THE Meguiar’s Pavilion is the place to be at Summernats if high end custom cars are your thing. In recent years we’ve noticed a shift away from dedicated showcars built for the sole purpose of winning trophies, in favour of cars that are engineered to be driven once their show days are done, and that trend looks set to continue for 2026.

“You can see that in something like Martin Pecotich’s Monaro,” said Summernats Chief Steward, Owen Webb. “That car won a lot [on the show circuit] in the first year of its life, and this year it’s sitting outside and he’s driving it to Braddon and just cruising it around.”

Indeed, the oft-repeated argument that the cars in the Elite Hall are just shed ornaments that will never get driven doesn’t really stack up in 2026, and it’s changing the way these cars are being built.

“What’s happening now is the owners want to get the most out of the show scene for probably 18 months or two years, but the cars are designed in a way where they’re actually practical after that to use,” said Owen. “And you can’t just build a show car and then think you’re going to drive it one day; you’ve got to work it through so that it’s easy to maintain, well-built and well-engineered.”

We say it every year, but the Hall at Summernats 38 offered an incredible variety of cars, from dedicated race cars to drag-and-drivers, cruisers and skid cars, in a range of makes and models from Aussie muscle cars to American and Japanese classics.

Despite the depth of the field, however, one entrant in particular seemed to be ascending the stairs to the stage more than others at the Elite preso, and that was Frank Zammit, whose incredible XW Falcon ute judged exceptionally well at Summernats for the second year running.

“It’s very unusual for a car to come here and win Top Judged two years in a row, and pretty much take out every top award in the process,” said Owen. “That car is exceptional. He has done a lot of work on it and maintained it to keep it at the top level, and it showed.”

Despite the move towards more practical, useable cars rather than dedicated showcars, we still see the bar raised every year due to a mix of advancement in technology and human innovation, and according to Owen, that’s more evident in interiors than any other aspect of car crafting. 

“I just cannot believe how much these interiors have evolved in the last three or four years; that’s the thing that’s moved to the next level.” he said. “Paint and fabrication have become better as the technology has improved, but the big leap has been interiors.”

The really good news? There’s still a bunch of hot new Elite metal in the pipeline, with a raft of fresh builds set to be unveiled throughout 2026 at events like MotorEx, Rockynats and Red CentreNATS!

Elite Top 10

• Frank Zammit – 1969 FORD XW FALCON
• Matthew Ellard – 1974 Toyota Celica
• Andrew McCartney – 1971 Chevrolet Camaro
• Matthew Mizzi – 1948 Chev 3100
• Steven Alldrick – 1934 Chev sedan
• Dean Rickard – 1969 Holden HT GTS Monaro
• Adam Bickerstaff – 1956 Ford F100
• Ben Fink – 1968 Chevrolet Camaro
• Jovce Tosevski – 1986 Holden Calais
• Jeremy Guljas – 1970 Holden HG Premier