Mackay Motor Show 2025 recap and results

The 2025 Mackay Motor Show roared into life at the Mackay Showgrounds over the weekend of 5-6 July. Hosted every two years by the Mackay Rod & Custom Club and supported by major sponsors Hawks Industrial Solutions and Pirtek Mackay, the event delivers a weekend of chrome, horsepower and community spirit, with this year’s Motor Show seeing record numbers through the gate – almost 7000 patrons over the two days – and close to 200 entrants.

The Motor Show serves as the only regional Queensland qualifying round of the Meguiar’s Superstars series, with Summernats judge Owen Webb on hand to pick three cars to compete at MotorEx 2026. Helen Wynants’s LX Torana, Daryl O’Sullivan’s HK ute, and the 1TUF57 Chev Bel Air of Felix Cefai were the cars that tickled Owen’s fancy this year.

Other standout cars in the Elite Hall included Frank Zammit’s ENDLESS XW Falcon ute, Luke Mitchell’s EVIL LJ Torana, Sieth Ramke’s A9XM8 LX Torana, and Charlie Harley’s ’57 Chevy Bel Air.

Owen was impressed by the calibre of cars on offer in this part of the world. “The Mackay Rod & Custom Club can be very proud of the world-class event they have put on and the support that they receive from entrants near and far,” he said. “It is a great community of car lovers they have built here.”

The People’s Choice award reflected the local tastes of the Mackay community, with Jim McLaren’s ENVIE HQ Monaro, built by MCR Gold Coast, taking home the chocolates this year.

The automotive quality extended well beyond the Elite Hall, with highlights including Adam McGregor’s sacrilegious Barra-swapped HQ wagon, and Joe Bauer with two burnout cars from his Team Slammer stable, namely Victor Bray’s legendary ’57 Chevy and Joe’s own Summernats Grand Champion-winning ’68 Dodge Charger.

The show wasn’t just a static display, either, with Mark Clifford’s land speed record-setting International truck, Benny Stevens and John Zahra with their Top Fuel nitro drag racing bikes, and the OzWheels ‘SmokeBomba’ HQ turning tyres and melting eardrums on the go-to-whoa pad.

Speaking of which, the go-to-whoa driving event saw a huge variety of vehicles being put through their paces, from dune buggy to gasser to Lexus. Andrew Sammut in his 1938 Chevy pick-up took home the top trophy after a consistent weekend of fast, controlled runs.

The ScottSpeed Performance dyno was in action all weekend, too, with more than a few local cars pushing out more than 1000hp, including a tidy 1400 horses from Jayson Scott’s Barra-powered EL Falcon, SS THIS.

Besides the car action, the Motor Show offered live tuneage from local musicians, a retro pin-up competition, kids’ entertainment, and a food court buzzing with food trucks and vendors.

The 2025 Mackay Motor Show proved that the city’s car passion runs as deep as the Pioneer River. It’s set to rev up again in 2027, so mark it in your calendars.