crafted performance weapon for big-inch V-8s — purpose-built for jet boat and high-output marine applications — and they were one of the most talked-about exhaust systems as seen at PRI 2025.
PRI is where performance gets honest. No hype cycles. No trend chasing. Just builders, engineers, and racers showing exactly what works when the gloves come off. At PRI 2025 in Indianapolis, the show floor was packed with innovation—but only a handful of cars and trucks truly separated themselves from the noise. Those are the builds we’re spotlighting here.
The 2025 PRI Show in Indianapolis was a full-throttle showcase of performance automotive products, from street-ready upgrades to extreme race tech. We hit the floor to highlight the booths, parts, and builds that really stood out—gear that makes engines breathe better, weld stronger, and deliver reliable horsepower with precision.
The 2025 PRI Show just tore through Indianapolis, and if you weren’t there, you missed a full-throttle showcase of racing tech that doesn’t mess around. Builders, racers, and gearheads packed the floor, and the energy was absolute chaos—in the best way. The products? They didn’t whisper—they slammed onto the scene, sharp, loud, and ready to make your ride better, safer, faster, meaner.
We know little about European drag racing, other than our sources tell us it is hotly contested and very popular. Frenchman Herve Caen is a drag racer, and at age 35, is the owner of not one but two silver ’68 ‘Cudas. One is a nitrous-equipped 440 Wedge built by Dick Landy Industries (DLI), and the other is this beauty, a duplicate but faster fish.
Some guys love their Chevys so much that they’ll go out of their way to flush out and record every bit of their cars’ histories. Such is the case with Gene Lavine of Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Lavine is 65 going on 35. A car guy since he was 16, he served his country as a jet fighter pilot and then went on to fly for the Federal Aviation Administration. He also has a Ph.D. and now is vice president of a company that manages collections for more than 30,000 businesses.
Mike Buzzello has always liked Chryslers and once owned a tubbed Plymouth Road Runner. He lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and attends rod runs and car shows regularly with his friend Steve Gantz. One year at a Goodguys show, Buzzello saw an interesting car drive by, but he couldn’t identify it. Turns out it was a ’61 Plymouth Fury, and he could see how cool the car could be if it had all the right modifications. He searched for a clean body and came across a rust-free car from California that a collector from Texas had just bought. The ’61 Fury was a steal at $1,500, so Buzzello bought the car sight unseen. He knew the car had potential despite what some people said when it arrived at his shop.
The SEMA Show stands alone as the ultimate proving ground for the automotive aftermarket world. No other event brings this level of innovation, craftsmanship, and straight-up creativity together in one place. Everywhere you turn, there’s something new—fresh tech, wild ideas, and custom builds that push boundaries in ways only SEMA can inspire.
If you’re searching a crowd, you’ve got to look hard, and still you might miss the builder of this astounding yet subtle Corvette. It’s almost as if the man and his cars are one and the same—loaded with talent, with their most impressive aspects available only to those who take the time to notice.
Most of our truck-building buddies can date and identify any truck you can come up with from any distance, even from deep in a grove of trees and clear across a fairground show-’n’-shine. That’s what truck guys do: They enjoy identifying a rusted old fender at a swap meet…
