Here they be! Every car and driver combination to win the ultimate prize at Street Machine Summernats. Originally dubbed Top Street Machine Overall, the award became known as Grand Champion at Summernats 6 in 1993. Who will take the title in 2026? You’d better stay tuned!

Every Summernats Grand Champion

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Summernats 30-20
Summernats 20-10
Summernats 10-1

Summernats 37 2025
John Fenech – LJ Torana

The Summernats burnout pad is a notoriously emotional environment, as drivers ride the rollercoaster of euphoric highs and crushing lows on one of the country’s most infamous motorsport surfaces.

But as John Fenech hoisted the legendary Summernats Grand Champion sword above his head in front of his friends, family and a packed grandstand, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, such was the journey the Fenech family had taken us all on throughout ’Nats 37.

In the two years since Top Doorslammer pilot and Westend Performance patriarch Sam Fenech lost his life in a drag racing accident, his son John and his uncles – helped by a network of friends and customers – have been toiling away to finish a rebuild of Sam’s ORSM LJ Torana, which was already underway before his passing.

The initial plan was to debut the revitalised machine at last year’s ’Nats, but the family decided to wait until Summernats 37. Their patience was rewarded with a rare triple triumph: a Meguiar’s Great Uncover unveiling on Thursday night; winning the coveted People’s Choice award on Saturday afternoon; and on Sunday, the big one: Summernats Grand Champion.

Summernats 36 2024
Joe Bauer – 1968 Dodge Charger

Summernats 36 saw a bunch of killer cars in the mix, from balls-out pro streeters like Joe Bauer’s Dodge Charger to exquisitely finished street cars like Zoran Krstevski’s XE Falcon – not to mention Dan Morton’s exceptional FORGED XY Falcon, which many pundits consider to be the best custom car ever built on Aussie soil.

FORGED cleaned up the judging side of the equation, winning almost everything it was eligible for, up to and including Top Judged Elite. In the People’s Choice stakes, it was the Hot Wheels-like 1968 Charger that garnered the most votes. But, like we’ve seen in the past, it often comes down to the driving events.

With the points tallied, it was Joe in BLOWN RT who was bestowed with the ultimate prize at Summernats – the Grand Champion sword. “The first time at Summernats taking out Grand Champion and People’s Choice; it’s surreal,” grinned Joe. “I was really stoked to get People’s Choice. My intention was to come down and get People’s Choice to understand that people liked the car. I like high-horsepower cars, and I don’t mind giving it all it’s got.” 

Summernats 35 2023
Livi Krevatin – DNA911 1978 Porsche 911 SC

Summernats 35 Grand Champion Livi Krevatin and his stunning 1978 Porsche 911 SC edged out a tough field of Elite-grade street machines for the coveted award.

Sometimes, Grand Champions are crowned after one or more attempts, but Summernats 35 was the first crack of the whip for this reimagined rear engined air-cooled German performance thoroughbred. Livi collected this then-tatty 1978 Porsche as part-payment for a job about 13 years ago.

“I put a year’s rego on it and drove it for a while; I took it to the track at Wakefield Park before I took it off the road,” Livi explains. “Like a lot of people, I guess, I’ve always dreamed of a Porsche and getting this one gave me that opportunity.”

Summernats 34 2022
Jason Mansweto – 2ENIL8 XW Falcon

Only one point separated Jason Mansweto’s winning XW from the two runners up – Jason McGrath’s LC Torana and Peter Beauchamp’s FB Holden. Jason came into the Grand Champion chase with a spot in the Elite Top 10, as well as the Master Craftsman and Top Engineered gongs.

Jason first brought the XW to Summernats 4, back when Jason was aged 17. “It was Lime Frost, but I rebuilt it and restored it as a white XW Fairmont,” says Jason.

“We just cruised it and did the fun things. In 1997 I painted it blue and it became AGRO69, then in 2000 I painted it silver, it became 2ENIL8. Not long after that, I teamed up with Tristan Triccas and we dominated from there.” The XW won Horsepower Heroes twice and also won Tuff Street numerous times.

Summernats Slam 2021
Jonathan Danaskos – 1965 Mustang

With Summernats proper cancelled due to COVID 19, Summernats Slam at Sydney Dragway eased the pain somewhat and gave us the first Summernats Slam Grand Champion:

“There were 14 cars going for Slam Champion out of 170 entrants we judged in the Show and Shine,” explained Summernats Slam’s Owen Webb. “You get points for Show and Shine judging, and then we allocate a maximum of 10 points for the winner of the motorkhana which then decreases accordingly [with each placing], and it’s the same for the drag racing. Today we came up with a fantastic winner in the red Mustang of Jonathan Danaskos.”

Competition was fierce, and you could have thrown a blanket over the final four finishers — Jonathan’s Mustang, Peta Psaras’s AGIT8 VE Sportwagon, Simon Mokdassi’s XYKING Falcon and Mark Hayes’s head-kicking nitrous Torana. With Peta wheeling her wagon to the fastest time in yesterday’s motorkhana, she held the lead in the Slam Champion points race heading into today’s drag racing, but Jonathan’s second placing on the drag strip was enough to leapfrog Psaras in the standings and steal the win.

“It’s crazy; I definitely didn’t expect to win, but I’m loving it!” Jonathan said. “I’ve had the car for five years and kept changing things slowly and improving it. Now it runs a 620hp 302ci-based Dart Windsor that’s stroked to 370ci with AFR heads, a 950 APD carb, transbraked C4 and nine-inch.” 

Summernats 33 2020
Todd Sorensen – 1967 Chev Impala

“Holding that sword – it’s all worth it,” said Todd, the boss of Ipswich-based Rocksolid Autobody, just after he hoisted the sword. “It magically makes all the frustration and pain of the build disappear!”

The car debuted at Summernats last year, but Todd was smart enough to admit that it wasn’t ready for confident driving, and instead held back until this year to have a good go at the gong. “The first time it was driven was to get it out of the hall last year,” Todd recalled. “But since then it’s done a few hundred kays, and although that might not be enough to get a real feel for the car, it was enough for us to know it wasn’t going to let us down.”

Todd was the victor over a classy field of 16 other Top 60 cars straight from the Elite Hall, including last year’s winner, Rick Werner and his ’32 Ford pick-up. In front of an admittedly smoke-thinned burnout grandstand crowd, all had a burn on the bitumen in a side-by-side heads-up go-to-whoa and a motorkhana-type slalom. Todd edged out the two other hot contenders, Dom Luci’s freshly built burgundy VK Commodore and the Chev-powered Torana of Rohan Hawley.

Summernats 32 2019
Rick Werner – 1932 Ford Pickup

The 2019 Street Machine Summernats Grand Champion is Rick Werner and his 1932 Ford Pickup. It’s a ripper win for the bloke who had a crack at Summernats’ ultimate award last year but had his chance messed up by a loose distributor that stalled his engine during the driving events.

But even with his attempt last year – he finished in the Top 3 – this year’s win came as bit of a shock and a great source of pride to the Gold Coast-based rodder, who had the covers pulled off his car at the Brisbane Hot Rod Show in 2017.

Summernats 31 2018
Grant Connor – BAD APPLE XR Falcon

Grant O’Conner scored Summernats’ highest honour after out-scoring and out-driving no less than 17 other top-shelf contenders – the Summernats Grand Champion’s biggest-ever field.

“This is beyond my wildest expectations,” said the Orange, NSW street machiner just after acing the field. “I’ll be buzzing about this for a while!”

It was Grant’s second attempt at Grand Champion. His Knight’s Garage-built XR Fairmont, named Bad Apple, debuted at Summernats 29 and although it scored highly in judging and People’s Choice then, it wasn’t enough to fight off the overall prowess of John Saad and his Mazda RX-3.

But the real upgrade has occurred with Grant’s driving of the car. “Three years ago it was enough to just idle around the driving events,” he explains. “These days, you gotta go hard. Last year’s Grand Champion, Mark ‘Happy’ Williams told me that and gave me a few pointers. He’s a top bloke, he was stoked for me.”

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Summernats 30 2017
Mark Williams – 2HAPPY HQ One-Tonner

As it has been for previous Grand Champions, Mark’s win is the culmination of a good score in the Elite judging and a strong performance in Sunday’s Grand Champion driving events on Summernats’ CRS Burnout track where – after the track was re-configured for the slalom and go-whoa – he out-drove nine other contenders to win the sword. Adding to Mark’s glory is the fact he’s a first-timer at Summernats with his Tonner and the first West Aussie to earn Grand Champ.

That’s not to say he’s a beginner. Over west, Mark has scooped a handy collection of trophies with his Tonner. Nine years in the build, Mark explains the ProCharged and intercooled 406-cube small block Chev powered Tonner was built as an all-rounder.

“It was built to do everything,” he said of his black beauty just after scoring the sword. “Drive it, cruise it, race it…” And after its field-felling runs in the driving events, he underlined that with a tyre-bagging exit from the burnout track after the Grand Championship announcement ceremony.

Summernats 29 2016
John Saad FATRX3 Mazda RX-3

Winning the Summernats Grand Champion gong was very satisfying moment for John Saad, who after winning Top Judged Elite last year in his RX-3, suffered the heartbreaking setback of alternator trouble with his turbocharged 13B rotary-powered sedan just moments before last year’s Grand Champion grass driving events.

But he was back, and confident, for Summernats 29. After raiding the Elite trophy shelf – the car again won Top Judged Elite, as well as just about every other trophy it was eligible for – John met the criteria for Grand Champion by completing the on-grass motorkhana on Saturday night and the Go-to-Whoa on Sunday.

John had some strong competition for Summernats’ most coveted award. As well as People’s Choice winner Grant Connor and his XR Falcon, John had to edge out the Top 20 Chev Nova of street machine legend Rob Beauchamp – and the built-to-be-driven FC Holden ute of Glenn Profilio (SM, Dec ’15). Rounding out the Elite cars in contention were Michael Ellard’s LS1-powered Rodeo minitruck, Michael Brown’s orange ’72 Rambler Hornet and the Falcon XB GS sedan of Michael Stivala (SM, Apr ’15). John’s win is only the second – and the second in a row – for rotary power, after Nathan Borg’s win in his Mazda-powered red Datsun 1200 ute last year.

Summernats 28 2015
Nathan Borg – 1977 Datsun 1200 ute

The Grand Champion award for Summernats 28 went to Nathan Borg’s Datsun 1200 ute, but not before the crowd was treated to some gnarly action with the contenders fighting it out in the Go-to-Whoa.

His high score in the Elite Hall judging – no less than nine Elite awards, including a place in the Top 10 and People’s Choice – gave the young Sydneysider a flying start in the chase for Grand Champion, Summernats’ ultimate award.

“Mate, that was unreal!” Nathan said after his Sunday morning Go-Whoa runs that not only gave him the Grand Champion sword but sealed his place in Summernats history as its first-ever rotary-powered Grand Champ.

“That’s really only the second time I’ve had a drive of the car [since completion] and I had an absolute ball. I’ve been waiting to drive it again for nine years and I just wanted to keep going!”

Summernats 27 2014
Henry Parry OLDLOVE 1961 FB Holden

While Summernats 27 saw a stack of new blood come through the Elite Hall, they were up against some tough competition from proven performers. Cars like Leisa Chinnock’s PSYCHO XF and Peter Fitzpatrick’s FC have won more awards than you can poke a stick at, and some relative newcomers to the scene — debuting at MotorEx 2013 — in Nathan Borg’s Datsun 1200 ute, Terry Mourched’s ’68 Dodge Charger and Henry Parry’s FB Holden were going to provide some tough competition in the race for Grand Champion.

With Fitzy deciding not to go for Grand Champ even though both of his cars – the FC and ’34 Coupe – finished in the Top 10 and Top 20, respectively, Leisa Chinnock winning Top Judged Elite and Terry Mourched’s Charger getting the People’s Choice vote meant it was all going to come down to the driving events.

Come Saturday night, it’s time for all those show ponies to get dusty with the rest of them and chuck a few laps. Three laps of the shell grit trotting track followed by a short gymkhana on the grass during the Supercruise saw a handful of cars rise to the top. With a poor showing on the grass, Leisa Chinnock’s XF took a big hit in the points chase for the giant sword that Chic Henry had dug out of his collection.

Three cars were now clearly ahead of the pack – the blown Hemi Charger of Mourched, Henry Parry’s FB and the tiny little Datto ute of Nathan Borg. It would all come down to the final driving event, the Go-Whoa early Sunday morning. With turbo rotary power, the Datto wasn’t going to give up too much, but would its short wheelbase and oversized rubber make it a handful to drive? The blown Hemi in Mourched’s Charger would have no problems with the go portion of the event, but would all that extra metal over the front wheels make it tough to pull up? Of the three contenders, the Parry FB looked the most balanced. With a warmed over LS1, it should have plenty of pick up, and a big brake package meant it should pull up OK. Behind the wheel was paint guru, Danny Makdessi.

With a simplified braking area — big enough to park the car in, not just the front wheels — a bit of the pressure was off and the drivers were all giving it a red hot go, a difficult thing to do in a car that has usually seen very few road miles. With the dust and tyre smoke settled, it was the FB of Henry Parry that just outperformed the Charger and Datto, who finished tied for second place.

Summernats 26 2013
Mick Fabar – ZERO’D XR Falcon

The Grand Champion chase was a cosy affair this year, with only five people vying for the ultimate prize and big arse sword. With a stack of rain and the subsequent cancelling of the Supercruise and Grand Champ driving events on Saturday night, a few of the potential contenders decided not to show up on Sunday morning. It was a bit of a shame as it would have been nice to see cars like Steve Loader’s UNLOAD, Aaron Willis’s SMIKAZ HZ ute, Adrian Woodley’s ALLIN ‘68 Camaro and Wayne Grima’s gorgeous ’56 Chevy tearing it up on the Go-Whoa track.

Maybe it was because they were ‘only’ Top 20 cars, but that didn’t stop Gareth and Alison Lougher having a crack in their six-pot Torana or Michael Brown piloting his blown 427 Windsor-powered Rambler Hornet gingerly down the track.

With the Top Judged Elite and People’s Choice awards already in the bag, Mick Fabar already had one hand on the sword and it was going to take a mighty effort from someone else to wrench it from his grasp.

Colin Sultana came close last year and was giving it his all in the driving events with clearly the quickest car, the other real threat being Mark Tarabay’s SUBLIME 200SX, but fouled spark plugs put paid to that effort.

In the end it was Mick Fabar by one point over Colin Sultana, a tie between Mark Taraby and the Loughers and Michael Brown’s Hornet in fifth. It was well planned and perfectly executed win for Mick Fabar and the ZEROD team and thoroughly deserved.re

Summernats 25 2012
Ben Sargent – 1971 HQ Monaro

After giving the Grand Champ chase a strong shake in 2011, local Ben Sargent went in all guns blazing for his shot at Summernts 25: “People’s Choice was just amazing, I always wanted that, it was the ultimate goal. I never gave any real thought to it in the past. We came home last year devastated [after finishing second to Fitzy in Grand Champ] sat down and went through all the things we had to do to achieve Top 10 again. We had to work out what to do to the car to make sure I did that, just little things we hadn’t finished off 100 per cent.

We knew what would help was People’s Choice votes, I wanted to try and get second at least. I was in a good spot last year, so I made sure I got lined up nice and early and grabbed it. We needed to do the posters again, but I knew I needed to approach people. It’s not something I would usually do, but I had to change and I knew I had to do that.”

Another thing that Ben did was actively promote the car at local shows and told people of his goal of winning Grand Champ and that got back to Owen Webb. When he told Ben he was confirmed as the winner, he simply stated: “You earned this.”

Summernats 24 2011
Peter Fitzpatrick – TRILOGY FC Holden

Peter Fitzpatrick knows what is required to take out the Grand Champion award, this win making it an even half dozen for the Canberra local. In the past Fitzy has shown that you can win with a Top 20 car, but it has to do well in the People’s Choice award and kick arse in the driving events.

With Top Judged Elite and People’s Choice already sewn up it was all down to the elite driving events. With the rain coming down steadily Sunday morning, only six contenders were lined up and ready to run the Go-Whoa.

Gary Reid ran hard and fast in his ’34 and Joe Lore was there to try and go back-to-back. Ben Sargent was in with a chance with his Top 10 HQ but carby problems put paid to his effort.

Darren Lawler’s ’59 Zephyr and Mark Tarabay’s 200SX rounded out the competition but it would take something pretty special to topple the Klover Kandy FC. With a strong burnout and a clean run it was pretty clear that nothing short of a meteor strike was going to stop Fitzy from raising the Grand Champ sword.

Summernats 23 2010
Joe Lore XY Falcon

Graeme Cowin’s King Kong Cuda was looking set to clean up the trifecta of Summernats Grand Champion, People’s Choice and Top Judged Elite at Summerants 23, but some brilliant driving on the part of Joe Lore saw the popular purple Falcon, sporting some new induction, come through to win the sword. It was a huge victory for the Canberra local who has now managed to win People’s Choice for three years running.

Summernats 22 2009
Darrell Leemhuis – 1990 Holden Rodeo Mini Truck

When it comes to monster trophies they don’t come any larger than Summernats Grand Champion. It’s the Big Kahuna of the Australian car show scene and this year’s winner was Canberra gearhead Darrell Leemhuis with his tricked-out 1990 Rodeo.

When we say he’s a gearhead we mean it — Darrell largely built the slammed mini-truck himself over the course of six years and it made its Summernats debut last year. He won an impressive haul of trophies then but admits he was a little unprepared for an assault on the Grand Champion award then.

“I knew what I was up for this year,” Darrell says. “Last year I didn’t bring a helmet or long sleeves — I had to borrow them — and was sort of flustered and couldn’t do it. This year I had the helmet, I knew what I had to do, I went in and did it. I’ve been told that I came second and third in the driving events.”

So a strong finish behind the wheel of the 300kW turbocharged 2.6-litre pick-up, combined with a Top 10 result and a good showing in People’s Choice, gave Darrell the points he needed to take the crown.

For some, a mini-truck might seem an odd choice at this level but not to Darrell. 

“To me it’s not a mini-truck. It’s still just a car — you don’t classify it as anything. It’s a mini-truck by nature, but it’s got some hot rodding, it’s got some street machine, it’s got everything in it. It’s not by any means one thing. Some people are too narrow-minded about what they like and they can’t see past a Ford or Holden badge.”

And don’t go thinking that Darrell’s a professional car builder. He actually builds commercial properties such as factories, but he was very much hands-on with this build.

“I’ve always loved doing it, you know. My favourite smell is when the angle grinder goes through painted steel panel,” he says with a laugh. For me it’s still a hobby. It’s not something that I can pay someone to do because I can’t tell them how to do it — it’s all in my head. I can’t tell someone and I can’t draw what I’ve got in my head so that’s my biggest problem. I knew what I wanted the car to look like but I couldn’t get anyone else to do it.”

Summernats 21 2008
Rob Godfrey – TOYTON HQ Tonner

The Summernats 21 Grand Champion is Rob Godfrey and his HQ Holden one-tonner and it is hard to imagine a more deserving winner — an almost unprecedented mix of overwhelming muscle and show car detail. Featured back in September ’07, Rob’s tonner came to Summernats 21 not only as the reigning Tuff Street Champion but also with an 8.8-second timeslip under his belt.
This year Rob decided to put the HQ into the Elite class judging and was rewarded with a spot in the Top 10, putting him in a good position against the 13 other Elite contenders for the Grand Champion title.

Possibly his biggest threat was from Howard Astill. Howard’s ’66 Mustang was born to perform and he’s a past Grand Champion winner. Gary Myers, who carved out his street machine career by driving his cars hard, was also having a red-hot go in the Repco XACUTER, as was Mick Fabar, keen to cast aside last year’s bad memories when fuel system problems in his 1929 Ford pick-up cost him his chance. But after a dedicated effort in the exclusive Grand Champ grass driving events on Saturday night and a stinging run during the go-to-whoa on Sunday, it was Rob who scored the sword.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said later in the afternoon. “I had a great year last year when I came here and I wasn’t sure whether I was going to have a go at it or just relax for the weekend and have a good time. But hey, you gotta be in it to win it!”

After receiving his sword, Rob put on a real smoke show leaving the burnout pad — is he the first Grand Champion to ever do so? — and then drove straight around and fronted up at the Horsepower Heroes finals to lay down his 948hp run in the finals and win the Normally Aspirated Big Block class. Lucky winner? No way!

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Summernats 20 2007
Zoltan Bodo – HSV VP Senator

Come the Saturday night Supercruise of Summernats 20, Zoltan Bodo, Aaron Fitzpatrick, Mick Fabar, Chris Palazzo and seven other cars all cruised the trotting track in an effort to secure the Grand Champion award. After taking out Top Open Hot Rod and a swag of minor awards, Mick Fabar’s hot rod was a early favourite. After successfully completing the Supercruise, it was time to go for the grass driving events.

But there was no go, and frantic efforts to get Mick’s little Model A started ended in failure no matter how hard the Fabar team tried. It seems a failed fuel pump was the culprit but it didn’t matter; without the driving points there was no way to take home the gold.

With Mick unable to compete in the Go-To-Whoa, Fitzpatrick looked good to go back-to-back, but the little Datto just wasn’t happy, bogging down and struggling to set a good time. No such dramas for Zoltan Bodo, however, coming from the Top 20 to win both driving events and be crowned Grand Champion. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer car or a nicer guy.

Summernats 19 2006
Aaron Fitzpatrick – 1968 Datsun 1600

This year, the Grand Champion award came done to an old fashioned arm wrestle between the Datsun 1600 of Aaron Fitzpatrick and the ‘Silver Bullet’ Mustang of Gary and Deby Myers. Aaron had the edge by taking out People’s Choice and was stunned to learn that he had taken out the title. “I’m ecstatic!” he said a couple of hours after claiming the prize. “We had our eyes on the Top 20, but to make Top 10  and win Grand Champion is amazing. We only started the car for the first time on Tuesday and the first time I drove it was at the Supercruise. I’ll be driving it home tonight!”

While this was the first time Aaron has been an entrant at Summernats, he has been coming to the show since before he could walk – you’d expect that when your dad is multiple Grand Champion, Peter Fitzpatrick. Peter had a big hand in the build and in getting the car over the line at the show. “I had him with me in the passenger seat during the grass driving events, barking out instructions. I needed that,” said Aaron.

Peter was naturally as proud as punch: “It just doesn’t get any better than this. Aaron came to the very first Summernats in a pram and he’s been to every one since. He wanted to build a car — just a nice street car in the beginning!”

Summernats 18 2005
Gary Myers Silver Bullet Mustang/Dave Ritchie XP Falcon

It was a year of firsts for Summernats when Gary and Deby Myers’ Silver Bullet Mustang took out the big three – Top Judged, People’s Choice and Grand Champion – an achievement no other has managed before. On top of that it was the first year there has ever been a dual Grand Champion, with the Silver Bullet sharing the sword with Dave Ritchie’s phenomenal XP coupe after a titanic fight.

It was also an emotional time for the Myers, who have become such a big part of the event. Silver Bullet was their first real shot at the top prize in the Elite Hall, where it was one of a raft of new big name cars, including Darryl McBeth’s Magna, Ritchie’s XP and Anthony Sant’s ’57 Chev, and to come out with the Top Judged trophy was beyond their expectations. When they then took out People’s Choice, the Myers decided it was time to go for the big one – Grand Champion – even though the car had not been driven in anger before.

To win Grand Champion, the car must enter the Supercruise, then compete in a grass driving event and the Go-Whoa. To that stage, the Myers had scored 10 points for a Top 10 finish, and seven points for winning People’s Choice.

Ritchie had a total of 15 points after coming third in People’s Choice, and then, after both got four points for the Supercruise, Ritchie beat Myers in both driving events and scores were locked. Incredibly, they both ran identical times when they subsequently competed in a tie-breaker Go-Whoa, and Summernats officials decided the cars were inseparable, presenting them with a sword each.

Summernats 17 2004
Drago Ostric Gemini wagon

Drago Ostric’s Gemini is the car that broke the glass ceiling at Street Machine Summernats for four-cylinder and rotary-powered vehicles. While there had been other trick four-pots at the ’Nats before, the Gemini was the first to win the really big awards, taking out People’s Choice at Summernats 15 in 2002, then returning after a full rebuild to win Grand Champion at Summernats 17.

After the wagon’s successful Summernats debut, Drago returned the following year to have a red hot crack at Grand Champ. Unfortunately, a recalcitrant fuel pump scuttled that bid. Drago and his brother Rob, along with some other mates, tore the wagon down, completely re-engineered it, built a new custom interior and repainted it green. Their 12-month slog proved worthwhile, with Drago triumphantly hoisting the Grand Champion sword aloft. 

Summernats 16 2003
Mark Course 5-window Ford Coupe

Mark Course came into the Summerats 16 Grand Champion chase with three Top 10 Elite Spots to his name. In 2002 he finished runner-up to Anthony Fabris for Grand Champion honours, and found himself up against his mate again this year.

When he was congratulated by Summernats’ Owen Webb at the end of the Grand Champ driving events, Mark thought it was for being runner-up to Fabris again, but was left speechless when Webb walked over to Fabris and commiserated with him.

“I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it,” said Mark. “Summernats is a street machine show and I never thought a hot rod would win Grand Champion. I couldn’t talk, I had to give my mobile to a mate so he could let people know we’d won.”

Summernats 15 2002
Peter Fitzpatrick FC Holden

Fitzy bounced back from a prang in the driving events at Summernats 2000 with a fully-refreshed FC. The mods included a reversed paint job, wth HoK Oriental Blue dominating over pearl white. Inside was new trim with vanilla ice leather and Nissan 300ZX-based pews. Underneath, the FC copped a complete re-engineering job, compete with HQ chassis, floor and front suspension. All done in Pete’s home garage and designed to meet the ACT’s modified vehicle legislation.

“I’ve been coming here for 10 years with this car and this is the fifth time I’ve won Grand Champion,” Peter Fitzgerald told the crowd after holding the sword aloft yet again, “…and it’ll be the last time. I won’t compete for Grand Champion again.

“This feels as good as the first time I won it and I hope the guys who win in the future get out of it what I did. I’m going out on a high and it’s a pretty good high.

“Shane Burcher said that, when he won Grand Champion one year when I didn’t enter, it wasn’t as good as beating me. Now he’s not going to get that chance to beat me unless I build another car.”

Summernats 14 2001
Anthony Fabris 1955 Chev

After making the Top 10 in 2013 in his stunning, 502-cube ’55 Chev, Anthony Fabris poured a stack more attention to detail into the car, taking home another Top 10 spot and gongs for Top Custom Classic and Top Standard paint.

Anthony was up against many-time Grand Champ Peter Fitzpatrick’s and Anthony’s good mate Mark Course in his ’32 coupe.

Summernats 13 2000
Shane Burcher DDROOL Holden ute

When Shane Burcher cruised up the Summernats burnout pad to collect the Grand Champion sword, the back of his WB ute was weighed down by the mates who helped him win the most coveted prize in street machining. It was his name on the trophy, but he wanted them to share the glory.

“I really don’t know how I won Grand Champion,” Shane said.

“I thought Howard Astill would give me a hard time. He’s been here quite a few times and wasn’t as nervous as me. Howard was my big worry”

Shane dedicated his win to his mates who backed him through his five-year build.

“The ute was put together by friends and its been a real team effort and a credit to the people who build it. I’m a mechanic and did a lot of stuff myself, but you need other people to help you out.”

Summernats 12 1999
Peter Fitzpatrick FC Holden

Peter Fitzpatrick scored his fourth Top 10 spot at Summernats 12 and sealed the deal on a fourth Grand Champion victory. This would the final win for the car in its white-over-blue format, but not the car’s final win by any means.

Summernats 11 1998
Peter Fitzpatrick FC Holden

Fitzy took out his third Grand Champion gong with strong performances in all of the driving events; Spear-a-Spud winner, second in the Slalom, and top 10 in the Go-Whoa. Mods to the FC since Summernats 10 included an owner-made billet steering column, billet dash and a fat Phillips sound system. In the Elite judging, the FC placed in the Top 10.

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Summernats 10 1997
Howard Astill XC Coupe

After debuting the Race Rock Falcon at Summernats 9, Howard stormed back with another Top 10 spot, Top Engineered/Pro Comp, Second Top Engine Bay and Third Top Interior in the Elite judging. Improvements since the previous year included a reworking of the car’s EFI and new straight-through mufflers. A spot of Go-Whoa practice at the Army barracks in Broken Hill helped propel the coupe to an eight-second time on the first go, helping Howard secure his grip on the Grand Champ sword once again.

Summernats 9 1996
Peter Fitzpatrick FC Holden

Peter Fitzpatrick had a good feeling about his chances of claiming his second Grand Champion sword after his superb third outright in the Summernats 9 motorkhana. “I’ve been around long enough to know what it takes to win Grand Champion,” Fitzy said after he’d raised the winner’s sword aloft. “A lot of people underestimate the value of the driving events, but I never have. Besides, that is where I really enjoy myself!”

Summernats 8 1995
Dennis Laing 64 Galaxie

Dennis Laing came into the Grand Champion chase with a stack of points earned in the Elite judging, including Top Pro Street, Top Engineered Pro Street, Top Interior and Top Undercarriage. Dennis had done a stack of work to the car since we featured it (SM, Sept 94), including major chassis work, deburred engine, retrimmed interior and a repaint.

Summernats 7 1994
Brain Willis HK Monaro

Brian nabbed Top Super Street, Top Interior and Judge’s Personal Choice on his way to the Summernats 7 Grand Champ gong. His HK Monaro was a cutting-edge car for its time, built from a $900 shitter. Highlights include a three-quarter chassis and four-link by John Cannon, a super-smooth engine bay, stunning tinwork underneath, a wild interior treatment by Stuart Davis and stunning paint and graphics by Owen Webb. Brian handled much of the bodywork, paint prep and much more himself.

Summernats 6 1993
Peter Fitzpatrick FC Holden

Having debuted his FC at Summernats 5, the local lad spent 12 months refining the car for his shot at the big one. Peter Collier’s ’56 Chev dominated in the elite judging, including winning Top Judged. If ever there was a popular Summernats king, it was Fitzy. The emotion-charged presentation before Sunday’s big burnout comp proved that without a doubt. There was hardly a dry eye in the place when Fitzy’s wife Michelle drove the car off the burnout strip, with sons Aaron and Daniel in the back.

Summernats 6 also marked the point where the name of the event’s peak award was changed from Top Street Machine Overall to Grand Champion. Good move!

Summernats 5 1992
Howard Astill ROCK 4 63 Compact Fairlane

At every show there has to be a winner and for the second time running, it was the boy from Broken Hill, Howard Astill. After being right up there in the judging and coming sixth in the Spear-A-Spud, Howard and his retro-look ’63 Compact Fairlane scored enough points to win the covered Top Street Machine Overall award.

it was a superb effort – and truly deserved. For nine solid months Howard had worked night and day to get his retro-tech masterpiece ready for Summernats 5. But even that wasn’t enough. After leaving home, Howard and a troop of willing workers spent most of the first two days in Canberra getting the Fairlane ready for scrutineering. Rewiring the mega stereo, refitting the doors, repacking the trim and more.

So when Howard’s name was read out as the winner of the main prize on Sunday night, he was absolutely stunned, excited and somewhat relieved.

Summernats 4 1991
Howard Astill ROCK 3 XA Falcon

Howard Astill had a massive Summernats 4, with his Rock 3 XA Falcon taking out Top Judged, Top Engine Bay, Top Undercarriage/Driveline and Top Sedan on his way to his first Top Street Machine Overall gong.

Once the trophies had been collected, the XB was given to its new owner, Mario Montalto, who won the car in a Summernats promotion. And yep, Mario still owns the car today and treated us all by bringing the car back to visit at Summernats 30.

Summernats 3 1990
Rob Beauchamp VL Calais

A prang while drag racing at Palmyra was the impetus for a full rebuild of Rob Beauchamp’s VL Calais. The car was destroyed to the back of the windscreen, so Rob started again with a rebuild that saw the car cop new grape-purple duco, graphics and an airbrushed dash.

On this way to this third Top Street Machine Overall gong at Summernats on the trot, he placed second and third overall in the Motorkhana and Spear-A-Spud, placed third in the People’s Choice vote. completed the Supercruise and landed in the Top 10 come judging time, with trophies for Top Pro Street, Top Competition Interior, Top Engineered Pro Street and Top Undercarriage/Driveline.

Summernats 2 1989
Rob Beauchamp VL Calais

Chic Henry tweaked the rules relating to Pro Streeters and the Top Street Machine Overall award. Some people reckoned the ’87 set-up favoured Pro Streeters. that the Summernats was all about the show – not fair dinkum street machining. Chic never really believed that was the case, but heeded the public’s advice all the same.

In effect, the new set required these street/strip hybrids to prove their worth as transport. To win top Street Machine Overall, a Pro Streeter had to perform on the judging sheets – and in the driving events. Some Pro Street owners took this to mean that Chic was against the class and didn’t show.

Rob Beauchamp read the fine print and came all the same. He racked up judging points, then competed in the driving trifecta – Spear-a-Spud, Motorkhana and Go-Whoa. On to top of that, he completed the Supercruise route – if the Calais hadn’t gone the distance, it would have been out of the running for the top award.

Rob also won Top Pro Street and Top Radical Engineering.

Summernats 1 1988
Rob Beauchamp VL Calais

The list of peak awards at the very first Summernats rings out with legendary names and cars, including Rex Webster’s FJ (Top Judged), Greg Carlson’s VK (Entrant’s Choice, Top Engineered), and Marty Brennan’s HQ Ute (Top Wild Custom), but at the top of the hill was Rob Beauchamp in his VL Calais, which claimed the very first Summernats Top Street Machine Overall Award.

Rob had form in winning big prizes though, having taken out the Top Street Machine Overall trophy at the 7th Street Machine Nationals in 1986.

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