Red CentreNATS is one of those events you could write a book on. We’ve already uploaded multiple videos on this year’s event and will have our blow-by-blow coverage in the November issue of the mag, which is out 6 October.

Yet we haven’t gone anywhere near exhausting our treasure trove of great photos and stories from this unique event held in the heart of Australia. Here are 30 cars that caught our eye, from the event-defining City Cruise, through to the Grand Champ contenders, show ’n’ shine stars, the drag racers and the burnout kings. Enjoy!

1. Jeremy Bond was a repeat Red CentreNATS visitor in his WH Statesman. He had a great time cruising around town and had V8 Supercars driver Jason Bright riding shotgun during the skids.

2. Sebastian Krasemann rolls through the City Cruise in his 1956 Beetle, which picked up 2nd in the Top Ratter category.

3. Sean Basford on the cruise in his freshly revamped SKIDRAGIN Celica.

4. Rod Coverdale’s magnificent Interceptor. Check out his full collection in the current issue of SM.

5. David and Rhonda Rawnsley’s ’67 shovelnose Toyota Corona was back at Red CentreNATS for another go this year.

6. Mark Yates’s super-sano Datsun 620 ute nabbed a spot in the Elite Top 10 and picked up an Elite Encouragement award.

7. Brad Thomson’s MYTYME HX Sandman was a contender for Grand Champion, but it lunched a tailshaft during the drags.

8. Brendan Findlay drove his two-door VE up from Victoria, and despite a run-in with some wildlife on the way, was a strong contender in the Grand Champion chase and placed in Top 10 Street.

9. Ian Wicks’s super-neat 1928 Model A tudor packs a rorty little 302 Windsor, topped by a set of triple Strombergs. The tudor placed in Top 10 Elite.

10. The stand-out attraction of the event was Dave Carter’s monster one-tonner, with a massive tower of power out the bonnet.

11. The ultimate winner of the Grand Champ gong was Gregg Foss in his XP Fairmont.

12. Last year’s Grand Champ out on the City Cruise. John Curwen Walker was back in his Ken Neilson-built FX. We featured the car way back in our Oct/Nov 1993 issue, and it is still a cracker!

13. The Nightingale family was out in force again with their collection of tough Holdens.

14. Darren Nightingale’s tough VK Commodore, powered by a 345ci Holden stroker.

15. Super-neat HQ Monaro with a tidy LS conversion from WA.

16. Danny Hoy’s EJ Holden ute has been widened to accommodate late-model Commodore suspension and running gear. It took out a spot in the Street Top 10 and won Top Bodywork and Top Retrotech.

17. Adam Rogash has revamped the set-up in his NOSHOW Clubsport, including low-mount turbos and a very cool Plazmaman intake. Adam had a go at just about everything at Red CentreNATS, including throwing the keys to Street Machine.

18. Queenslander Andrew Mirfin brought his FRMTRUK HQ ute to RCN and put on a great display on the burnout pad.

19. Mad Sam had such a great time cruising his Capri around town that he almost ran out of methanol for the burnouts, but a local racer came to his rescue.

20. Ben ‘Scud’ Simpson delighted fans of all ages by giving his CHEESE LS-powered Datsun a Minions makeover.

21. Darren Triffett brought his INJECTED VH Commodore all the way from Tasmania! It packs at blown 427ci small-block Chev.

22. Darran Williams won the hard-fought Burnout Masters comp in his famous XF Falcon ute, DIESEL.

23. Lynchy cruised the wheels off his infamous Corolla, but a broken tailshaft put paid to his efforts in the burnout comp.

24. Mark Neverov’s Datsun 240K is packing 253 Holden power, according to the plates. Whatever it is running, she did some neat skids!

25. Aaron James kicked butt in his 547ci VG Val, running a best of 10.15@133mph. Back in Perth a couple of weeks later, Aaron snuck into the nine-second zone with a 9.993sec pass.

26. David Bonetti’s ’32 five-window coupe packs a nasty Chev small-block and runs deep into the 10-second zone.

27. Alice Springs local Steve Lewis was back for more Red CentreNATS action in his HX GTS.

28. Peter Karayannis took out the Street Class drags in his Harrop-blown CV8 last year; this time around he broke into the 10-second bracket for the first time.

29. Ray Baney describes his ’65 Mustang fastback as a ‘Day Two’ muscle car – that is, what a young guy would have done with his brand new Mustang back in the day. Check it out in action here

30. Matt Lampard brought his HZ to the first Red CentreNATS with a mild LS under the bonnet. This year he came back with a lot more firepower, thanks to a turbocharged L98.