Australian Street Rod Nationals, 2011

[Dave]

I have put the below posts up on our own site over at Ozrodders but will repeat them all here for all our friends in the U.S. and elsewhere to see how it is done 'downunder' and show some of the unique Aussie cars that we have that some may never have seen. There were many U.S. visitors there again, Tex Smith (of course!), Corey Coker and many others who I did not catch up with, along with some from N.Z. and Japan. There were about 1350 Hotrods, small by your Nationals standards but one of our larger events. Anyway on with the pictures and I hope you all enjoy! The Australian Street Rod Nationals were held in Geelong, Victoria over the Easter Weekend 2011. For those that may want to plan a holiday, the next Nationals will be in 2013 in Queensland.

We only went to the Nationals for a day and chose Sunday to go. We had other things on leading up to the Nats so a day trip was the best we could do. We did have quite a few visitors drop in prior to the Nats and had a mob staying here on Wednesday that left for the Nats Thursday Morn after bacon and egg breakfast. Sunday morn we were up bright and early to head down to Geelong, arrived and got a park right out the front of the Showgrounds at about 20 past 9 but had to wait till just before 10 for the gates to open. Entry price was very fair I thought, good value and I was happy they had kids as being up to 16! (Katie is 15 so only $5 for her!)  While we waited for the gates to open quite a lot of rods went past heading for the main gates so managed to snap some pictures. I have added only a couple of these below. Someone asked for a 37 Chev Sloper, closest I saw was a 38!

Justin's 32 coupe looked great!

Anyway we headed into the gates and saw a few rods randomly parked around the place as the oval filled up slowly, such as Phil McNally's super tough Clevo power A sport Coupe.

Found quite a few other interesting vehicles scattered around the grounds such as the 52 Ford COE

Graffiti style coupe

Neat WA T bucket.

32 Roadster cruising

Kids tired already and they had just gotten there!

The we found a pink coupe on the Dyno but it was running lean and they shut it off early.

The oval had a lot of very good cars and quite a lot of variety if you cared to look! Yes there were a huge number of 32/33/34 Ford Coupes and Roadsters but there was plenty of eye candy of other years and breeds too. I saw very few 'rough' cars and the vast majority were neat and tidy drivers. I did not notice any particular trend, there was a good cross section of all build styles, though Hemi engines (the real V8 versions) were extremely popular and if there was a trend they were it! Also saw a few Buick Nailheads, W Chevs, etc. plenty of Flattys and the occasional Y block. Not many 'billet' style cars but there did seem to be an increase in 'sleepers' (cars that look not too far from stock but have very tough engines). Anyway onto more pics! I just loved the 36 Delivery with 'Fender Custom Shop' signwriting and ZZTOP plates!

Snooze was there in his Willys coupe. I said hi but he was busy with Peter Eames and never got to chat with him, next time!

A contrast in Willys styles, 41 and 44 with a slight 'attitude' difference!

Donna found a strange looking Easter Bunny all the way from Castlemaine giving out chocolate easter eggs to the kids

Another COE, this time a 54.

I loved this 46 Ford Coupe.

Closed Cab pickups always look great.

37 Pickup was neat

One of the many Hemi powered cars!

Another neat pickup

Plymouth Roadster was neat and rare.

Old timey Hemi A roadster

Donna loved this A woody that was for sale. Hmm, well if we had money it would be in our shed by now! Alas not to be.

Joe's (QQ Moon!) Hemi A coupe is one of the toughest hotrods you will ever see or hear and goes as hard as it looks.

Chappy's A roadster from Castlemaine

31 Chev Roadster is a rarity and we showed some pics of this in the build a long time back. Looked great.

How many Cabriolets do you ever see? There were a few different years to choose from!


After that it was time to head onto the oval, which had filled up nicely with a huge variety of cars, mostly Pre 48 Hotrods, though there were quite a few Custom Classic pickups. The number of Custom Classics seemed well down on previous years and there were only a few Holdens (Aussie GM cars!) that I saw. I have tried to put up photos of some unique 'Aussie' vehicles and a few that have not been shown already, though I will repeat some that were standouts! There were a few tough cars there, including Jude and Dexter Taylor's A coupe all the way from W.A.

Rare 36 Tourer

Not many true 'Kustoms' at all, though this Hudson had some neat lace paint.

Nice Oldsmobile.

55 Ford Crown Victoria

Sandra Horne (Roddess 1932 on here) spent a lot of time cruising in her 32 Roadster finally back on the road and pulled some huge numbers on the dyno! This car doesn't just look good.

Not as many Aussie Slopers as I have seen previously but there were a couple of nice examples there.




Some rare cars there, some just unique Aussie stuff that the rest of the world didn't get, also but plenty of cars that we never got, such as this 38 Chev Coupe (my personal favourite fat fender Chev).

Someone mention a Flatty in an A model?

32 Roadster being checked out by Ian (Ram-Rod)

Aussie body 40 Convert

34 Roadster pickup

Loved this 33 coupe and could have taken it home!

32 Coupe with a Tripower 409

Never heard this Chev Coupe run but it looked like it was fresh off a strip.

32 Coupe was a standout and I couldn't help but show it again!

So many Hemis but any wonder when they look like this!

Have I told you previously that I LOVE 36 3 windows?

I did not see many early Holdens at all. This Humpy  was one of the few. To be honest I would have liked to have seen a few more (as in non stock ones!) and they were very prevalent during the early Hotrodding days in this country but that is a whole other argument! Will they ever be accepted as part of the scene?

Kustoms were few and far between!

I have always loved this truck but the gooseneck trailer just took it to a whole new level!


Live bands entertained the crowd most of the day. Jump and Jive sounded great and had a few up dancing, though during the go whoa most of the crowd were lining the track! I did not take any pics at all of the go whoa, could not get near the track and to be honest I would rather listen to some nice tunes!

Back to rare Aussie bodies, 32 Sports Coupe!

Buick powered A coupe

All steel chopped 34 3 window is rare here!

38 Dodge from Tassie was a neat family rod.

37 Ford Roadster pickup is another rare Aussie beauty!

Or you could own a piece of Aussie history. Channeled all steel Aussie 34 Coupe was for sale for 65K and despite a few modern touches has a genuine documented history (unlike some supposed 'historic' cars where people seem to write their own fictional version of history!) This is truly a beautiful example of where Aussie Hotrodding started. Not sure if Rod sold it, though I know he had been offered very close to the mark prior to the Nats. Not expensive at all, really though it would probably be worth 100K back on the rails so whether it will stay as is once sold will be interesting. All depends who comes up with the money I guess? Genuine early steel channeled cars are slowly disappearing and there are only a few left. If you want to 'save' it then buy it!

Don't get much more Aussie than a Mainline ute either! You don't see many of theses any more either.

29 Chev hiboy Roadster was a bit different. (we have one of these also!)

GMC pickup had done Sherrif's tour down to the Nats.

I kept missing this car and it was the only shot I managed to get but this fairly mild looking 34 3 window sounded like a pro stocker when running. I heard it went very well on the dyno but don't know the figures. Kosta's new car?

Gary the Ghosts A bucket has been around a while but still looks great! He dropped in on the way home but unfortunately we were out.

Not a lot of Mini Rods there this year but I really liked this little T! I did not see any Kid's dragsters at all this year and to be honest I did not see a lot for kids there though there was a minrod track set up away from the oval and also kids rides over the other side. Nobody at either if them when we went past (though it was very early in the day)

38 Studebaker Coupe is something you rarely see.

41 Chev Coupe was nice too

The last pic is for Carps! I saw these Humpy models over at TC's. Now perhaps if Carps cut a nice big hole in the bonnet and shoehorned a V8 into the engine bay he would finally get enough points to make 'mild custom' and have his FJ accepted! Or he could just go out and buy another neat old early Pontiac, and just change the wheels or take his 33 sedan!

Overall I thought the Sunday was  a great day, we did buy some food on site and it was a little expensive but was at least good quality. We could easily have taken our own but chose not to have the hassle of preparing and carrying it. I have heard mostly very good reports from the event but the old saying about not being able to please everyone certainly applies. We did manage to catch up with many old friends, though quite a few old faces did seem to be missing and there were not a lot of 'young' people there in cars that I saw. The venue was pretty much at capacity though and a larger venue would be better. If there had been an influx of younger car enthusiasts I doubt they would have fitted anyway, but it is an area that the ASRF needs to consider for the future. There were certainly plenty of public there though, which was a good thing. Personally I thought it was a job well done to the organisers, no complaints from me!

[phat46]

Nice cars and great pics. Thanks. You must have  pretty tough fender laws over there.

[Dave]

Nice cars and great pics. Thanks. You must have  pretty tough fender laws over there.

Yes indeed we do and that is certainly a very big issue at present! Australia has NEVER had fender exemptions and Hotrods way back in the day here mostly had cycle guards at front (so many 36 spare wheel covers used!) and 'bobbed' guards at the rear. They did come off at times for events, hill climbs etc. but you would not drive around for long without them unless you wanted a lot of attention! In the present day a 'blind eye' is sometimes turned to fenderless Hotrods but it depends where and how you drive. At this stage no Australian state legally allows fenderless cars.

[chimp koose]

Thanks for the post .

[river1]

thanks for the pics

you Aussies sure know how to build them

later jim

[HotRodLadyCrusr]

GREAT coverage, thanks!   Lots of traditional style rods in comparision to the total number of rods in attendance.  

Quick question, where in Queensland is the event in 2013??  The coast of Queensland is my favorite part of Australia.

[GPster]

There's that "Chopped" Model A coupe on '32 rails that looks right (except for maybe that '32 grill shell). I've seen pictures of one under construction here. Maybe it's the OOs in the names. GPster

[jaybee]

Lots of good cars there and sounds like a great time.  Thanks for sharing!

[Carnut]

Yep, really great pics there.

Here in the U.S. some states do have fender laws and some laws that can be interpreted to relate to fenders.

I've been ticked with warning tickets in both Oklahoma and Kansas for not running fenders while on the side of the road with fenderless cars running by.

I always chalked it up to a law enforcement officer wanting to check out my coupe.

[kb426]

Cool post!

[Carps]

Now perhaps if Carps cut a nice big hole in the bonnet and shoehorned a V8 into the engine bay he would finally get enough points to make 'mild custom' and have his FJ accepted!

Never gunna happen, since I like it just the way it is.



Besides, an engine swap does not a Kustom make and it's only worth ten points on the scoresheet and I ain't ever gunna butcher my car just to have it accepted by the ASRF.

Or he could just go out and buy another neat old early Pontiac, and just change the wheels or take his 33 sedan!

Without someone to make a stand, nothing would be 'discussed', and the no longer relevant rules would never change. However, that's not a discussion for here, since our US cousins are much more open minded, don't define 'cool' or 'acceptable' with strict rules and accept a far wider range of cars into their events.

[38HAULR]

GREAT coverage, thanks!   Lots of traditional style rods in comparision to the total number of rods in attendance.  

Quick question, where in Queensland is the event in 2013??  The coast of Queensland is my favorite part of Australia.

Hi Denise.
Not far from the coast at all.
Will be held on the Gold Coast.

Frank.