Sydney Hot Rod Show 2003

Well I guess I should call it Motorex or whatever, but I was mainly interested in the Hot Rods that were on display, so I'll call it the Hot Rod Show.

As some of you may know, I was previously involved with West Australian Hot Rod Show Organising Committee, so I'm a bit of a sucker for an indoor car show. Partly because I know how much trouble the entrants go to to display their cars and also because I KNOW how much work the organisers do to get the show up and running. I figure it's the least I can do to show up, pay my cash and have a great time.

This year's show was held at Homebush again, but this time in the SuperDome pavillion. This was a much better venue than the previous year which were held in the same building, but in adjoining pavillions that had a flat roof and some windows in the walls. The BIG advantage (for me anyway) was that the Dome offered much better lighting as it was coming in from windows in the roof that looked to be partly opaque, hence diffusing the light and making it nice and even over the whole venue. No problems with backlighting here.

Anyway, that's enough ranting about lights, now for some ACTION!

...lame, I know. :)

 

First car you saw as you came in the door was Mario Collalillo's latest Kustom Kreation (is that kinda like Krispy Kreme???), aptly named "KING CAD".
As with all of Mario's cars, it's gotta have flames. In this case though, they're a lot more subtle than usual.

A Cadillac pretty much comes out of the factory as a custom, but Mario couldn't help himself and added a few custom touched of his own.

The most obvious being the rear fin treatment with frenched '59 Cad taillights.
As with most of Mario's cars, the interior looks fairly stock, apart from the cool white Tuck & Roll interior.

Here you can see the amount of metalflake in the gorgeous paint and the custom grille treatment.

Once again Mario, you've built a super cool custom. What's next???

Ben Gatt was also there in his latest ride. It's a Deco Rides body based on Terry Cook's awesome Lincoln Zephyr "SCRAPE".

Mile deep paint and an that slammed stance make this a real crowd favourite.

Another unbelievable car is Rod Hadfield's V12 Merlin powered '55 Chev. With 3000 Horsepower, this is THE MOST POWERFUL road registered car in the world.

Rod is a bit of a WWII buff, so all of the paraphernalia is the real deal.

That "wing" on the back is actually one of the fuel tanks.

Don't know what the mileage is, but I think it's measured in gallons per mile!

Don't worry, the guns on the side are fake... shame really. They could come in useful sometimes around Sydney.
Here's a shot from the front. The paint scheme is based on a P-51 Mustang Fighter Squadron. I think it's the "Fighting 42nd".
There's the pilot himself making himself available for all sorts of "interesting" questions.

This rather tidy Deuce Coupe was built by Mark Corse. Mark comes from a Street Machine background and this is his first Hot Rod.

Pretty nice effort for a rookie!

Number plate read "JUCED", one of the more clever ones I've come across lately.

Here's Chris Jenkins' '40 Ford Coupe in amongst with fellow members of the Bay Area Rodders.

Is there a Bay Are Rodders in every city???

As I've said before, you just can't go wrong with a black '40 Coupe. Of course, all it needs is a set of flames and she'll be done.

This wild roadster pickup was at last year's show in primer. Looks like the owner has been busy.

As I said in the coverage from last year's show... "I think this one is going to end up shiny".

Looks like I was right.

The Athan's went to a fair bit of trouble on their display, complete with cobwebs, smoke machines, creepy music and the odd vampire.

On the left is Mum Sharon's car and the red roadster is her son Dennis's.

The Athan's sure love their Hot Rodding. This one belongs to David, Dennis's brother.

All three roadsters are very tidy pieces of machinery.

This '32 Tudor really impressed me. The understated colour and beautiful detailing really made it stand out in my eyes.

This one was built at Southern Rod & Custom. Those boys sure are turning out some neat stuff.
I liked it so much, I took TWO photos!

This XP Falcon Coupe was originally built by the Hillier Brothers. The entire interior has been trimmed in metal and painted to the same standard as the outside of the car.

The brothers thought a suitable name would be "Full Metal Jacket".

Here's the lineup of cars from Northern Beaches Hot Rod Club. This display took out best club display.

The theme was based around surfing and surf lifesaving and a whole bunch of people "lent" their equipment to them.