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WHEN we announced that we were adding two Rods Out burnout comps to the Street Machine Drag Challenge program for 2024 (29 October-3 November), we had high hopes that we could put on a couple of great shows. The response, however, has far exceeded our expectations! For starters, we have some seriously big guns entered! Expect to see the likes of Chris Orchard (in both THE GAME and GAME OVER), Jono Kelly (3FIVE5) and Mark Schwarz (HANFUL) at the first Rods Out event at Dragway at the Bend in South Australia on 1 November. And at Heathcote Park Raceway on 2 November, we have legends like Shannon Heraud (TUF253), Adam Slorach (GOTNUTZ) and our own Steve Titcumb (DRAGON) ready to roll. But what is really crazy is that as we went to…

AGRO AGAIN! LOOK out for a new, street-trim version of Gary Myers’s SMOTY-winning AGROXA Falcon hardtop (below), which will hit the scene later in the year! Gary is aiming to debut the revamped Falcon at this year’s Bright Rod Run, 8-10 November, and we can’t wait to check it out. NANAGEDDON! PAUL Butler and his 1000hp, SR20-powered NANA Gemini (SM, Jun ’24) have continued their winning ways, having taken out the $5K no-prep challenge at the Benaraby Kenda Radial round in early August. That adds another scalp to Paul’s belt, which already includes wins at Rockynats, Roll Racing Queensland, Torque Time No-Prep Eighth-Mile and the Oz Aid Kooralbyn Shootout. Paul’s team-mate Billy Shelton also had a cracking meeting, getting oh-so-close to a foursecond eighth-mile pass with a 5.02@141mph from his show-spec SICKEST VL. NEXT! THE…

STREET Machine Summernats 37 will rock Canberra into the new year with two huge nights of live music on both Friday and Saturday. Friday night will be the big one for rock fans, with Eskimo Joe, Thirsty Merc and Jet (pictured) all hitting the stage. Thirsty Merc kicks things off at 8pm, followed by Eskimo Joe, and then Jet will close the night in true rock ’n’ roll style in what will be their Summernats debut. Saturday night sees Hot Dub Time Machine, aka DJ Tom Loud, return, following an incredible performance at ’Nats 36 earlier this year. He’ll take music fans on another journey through some of the greatest hits of all time, covering all genres and eras as he does oh-so-well. “I had an epic time at Summernats 36, and…

WITH its lairy turbo sitting tall, purple and proud up front, Rashaan McGowan’s glorious AU Falcon was an eye-catcher to say the least as it burned rubber at Hidden Valley Raceway during Gazzanats Darwin. We wasted no time in tracking down the 21-year-old to find out more. Your Falcon’s one distinctive ride, Rashaan! Tell us about it. We built the AU three years ago when my old boy and I decided to try something different. We ended up using patio tubing we had lying around to high-mount the GT45 turbo out of the bonnet. It’s got 1650cc injectors, a MagnaFuel 750 pump, FG pistons and rods, and a stage-three cam with valve springs and head studs. We threw in a 6boost manifold, and paired the engine with a BTR gearbox with a…

FASHIONED after Thunder Road and other moonshine-running flicks of the 1950s and 60s, 1996’s Moonshine Highway is a more modern take on the ‘drivers versus feds’ theme of those earlier films. In 1957, decorated WWII veteran, hotshot driver and serial cigarette-bummer Jed Muldoon (Kyle MacLachlan) carts moonshine in his hotted-up Lincoln tanker from his pappy’s (Leslie Carlson) mountain property by dawn, and canoodles with local hottie Ethel (Maria del Mar) by night. Unfortunately, Ethel is the estranged wife of the crooked Sheriff Miller (Randy “shitter’s full” Quaid), who is struggling to take their break-up with any grace. With his palm regularly greased by other local moonshiners to have him look the other way, Sheriff Miller is hellbent on nailing Muldoon alone for the crimes. However, pressure from a visiting federal agent, Bill…

EMAIL your missives to gday@streetmachine.com.au. Keep it short and sweet! > LETTER OF THE MONTH VALE JOSH OUR son Josh Dowell was featured in your People Like Us section in the August 2018 magazine (pictured). He is our beautiful son. Unfortunately, and with totally shattered hearts, I would like to inform you that he passed away on 19 March last year due to a motorbike accident up the bush with his mates. It has been a very difficult year. I know it may be difficult, but is there any chance we could get a copy of the magazine or at least his special page? We have copies, but unfortunately, they are damaged due to so many people looking at them. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this email. Kylie & Troy Dowell,…

CHRIS Pearson has adored the shape of Holden’s HQ ute since he was a young whippersnapper, so when he was looking to build a big, bad street bruiser, there was only ever one model that would fit the bill. “I had one with a small-block when I was a kid but sadly sold it before I could make it what I wanted,” Chris says. “This car is the realisation of the dream I had back then.” He found this gem of a ute locally, with just its second owner. “It was a 253 car in poo brown, and the original idea was just to stick the big motor in it and have it as-is,” he says. There was only one issue with that plan. As the owner of Corporate Autobody, a panel…

WITH A ProCharged Fox-body Mustang racer, street-driven twin-turbo TD Cortina, and now a nitrous-huffing, 427-cube XY Falcon 500 on his hot-car résumé, it’s pretty clear that Craige Lewis has a type. No matter the number of doors or nation of origin, his retro Fords pack megatough drivelines with a smooth finish and killer stance. THE CAR WAS MINT – A FULL DAY OF WORK WOULD’VE COVERED THE RUST With the ’Stang and Corty in hibernation, Craige had an uncompromising vision for a cool streeter, and his existing Falcon didn’t fit the bill. “I had a freshly built Phase II replica in Surfer Orange, with a wind-back sunroof and everything,” he says. “I did a wedding in Sydney and drove it around for three hours with the Top Loader. I got home and…

IT WASN’T just the heat that was blazing at Hidden Valley Raceway during Gazzanats Darwin; hundreds of smoking tyres fell victim to the burnout pad as a massive line-up of 52 pro skid cars stormed the NT capital in June for two days of play. Superskids, roll racing and go-to-whoa driving events were among the delights served up by the Myers family at their annual bash, but the main event was, as always, the burnout competition. It was my first time heading to a Gazzanats event, but having spent years photographing Jake Myers obliterating tyres in the family’s famous ’66 Mustang, S1CKO, I knew it was going to be a wild couple of days. Once gates swung open on the Friday morning, I was keen to check out the top-notch track,…