The Great Meguiar’s Uncover is always a highlight of the Street Machine Summernats, and the 2026 edition is set to be massive, with 30 brand-new rides set to be revealed on the evening of Thursday 8 January.

Summernats chief steward Owen Webb says the fact that so many high-end cars are being produced each year is a clear sign of the rude good health our sport. “We already have 21 unveils lined up for Meguiar’s MotorEx and another eight for Rockynats,” he says.

We got a sneak peek at the list of cars to be unveiled at ’Nats 38, and the prevailing build trend among them seems to be Street Elite – rides built to a crazy standard but without a fully detailed undercarriage. “I reckon only five or six of the unveils will be Elite builds with the wild undercarriage treatments,” says Owen. “People are definitely building cars that are ready to roll out of the show hall and hit the street or the track.”

Full-size American pick-ups are another build style Owen’s been seeing more of lately. “There are two in this year’s Summernats unveils, but there are many more in the build,” he says. “Often the owners of these cars are a different breed from the traditional street machiner; they often come from a different background and have got into modified cars specifically through the pick-up scene.”

The nation’s biggest car building workshops have all been hard at it to make the deadline.

Fresh from their 2025 SMOTY triumph with Martin Pecotich’s HTKO Monaro, the lads from Sydney’s ProFlo Performance will have three new cars uncovered at ’Nats 38, including a 1939 Chev for serial tough-car builder Mick Sammut (you may remember his staunch Holden-powered HQ, GAMOVR, in our May 2014 issue); a stunning HG Monaro for Angus Pirotta; and Matt Mizzi’s tough ’48 Chev pick-up.

Queensland workshop Pat’s Pro Restos has one brand-newie on the way, namely Andrew McCartney’s 1971 Chev Camaro. A pro touring-style deal, the Camaro is being built to Pat’s usual exacting standards and creativity, meaning it will be well worth a close inspection.

We’re also super-keen to lay eyes on Jason Holt’s VH SL/E, with incredible metalwork performed by Chris Wells and the gurus at The Ranch Metal Works in Gympie.

For more sneak peeks, keep your eyes locked on streetmachine.com.au, and we’ll see you in Canberra!

Matthew Ellard
1974 Toyota Celica

Matt Ellard and brother Michael from Image Vehicle Manufacturing have been busy rebuilding Matt’s little Sillycar, which he has owned since he was 17. “It was built as a show car back in the day with my old man, but then sat around in the shed for 20 years,” says Matt. “When we pulled it out, we started tubbing it, and it got out of hand from there.”

The rear end now has room for 20×12 Boyd Coddington billet spinners, and in the front is the same Toyota 3T-GTE four-banger with its old-school T3/T4 Turbonetics turbo from its first build. “The biggest difference now is that it has a Tesla Model S interior in it, so that should grab some attention,” says Matt. The boys have form in the Toyota department, in the shape of Michael’s stunning Corolla (pictured above).

Stephen Micallef
LJ Torana

Stephen Micallef is about to finish one hell of an LJ Torana build (above), headlined by a 1200hp, 632-cube fatty! “It’s the old engine from my HQ Tonner (below), with a new top end with 18° heads and all that,” says Stephen.

The Tonner of course is a Drag Challenge legend, having won Outlaw Aspirated at DC 2017 and DC Weekend 2018. “The goal is to run sevens aspirated at Drag Challenge in the LJ, then bolt some turbos on and go even faster,” Stephen says.

Outside, the Torry has a GTR XU-1 look, with a twist on an original Torana colour that won’t quite be what most are expecting. “It’s been in the build for a while at my shop, Shift Right,” says Stephen. “I’ve done the engine, transmission, diff and 90 per cent of the car.”

Joe Kurtovic
1933 Ford

With its iconic flamed bright yellow duco and blown Hemi power, Joe Kurtovic’s ’33 Ford coupe has long been one of the toughest street-driven hot rods around. But now Joe and his mates have given the coupe a brand-new identity.

“The theme is 70s fuel coupe,” Joe says. “It takes some of its vibes from Chris Palazzo’s Outlaw roadster [SM, Dec ’01], and also Phil Rillotta’s PROST1 Torana [SM, Oct-Nov ’91]. It started when I saw a couple of drops of oil come out of the steering box, and finished with a complete rebuild. We’ve stretched the wheelbase, made a new ’cage, fitted a new rear end and complete aluminium interior, and the car will have a whole new stance.”

Instead of yellow, the car will be gloss black, and everything else will be chrome or aluminium. “It is
going to be different,” says Joe. “It will still be a car that gets used hard, so we left all the wiring and stuff like the brake lines exposed so it will be serviceable at the track.”

Rob Guljas
CV8 Monaro

Having stunned the crowd at ’Nats 37 with the unveiling of their BLWPRM HG (below), Rob and Jeremy Guljas are back with a brutal CV8 Monaro. They already have a build with this body shape (namely BLWGTO, SM, May ’20) but this time the boys are going even bigger, with a 3000hp-capable, Dandy Engines-built twin-turbo big-block in the engine bay aimed at Drag Challenge duties.

“It’s a fully tubbed and ’caged build, and it’ll be mocked up to look like a GTO,” says Rob. “It’s only been in the build for around three months, so it’s going be very tight to get it done in time for Summernats, but we will!”

After its Summernats unveiling, you’ll see the thumping package shred the dyno at Meguiar’s MotorEx in May 2026, and then Rob plans to hit the track.

Mathew Hughes
1973 Toyota Celica TA22

Mathew Hughes has been building his little TA22 Celica since he first got it in his early 20s, but the now 28-year-old spray painter never imagined it’d be unveiled with the country’s best. “I just built the car for me, how I’d like it,” he says. “It was never meant to get out of hand like it did, from just building it myself at home.”

Under the bonnet is a Toyota 3S-GE four-cylinder, using ITBs and a six-speed manual. Keeping the car Japanese-themed is a set of SSR Dori Mesh alloys, and it sits on Fortune Auto coil-overs, with AE86 Corolla rack-and-pinion steering up front. 

“It’s all painted and buffed underneath; I just wanted to build a really nice car for myself,” says Mathew.