Known as the gateway to Victoria’s snow resorts in winter, and as a haven for hikers and wine lovers in the warmer months, the town of Bright also becomes home to one of Australia’s best rolling car shows for one weekend a year.

First published in the March 2026 issue of Street Machine

The Bright Rod Run has been on my bucket list ever since my socials were flooded with the first official event post-COVID. Unfortunately, our Drag Challenge event tends to fall around the same time, and the magazine’s publishing schedule doesn’t usually allow time to drink in the Bright sunshine fresh off a week of drag-and-drive, but somehow, the stars aligned for me in 2025. While some may want to take a break from cars after such an intense week at Drag Challenge, I actually found Bright to be the perfect chaser. It’s still bustling with top-level metal, but with zero pressure.

The unique thing about the Bright Rod Run is that it’s just a weekend-long hangout with friends and family. There are no entrant fees, sign-ups, scrutineering, driving events or schedules to keep. You just rock up at the start of the weekend with your family and/or friends, pull up a chair and an Esky, and enjoy the rolling procession of tough cars for as long as you bloody well want. Bliss!

Now, I may have five cars in my stable, but being 29 years old, none are chrome-bumper or really fit the bill for Bright. But my good mate Michael Ludviksen – a name you may recognise from the Hackshop Garage YouTube channel – had his TD Gemini spare, and offered me the keys (read more below).

“You’ll have the best time,” said Michael. “It’s the best weekend of the year; perfect for the family holiday while still enjoying cars. That’s why we’ve been going for so many years.”

Once we hit the Hume Freeway north to Bright on the Friday, the excitement began to build. Just like the annual pilgrimage to Street Machine Summernats, toughies were heading there en masse both on the road and on trailers, the convoy growing larger once we left the freeway at Oxley.

The Rod Run has always been popular, but it’s gained serious traction since returning after the lockdowns of 2020-21. While there are no official entrant or spectator numbers, the general consensus is that it gets bigger year on year. People travel from interstate to get amongst it, and plenty of Melburnians make a day trip to satisfy the FOMO that occurs from seeing all the jam-packed hotties being posted online.

The main drag of Bright is where the rolling procession runs from early morning until the temporary barriers close the road at 10pm. Just like at Bathurst, earlybirds will get there and secure a roadside spot on a deck chair, and the pubs and food outlets will be pumping all weekend long. Many punters will do what we did: cruise around and then park up for an hour or two, head back to the accommodation to chill out for a bit, and then return in the evening for dinner and night-time cruising.

“It’s just the best place to catch up with mates, relax, and see some awesome cars,” said Richard ‘Dicko’ Tiberi, who was cruising around with Andrew ‘Simmo’ Simmons in his HK. ”It’s the best bloody fun you can have with your pants on!”

Even with no official judging or driving events, there’s more to do at the Rod Run than just cruise the main strip and buy out the bottle shop. Many car owners take a cruise down the road to watering holes like the Wandi Pub in Wandiligong, or to photo stops like the Tawonga Gap Lookout.

Despite threatening weather surrounding Bright and a dire forecast heading into the weekend, we were blessed with warm and sunny days for the 2025 event. Save for a shower late on Saturday night, it was T-shirt-and-thongs weather and smiles all ’round.

On Sunday morning, the Rod Run wrapped up with a show ’n’ shine at the Pioneer Park football oval, where prizes were handed out in several categories, as judged by the organisers, the Bright Rod & Kustom Club.

Having watched from afar with great envy for several years, I can confirm that the Bright Rod Run lived up to the hype. If you can, saddle up an old car with the family or mates and book a spot in Bright the weekend after the Melbourne Cup – I guarantee you’ll get hooked, just like I have.

LI’L GEM

My steed for the weekend was a borrowed TD Gemini two-door wagon. Despite owner Michael Ludviksen’s pessimism about its reliability, the Gem did the three-and-a-half-hour trip each way to Bright – and the cruising in between – without a fuss! Going on an adventure to a place like this in an old car is half the fun to me – just taking that bit of extra time and enjoying the drive.

Since Bright, the Gemini has found a home in Sydney, and I hope the new owner cruises the hell out of that thing like it deserves.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Bendigo’s Kevin McKenzie purchased his 1949 FX Holden from the original owner, but she’s far from a grey-motored stocker now, with a hot 202 backed by a Trimatic, and a retrofitted HR Holden front end. “Big thanks to Geoff Holden for helping with the build,” said Kev.

2: Matt Dekoke’s 351ci Clevo-powered XY Falcon wagon went from being dragged out of a paddock to cruising the streets of Bright in just three weeks! “It was painted on Tuesday, got plates on it at 11am on Friday, and sent it straight down here to Bright!” said Matt, who works at North East Kustom Paint & Panel in Barnawartha.

3. We’ve seen Perry Meka’s ripper 1968 Chevelle at a stack of events recently, including Street Machine Summernats, the Western Highway Shootout in Ballarat, and Showcars Melbourne. It runs a ProCharged 588ci big-block Chev, and the Shepparton local was cruising Bright with his nephew Isack Adem.

4. Jeff Edwards from the Gold Coast brought down his 1970 HG Kingswood. It thumps to the tune of an aspirated LS, backed by a Turbo 350 transmission, and wears 12in-wide rear wheels with 325 meats!

5. Shane Keene’s TUBD64 EH panel van graced our pages back in 2006, while his red EH took the cover in May 2018. Bendigo-based Shane regularly takes his show-winning machines to both the Bright and Queenscliff Rod Runs, with the van still running a 350-cube small-block Chev.

6. Jesse Demetri’s ’57 Chevy came off the boat from the original owner in January last year and was stripped to the bone for a complete resto. It’s still running the original 238ci bent-eight, and the striking pink hue stuck out like a pit bull’s balls in the sea of tough metal at Bright.

7. Ever since its debut at Summernats 34 in the hands of Jovan Batar, the PRO GTS big-block HK Monaro has been a serious head-turner. It’s now in the hands of Victorian Matt McIntosh, who isn’t afraid to get it out and let those big rear meats eat up the tarmac.

8. If there was an award for the most number of laps cruised over the weekend, we reckon Andrew Simmons and his HK Prem would’ve taken it. The tunnel-rammed LS ate up the miles, and not even a sprinkling of rain on Saturday night could deter him.

9. Adam Foreman’s HQ-fronted HZ One Tonner does a terrible job of hiding the 33×16.5 rears under its tray, which is also where the twin 88mm turbos live! Seeing mad machines like this cruising on the road is what makes the Bright Rod Run so epic.

10. One week after its successful Drag Challenge debut, Jayden Grimshaw’s HQ ute was back on street duties at Bright, along with many of his fellow DC combatants. We’ll have a full feature on the car very soon!

11. Fresh off a podium finish in the ITF Hire 235 Aspirated class at Drag Challenge, West Aussie Aaron James extended his holiday in Mexico by taking his recently completed Centura to Bright. With 528ci big-block Chrysler power, the car was still rocking the Perspex letterbox scoop from DC.

12. Domenic Trimboli’s VS ClubSport uses a turbocharged 355 Holden – no LS power here! While some might get a bit testy about the VS’s lack of a chrome bumper for Bright, it’s hard to argue against the mean figure it cuts on the street.

13. Nathan Giunco’s JETFTR XE (SM, Apr ’22) was a 14-year build that Nathan now uses with great pride on the street. Under the bonnet, the turbo Barra is surrounded by world-class sheet metal design that set a new standard for XD-XF Falcon builds.

14. Grant Pegler’s real-deal SS LX Torana hatch uses an unopened, alloy-block L98 LS and twin Garrett G25 hairdryers to run nines in a car that sees plenty of street miles.

15. Anthony Burns’s original idea of taking a cheap XG ute to run on the spare fuel at his wrecking yard didn’t quite work out, as ambition and enthusiasm ultimately culminated in this XD-fronted cruiser with slick graphics. The driveline is still standard XG six-pot, so Anthony was happy to let his son Heath cruise the car on P-plates for most of the weekend.