Updated September 2026: We revisited our most popular Instagram posts from the 2017 Sand Sports Super Show and added more information about the UTVs, builders and products that made them memorable.
The 19th annual Sand Sports Super Show brought some of the off-road industry’s most creative UTV builds to Costa Mesa, California. In the days leading up to the event and throughout the show, we shared the vehicles and displays that caught our attention with the @UTVGuide Instagram community.
This collection looks back at the posts that generated the most attention, including heavily modified Polaris RZR builds, several early Can-Am Maverick X3 projects and a Yamaha YXZ1000R displayed in an especially unusual location.
For more photos and product coverage from the event, visit our complete 2017 Sand Sports Super Show recap.
Cognito Motorsports Arrives with a Fleet of Polaris RZRs
Cognito Motorsports arrived at the show towing a 53-foot gooseneck trailer loaded with three very different Polaris RZR builds: a two-seat recreation car, a four-seat prerunner and the Hell Raiser race car.
The arrival offered a preview of the range of vehicles Cognito was producing at the time. Its suspension and chassis experience carried across recreational UTVs, high-speed desert builds and dedicated competition vehicles.
Inside the Cognito Motorsports Booth
Once the show opened, the Cognito booth gave attendees a closer look at the company’s Polaris RZR suspension systems and complete builds. The display illustrated how parts originally developed through racing could be incorporated into more practical desert and dune vehicles.
The company’s polished booth presentation—and the lineup of RZRs surrounding it—made it one of the standout displays at the 2017 show.
SDR Motorsports Can-Am Maverick X3
SDR Motorsports has a long history of bringing highly detailed builds to the Sand Sports Super Show, and this Can-Am Maverick X3 was one of the company’s highlights for 2017.
The X3 combined a full GlazzKraft body with HCR Racing long-travel suspension and custom OMF beadlock wheels. The extensive body and suspension work transformed the appearance of a platform that had only entered the market one year earlier.
Matching Funco Sand Car and Can-Am Maverick X3
Funco Motorsports was already well known for building high-end sand cars long before UTVs became a major part of the dune market. For the 2017 show, Funco displayed a Can-Am Maverick X3 alongside one of its full-size sand cars.
Proline Wraps gave the two vehicles matching graphics, creating a coordinated big-and-small pairing that attracted considerable attention both at the show and on Instagram.
The 500-Horsepower XTC Hell RAZR
The most popular post in this collection was actually a flashback to the 2016 Sand Sports Super Show. The Hell RAZR started with a Polaris RZR XP chassis, but little of the original drivetrain remained.
XTC Power Products and TMW Off-Road modified the chassis to accept a turbocharged Subaru EJ25 engine and Mendeola four-speed transaxle. The unconventional combination ultimately produced approximately 500 horsepower—far beyond the output of a production UTV at the time.
Read the complete XTC Power Products Hell RAZR build feature for its engine, chassis, suspension and electrical details.
TMW Off-Road Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX
The four-seat Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX was still a new platform in 2017, giving builders an opportunity to demonstrate what could be done with its long wheelbase and spacious passenger compartment.
TMW Off-Road equipped this X3 MAX with a custom cage, doors, seats and lighting. A Wolf Designs wrap tied the build together, while Rigid Industries Adapt LED lights added adaptive lighting technology to the front of the vehicle.
Magnum Offroad Four-Seat RZR XP
It was common to see four-seat Polaris RZR XP models shortened and converted into two-seat desert race vehicles. Magnum Offroad took a different approach by retaining the four-seat layout and building a highly finished recreation vehicle around it.
The RZR featured Magnum cage and body components, Walker Evans Racing suspension, DWT wheels, Baja Designs lighting and a colorful wrap from Magik Graphix. The finished vehicle blended desert-inspired equipment with the passenger capacity of a family play car.
RJ Anderson’s Polaris RZR XP Turbo
Professional driver RJ Anderson’s new Polaris RZR XP Turbo was displayed in the Walker Evans Racing booth. The play car featured Walker Evans Velocity Series shocks, Walker Links and forged wheels.
Its 35-inch BFGoodrich KR2 tires were especially noteworthy in 2017. Tires of that size were not yet commonplace on recreational sport UTVs, making the RZR a preview of the larger-tire trend that would spread across the industry over the following years.
Assault Industries Yamaha YXZ1000R
Assault Industries found a creative way to display its Yamaha YXZ1000R: the sport UTV was positioned on top of the company’s work truck in the ICON Vehicle Dynamics booth.
The display emphasized the company’s roots in off-road fabrication and immediately stood apart from vehicles parked conventionally on the show floor.
For more information about the distinctive manual-transmission sport UTV, see our complete Yamaha YXZ1000R model and history guide.
Woody-Themed Polaris RZR XP 4
This Polaris RZR XP 4 used vintage wood-panel-inspired graphics to create a modern UTV interpretation of a classic “Woody” wagon. The unusual theme helped the build stand out among the brightly colored race-inspired vehicles surrounding it.
The four-seat RZR was completed with a Magnum Offroad cage and doors, HiPer wheels and Baja Designs LED lighting. It was a good example of how a memorable theme can attract as much attention as major performance modifications.
Our Can-Am Maverick X3 in the HiPer Booth
Our own Can-Am Maverick X3 X rs was displayed in the HiPer Technology booth. The build featured HiPer Falcon beadlock wheels with custom Skat-Trak sand tires supplied by Fullerton Sand Sports.
SDR Motorsports supplied the cage and doors, while the extensive equipment list included SSV Works audio, Rugged Radios communications, Baja Designs lighting, Simpson seats and harnesses, and components from Assault Industries.
The factory FOX suspension was also tuned by Shock Therapy. Read the full Phase One Can-Am Maverick X3 build article for more information about the parts and installation.
Method Race Wheels Can-Am Maverick X3
The Method Race Wheels booth included this clean Can-Am Maverick X3 equipped with Method beadlock wheels and Tensor tires. Instead of relying on an elaborate theme, the build used a coordinated selection of wheels, tires, suspension components and graphics to complement the X3’s angular bodywork.
It was also evidence of how quickly the aftermarket embraced the Maverick X3. Only about a year after the platform’s introduction, nearly every major wheel, tire and accessory company at the show had developed products for it.
When Siri Renamed the Sand Show “Sancho”
The last popular post was a flashback to our drive to the 2015 Sand Sports Super Show. While entering the destination, Siri interpreted “Sand Show” as “Sancho.” The mistake became a running joke and eventually an unofficial hashtag in our show coverage.
The post continued circulating because it captured the less serious side of covering events and traveling with the UTV community.
Follow UTV Guide on Instagram
The 2017 Sand Sports Super Show arrived at an important moment for the sport UTV industry. The Can-Am Maverick X3 was rapidly gaining aftermarket support, builders were fitting increasingly large tires to Polaris RZRs, and companies continued pushing UTV customization beyond basic bolt-on accessories.
We continue to share new UTVs, custom builds, product installations, events and trail coverage on Instagram. Follow @UTVGuide to see our latest posts and behind-the-scenes coverage.
More from the Sand Sports Super Show
These Instagram highlights are part of UTVGuide.net’s extensive coverage of the event. Visit our Sand Sports Super Show history and coverage archive to explore annual recaps, custom UTV builds and new products from 2007 through today.
