As the Eastern States rolled out their Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Young SMOTY cars and coffee gatherings, to bright blue skies at various Hare and Forbes venues, Perth reminded us that they like to do things a little differently with some early showers. Despite the damp weather the cars still cruised to Kewdale to put on a show, and give the two Perth YSMOTY 2026 finalists a chance to show off their rides amongst a group of cool cruisers and tough muscle cars. Here’s a selection of the coolest from the day.

Lacey Sines was the only West Aussie YSMOTY finalist this year, so she brought along her HJ ute (SM, Sep ’25). Lacey’s still not yet old enough to drive, but she is on her L-plates at last, and did get to chuck a few laps in the ute at Gazzanats NT.

Brad Howard’s super-tidy, chrome-bumper ’71 Corvette has been on the road since 2012, but it looked like it was fresh out of the paint booth, with the Electron Blue duco from a 2002 Corvette popping even under the dreary grey skies. A 427 all-alloy SBC sits up front, sporting a Hogan’s EFI intake controlled by a Haltech Elite 2400.

Mark Atkinson’s genuine HQ GTS Monaro sports a colour scheme you don’t see too often: Tangerine with Lone O’Ranger stripes. While the inside and outside haven’t veered too far from stock, the engine bay has had a bit of an upgrade in the form of an 8/71-blown 400ci small-block Chev, which punches out over 900hp at the crank on a diet of E85.

At just 18 years old, Charley Goldsmith is starting to make a name for herself in the WA burnout scene. She’s competed in six events since the start of the year in her BA one-tonner, which features a custom tray fabricated by her boilermaker dad, who also painted the whole car in the shed at home. With 1000cc injectors feeding in the E85 and a bit of a tune-up, Charley’s Falc has 220hp at the tyres – more than enough to get rid of them quick-smart.

Aaron Lavers owned a V8 Commodore for a while but is really a JDM guy at heart, so he worked out a way to blend both worlds. He has stuffed a quad-cam 1UZ 4.0L and 300Z manual trans into his MX-5, and has been having a tonne of fun ever since.

Liam and Emil Viskovich rocked up in a pair of Mitsubishis. The beige one you’d probably be familiar with, as it’s a regular four-door, Aussie-spec LB Lancer. It’s had a bit of an upgrade with twin carbs and some nice JDM-style rims. The blue one is a much rarer beast: a 1971 Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTO, which Liam imported from Japan a couple of years ago. One of only a handful in the country, the swoopy coupe has been treated to a twin-carb upgrade but will eventually get a twin-cam engine for a bit of extra go.