The Thursday evening of Street Machine Summernats has become the new night of nights for Australia’s top show machines, this year’s field for Summernats 38 boasting 23 cars being seen in public for the very first time, as the covers were pulled in front of a bumper crowd in the Meguiar’s Pavilion.

ANDREW MCARTNEY 1971 CHEVY CAMARO

Queensland workshop Pat’s Pro Restos knocked out Andrew McCartney’s 1971 second-gen Chev Camaro. A pro touring-style deal, the Camaro was built to Pat’s usual exacting standards and creativity. 

At its heart is a 800hp LSA, backed by a 4L80E ‘box. A HEIDTS custom rear end with chassis connectors marmalades the Race Products nine-inch diff into the Camaro, sitting on a set of American Legend wheels that’ve been colour changed. Speaking of colours, the Chevy wears a PPR mix of Ice Blue, finished off with matte stripes.

STEPHEN MICALLEF – 1973 HOLDEN LJ TORANA

Stephen Micallef has just finish one hell of an LJ Torana build, which he says has been done for Drag Challenge! “Yeah, I will admit it has got a bit out of hand,” he says. It’s headlined by a 1200hp, 632-cube fatty! “It’s the old engine from my HQ Tonner, with a new top end with 18° heads and all that,” says Stephen.

Having had success at DC in both his One Tonner and a VZ Maloo, he plans to go even bigger with the Torana. “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 Covert Beige Torana colour, using a dash of pearl. “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.”

MATHEW HUGHES – TOYOTA CELICA TA22

Mathew Hughes has been building his little TA22 Celica since he first got it in his early 20s. Now 28-years-old, the 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. “I’ll do the show circuit for a bit, then I’m going to drive the wheels off it!” he says.

DARREN & NEIL TRACEY – 1932 FORD COUPE

Darren and Tracey Neill’s 1932 Ford Three Window makes a big impression in the Starburst Yellow, sprayed onto a C&W body. The chassis is proper 1932 and rebuilt by Neil, the front rails making home for a sniper injected small-block Chevyl topped by a 6/71 blower and built by Garry Brown Race Engines. 

The Borderline Rebel wheels are 15×6 in front and 16×10 under the back, the build process to get it to its great unveiling took 11 years.

DANNY HOY – 1956 HOLDEN FE STATION SEDAN

Danny Hoy’s 1956 Holden FE Station Sedan hasn’t seen the road since 1969! The previous owners got cleaned up by a car in the snow, and it sat in a garage until Danny got his hands on it four years ago. “I just wanted something to take the grandkids around in, everything else I own is a two door,” says Danny.

The FE is by no means a standard resto, instead hiding independent suspension in both the front and rear. “We took the driveline from a WK/WL Statesman for it,” says Danny. As such, the FE has the LS1 from the Stato, now tickled with a camshaft to around 420hp and backed by the Statesman transmission.

Inside, it has delicious brown trim from Armadale Upholstery, primed and ready for cruising with the grandkids!

OL’ SCHOOL GARAGE – 1957 CHEVY BUSINESS COUPE

Ol’ School Garage have two belter unveils from their Hillcrest, QLD shop having the covers pulled, the first being this 1957 Chevrolet Business Coupe, the poor man’s Bel Air built for a customer. This particular car had an 1100hp, twin turbo Dart small-block Chev combo when it came to Ken Streeter at Ol’ School Garage – but, there was a problem. 

“It was nicely built, but it was just painted all blue,” says Ken. “The owner said he wanted the outside to match the grunt underneath, so we were given the job.”

That kicked off a full-scale rebuild, resulting in only the boot and bonnet unmodified in the process. “We had to cut off the whole passenger side quarter from a repair job, we moved the engine by shifting the firewall 150mm,” says Ken.

Now, it sits in a colour they call Jade Nightmare, which Ken spent six months concocting with the chemist at PPG to get the desired look. “We also blacked out everything that was chrome, which on a car like this is a bloody big job!”

MICHAEL GROVES – 1949 CHEVY 5 WINDOW PICK-UP

Another from the Ol’ School Garage stable is this 1949 Chevy Five Window, built for Michael Groves. Michael originally imported the car from Carolina in the USA, and Ken Streeter of Ol’ School Garage was told from the outset to build a deadset show car. The goal was to be unveiled at Summernats, just like it was tonight. Michael brought Ken a cab and a bunch of reproduction panels, and they put together the rest. 

There’s plenty of sheetmetal work on the body, with no panel left unmodified. “We ended up making a whole tubular front end to hang all the panels from, and this would be one of the only ‘49 Chevy trucks to still be running a rear bar.”

That bar has been shortened, and the tailgate was also dropped 300mm in length to complete the rear end look. The primary colour is slated brown, with ginger beer seen on bits like the engine cover to offset it. Under the skin, a 600hp LSA resides with a Tremec six-speed cog swapper, and the whole lot sits sacked in airbags.

PAUL KHAIRO – 1934 FORD COUPE

Tony Murr’s OUTLOR ‘34 Ford it back! It’s now in the hands of Paul Khairo, and has been dubbed OUTLAW 2.0 in its new form. The rod has been given a revamp by Frank Velardi and his crew from V Resto Garage, rocking a fresh lick of jet black.

The powerplant is a John Agazzi-built 427 Windsor, sporting Hemi heads and a 10/71 blower. Haltech EFI and two sets of injectors birthed it to 1000hp at 6psi to the fly on pump fuel, and there’s full intentions to register this thing and terrorize the streets with it!

Inside, there’s a kevlar and suede interior, with Momo seats and steering wheel. Speaking to Roy from V Resto Garage, it was a decent push to get the ‘34 to Summernats: “30 days ago it was just a painted shell and chassis!” he says. “So once we were told it was getting unveiled, it was a big push to get it here.”

Keep an eye out for part two, dropping shortly!