First published in the March 2009 issue of Street Machine

Got to love Shepparton — it’s a nice place with top people and a healthy car scene. Best of all, it is home to the Springnats.

Promoter Les Adams is a true car enthusiast who puts on a great spread for local and visiting petrolheads, and the DECA facility gives those guys and girls a chance to really stretch their legs.

There aren’t many places where you can really cut loose any more but Springnats is one of them. For example, you can take the go-to-whoa seriously if you want and the officials will happily give you a time and a smile, but if you want to smoke some tyres and have a bit of fun they’re happy for you to do that as well. As a modified car enthusiast in this increasingly restrictive world, what more could you ask for?

This year, the sad economy and the fearsome reputation of the blue bombers kept the numbers down but the quality was definitely up. In the past, there have been a few shitters getting around DECA but this year they stayed at home. Maybe they couldn’t afford to come, or maybe the officials finally cracked down on sub-standard rides. Either way, the event was better for their absence.

Over in the show side of things, Peter Olver’s beautiful ’32 roadster ruled the roost, taking home five trophies including a place in the Top 10. While Perry Meka’s ’32 roadster, Shaun Horton’s FB wagon and Bob Grambau’s C10 Chev were also on hand to keep Peter honest, the show side of things isn’t really what keeps entrants and spectators coming back year after year.

Springnats is all about the action and that’s what keeps the punters pinned to the guard rail for hours on end — even in the blistering heat. Thankfully, a few days of rain and scattered clouds kept the temps cooler on Saturday but Sunday was a great day to slip, slop, slap.

Expression sessions featuring the likes of Clint Ogilvie, Peter Gray, Aaron Mackley and Peter Grmusa had the fans cheering for more, and it gave the drivers a chance to cool their heels in the go-to-whoa and motorkhana staging lanes.

Lauren Ryan and Janelle James battled it out in the women’s driving events in their Commodores, sharing first and second places between them in most cases. Janelle edged out Lauren for the Top Female Competitor award by winning the Female Night of Thunder & Gymkhana and coming second in the Female Go-to-Whoa and Motorkhana.

No one bloke dominated the men’s classes, with each competition being taken out by a different competitor, but Darryl Hutchinson and his Falcon were the most successful combo with a win and a second place.

On the burnout pad it was Steven Loader with his freshly rebuilt HT Premier all the way. Despite suffering transmission issues, Steven still managed to win the Blown class and Top Burnout Overall without blowing the rear tyres, such was the violence of his burnout. Leroy Rees took out second place in the Blown class with his big-block HJ Statesman, while Johnny Taverna jr earned top naturally aspirated V8 burnout with the Citric Acid XD Falcon pulling a monster skid.

Was it the biggest Springnats we’ve ever been to? Nope, but with no crap cars and fewer cops hassling entrants out on Shepparton’s street, the whole deal was a low-aggro affair. We certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if the next event was more of the same.

THE FUTURE IS OURS

Shepparton gets a bad rap when it comes to the Springnats. In recent years, the Victorian cops have hammered it hard on defects, stopping people from having a good ‘no harm-no foul’ time.

In the old days it was nothing to sit by the side of the road with an Esky and just watch an endless stream of hot machinery cruise on by. These days, it’s all alcohol-free zones, with squads of police patrolling the parks and defecting everything that dares to move on the street.

But is it Shepparton or Springnats that’s the problem? Neither; street car owners and a minority of loony locals are to blame. Some people shouldn’t be allowed out in public and the rest of us cop it in the bum because these lowest common denominators create situations where the police feel it’s necessary to come in and ruin our days.

Having fun is what life’s all about but at the same time people need to use their heads: don’t break the law; take your glass bottles with you; don’t street race; treat others with respect; don’t antagonise the police; and keep the burnouts on the track.

Think about that next time you’re out and about, whether that’s at Shepparton or elsewhere.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. With some new girls and fresh paint adorning the sides of his van, Aaron Mackley delivered some colourful demos. Reece Hilder at DW Customs in Dandenong, Vic, gave the van its new look.

2. Victorians lead the way when it comes to performance LPG, as Brett and Shannon Herrod proved with their 355-powered Torana hatch. They reckon their fuel bill for the whole weekend was just $30!

3. A 540-cube blown big-block has been added to Steven Loader’s totally revamped HT Prem. Steven managed to win the burnout comp despite auto trans problems cutting his burnout short.

3. Peter Olver from Daylesford, Vic, collected the lion’s share of the tinware on offer with his stunning ’32 roadster.

4. After debuting at Summernats last year and garnering strong support in SMOTY ’08, Shaun Horton decided to stretch the legs on his blown FB wagon.

5. Shopping overseas can deliver a few bargains. Check out Perry Meka’s new ride, a blown/EFI 468-cube big-block ’55 Chev that he picked up for less than $50,000 landed!

6. South Australian Leroy Rees delivered a wild smoke show on the burnout pad with his blown and injected big-block Statesman.

7. Proving he’s the king of freestyle, Scott Briant throws his 10sec ’77 Corolla wagon around the Springnats skidpan. The powerplant’s a blown 355 Holden with a full-manual Trimatic backing it up.

8. Talk about lighting it up! Clinton Rowley’s methanol-powered Cortina had the crowd on its feet with a huge fire and smoke show.

9. Bent engine mounts created some problems for the Armygeddon team but they managed some good four-wheel burnouts before the top radiator hose ruptured.

10. “It’ll never be finished,” says Anthony Trevaskis of his black EH. With a nitrous 468ci big-block up front, it’s run as quickly as 9.30 on the quarter but there’s a blown 540ci Shafiroff donk waiting in the wings.

Making his Springnats debut was Warren Eustace in his blown HQ. Originally sporting a low-comp 173ci six, Warren swapped in a 355 Holden before going for a blown 383 Chevy stroker.