Cars & Motorcycles
Street Machine
December 2020Street Machine is the country’s biggest selling, most widely read and most respected modified car magazine. Combining great photography with accurate, expert coverage of the Aussie modified car scene and in-depth technical features, Street Machine celebrates Australia’s passion for older cars, V8s and the lifestyle that surrounds them.
in this issue
broadcast
I’VE had the pleasure of ambushing the winner of the Valvoline Street Machine Of The Year award twice now, and it’s honestly been a highlight of my year both times. The first was 2018 winner Ben Judd with his gorgeous EH wagon, and the second – only a matter of days ago – was 2020 winner Aaron Gregory of Memphis Hell Custom Vehicle Builders. SMOTY is effectively a popularity contest, and this year Aaron won by a decent margin despite a quality field of finalists. My theory is that, aside from actively campaigning on social media, Aaron’s win largely boiled down to the broad appeal of his ’51 Chev pick-up, Memphis Hell. Being a ’51, it’s almost a hot rod, but it’s built on a Rodeo chassis, so in a way it’s…
super nova
FANCY a custom Chevy Nova built by one of the best in the business, and for less than the cost of a weekly grocery shop? Well, thanks to the boys at Customs 4 Cancer, you can win exactly that, and it’s all for a ripping cause. For just 25 bucks a ticket, Customs 4 Cancer is raffling off a 1970 Chevy Nova hand-built by Cooper Zahabi, the son of legendary car crafter and owner of Rides By Kam, Rob Zahabi. The car scored a feature in the November 2019 issue of SM and wowed the crowds at Street Machine Summernats 32, scoring 2nd Top Coupe in the elite judging. It’s a stunning ride, making it the perfect launchpad for the Customs 4 Cancer crew to get their new initiative off the…
hot gossip
SMOTY VIP WINNER IT’S not just the owner of the winning vehicle who gets the spoils when it comes to Valvoline Street Machine Of The Year. Everyone who votes for their favourite car goes into the draw to win a Street Machine Summernats VIP package for them and a mate – Platinum passes, return flights, flash accommodation, $1000 cash – the works. This year’s winner is a very stoked Martin Griggs, who reads SM every month and comes from a car-mad family. The only problem is, thanks to COVID-19, there ain’t gunna be a Summernats in 2021! We’re working with Marty to put together a similar prize package for Summernats Slam or Red CentreNATS, and promise we’ll show him a good time regardless! DRAG NEWS MAGAZINE’S FAST 50 THE 50th issue of Drag…
like a boss!
AFTER an unseasonably long break due to that bastard COVID cough, burnouts finally returned to Perth Motorplex on 17 October, with record spectator and entrant numbers rocking up for Burnout Boss. Our resident burnout filmographer Peter Flint was on the ground behind both the camera and the wheel, and reckons Burnout Boss was one of the biggest events he has ever seen at the’ Plex. “It was nuts; the atmosphere was insane,” he says. “Before COVID, they might struggle to get 3000 spectators for the whole event, whereas on the weekend there were 3500 people through the gates before the comp had started!” By the time the pros hit the pad after dark, 8000 spectators filled the venue – the biggest crowd there in 10-plus years. The entrant list was also stacked to…
dave best
REMEMBER when international travel was a thing? Around 12 months back, some of the wildest gasser and fuel altered machines from across the country and around the world descended on Sydney Dragway for the first World Fuel Altered Challenge. One of those dedicated travellers was Dave Best, who shipped himself and his killer wheelstanding Model A gasser all the way from New Zealand to take part. What first got you interested in gassers? I’ve been into them since the early 70s. I saw the TV movie Hot Rod and got hooked on high-riding Willys coupes, and I now have a steel one I’m building, which will replace the Model A soon. How did you come to own the Model A? I bought the body back around 1986 out of Fresno in California. It had…
repo man 1984
FIERY young punk Otto Maddox (a pre-Breakfast Club Estevez) is having a bad day in Reagan-era LA. First he loses his shitty gig at Pik N Pay. Then his girlfriend dumps him for his best mate in the time it takes to grab a beer from the fridge. And to top it off, his hippy parents have been zombified by a televangelist. Things take a wild turn when Otto falls into the world of repossession agents at the Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation. Despite his initial distaste for the work, money talks, and repo veteran Bud (Stanton) soon takes Otto under his grizzled wing. Bud teaches Otto the tricks of the trade and waxes lyrical about the repo code, which includes such gems as: “I shall not cause harm to any vehicle…
