Peninsula Motorfest presented by Joel’s Garage Gear has grown to be one of the biggest show and shine events on the Brisbane calendar. The event combines stunning waterfront locations on the Redcliffe Peninsula with a big community and charity focus. 2026 was the event’s eighth year and again increased in size and scale. 

Here are three of our favourite cars that were unveiled yesterday in Pelican Park, Clontarf.

KODY SCOTLAND, PRO TD

Kody Scotland’s ‘74 TD Cortina XLE was the star of the unveils. Decked out in a DNA gold candy, the Cortina was largely built by Kody, including handling the panel and paint.

Under the factory bonnet bulge is a built 4.0-litre Barra, with a 82/85 Precision turbo strapped to the side and backed by a Pro Trans ‘glide.

Inside, Kody has kept much of the Cortina’s factory accoutrements, including the faux woodgrain dash, factory radio and tiller. Kirkey race seats will be a necessity when Kody hits the Kenda Radial circuit, but they are trimmed in XY Falcon saddle material to match the rest of the interior. Motorfest wasn’t technically Cortina’s first appearance, with Kody driving it to Jamboree and taking home Top Panel & Paint. 

SHANNON GADDES, 1967 CAMARO

Local lad Shannon Gaddes has a long history in drag racing – including racing his own six-second Supercharged Outlaws altered and crewing on Rod Bailey’s Chemical Warfare nitro funny car – but he deliberately left a roll cage out of his ‘67 Camaro build so he wouldn’t be tempted to race it! Shannon bought the Camaro out of the states 13 years ago, only to find it was – as often happens – a basketcase.

Rather than give up, Scott took on the challenge of fixing the car’s extensively rooted panel work, with the extra challenge of painting it in straight black tinter! Besides replacing literally all the sheetmetal on the car, mods include a subtle reverse cowl, mini-tubs and hidden wiper motor.

“The car is a bit of a tribute to late 90s, early 2000s builds,” says Scott. “The car came with the Colarado Customs billet steering wheel and Hopster rims, so I left them on it. I had to get Billet Specialties to custom make me the 20x10s for the rear, though. I wanted a subtle, classy, elegant car.”

 Other 90s touches include an Alpine stereo, MSD box mounted to the firewall and a gear drive! 

Under the bonnet is a 406ci small block of Shannon’s own design, with a Vortech V2 T-trim blower (making around 10-12psi), 1000cfm throttle body, Steve Morris hat and Holley Terminator X ECU. “It made 609hp on the dyno aspirated, so I pulled some comp out of it for the blower,” says Shannon.

“I’ve not really mucked around with EFI before, but I don’t think I’d go back now. It was so easy to set up and get running, with a bit of research. Even changing it over to E85 was easy. I run the blinkers through the dash. When I turn the air con on, it ups the idle by 100rpm. It will sit there and idle at 850rpm all day. I’m just dabbling in the new world now. It’s cool, teaching an old dog new tricks.”

E85 was deemed necessary as Shannon didn’t want to run an intercooler for aesthetic reasons. Air con will help keep Shannon cool in a black car in Brisbane summers.

Behind the SBC is a reverse pattern, full-manual 4L80 auto, with a 6100rpm converter. With only 8km on the odometer before he parked the car up for its unveiling, Shannon was keen to head out for his first proper cruise in the car as soon as the event wrapped up.

TODD & PAUL WHITELOCK, WIFEH8S HQ

Todd Whitelock and his dad Paul built this stunning ‘74 HQ Kingswood as a father-and-son project. “I bought the HQ as a finished car, but it got caught up in an accident. So dad and I decided to fix it and do it properly,” says Todd.

Spray FX in Bathurst handled the stunning panel and paint. While the bodywork has been kept close to the General’s plan, there are a couple of subtle mods, including repositioning the fuel filler from behind the rear number plate to the top of the right hand rear guard, using a Harley push-button deal.

Powering the beast is a Tremaniac 427 LS, topped by a Harrop 2650 blower and managed by a Haltech Rebel LS ECU. Todd used a Castlemaine Rod Shop tubular front at the pointy end, while the rear end sits down hard over a set of 15x10in rims and 275 rubber.

Inside, factory HQ buckets were cut and shut into a far more comfortable place to sit, with a Haltech dash front and centre in place of the factory clocks.