Once again, FOMO (fear of missing out) struck the Street Machine team hard in the first week of June, and I felt it particularly keenly now that I’m a Queenslander. The two biggies are Cooly Rocks On in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, and the Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway, but this year, someone also decided to throw in Drift the Downs at Morgan Park Raceway in Warwick and All GM Day at Queensland Raceway. Rather than go completely insane and try to do all four in one weekend, I chose to do Cooly and the Winters alongside photographer Ash Wilson, while delegating the other two events. The FOMO was still strong, though! 

You’ll find our extensive coverage of the 58th Winternationals in the August issue of Street Machine, but right now, let’s check out the biggest and best nostalgia festival in Oz, Cooly Rocks On. 

Cooly is located in the beachside resort suburb of Coolangatta, the Gold Coast’s southernmost point, right where Queensland borders NSW. As such, Coolangatta has plenty of high-rise accommodation, with incredible beaches, plenty of pubs, and a few cool survivors of the 50s era, including the famous Pink Hotel. 

The car side of the Cooly Rocks On equation is simple. The official Show ’n’ Shine runs from Thursday until Sunday and is open to all cars up until those made in 1985, – although 1980-1985 cars do have their own application process. The car show is always spectacular, with over 1000 cool rides lined up in front of some truly picturesque scenery. It can get busy, to be sure, and when it comes to lunch or dinner, it can pay to book a table – or BYO your own comestibles! 

And while the cars are the main attraction of Cooly Rocks On, for many festival-goers it’s all about the moving and the grooving! A stack of live bands and DJs covering a wide spectrum of old-school genres are on offer for the duration of the event – some in pubs, some in the street, others in special marquees. Wherever you go, for a whole week there will be live music playing somewhere!

Massive markets, a pin-up pageant, the new Shannons Super Rig, the Mooneyes bus and even the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest  all add to the fun, but for us, it is the Kustomville compound – home to the Beatniks Car Club  and the Hoods CC takeover of the Pink Hotel that really create the spectacle.

Kustomville brings a stack of traditional rods, customs and lowriders together in one spot, augmented by a live car build and lowbrow art action galore. 

The Hoods, on the other hand, have taken to booking out the magnificent three-storey Pink Hotel. Punters can then enjoy a party atmosphere on the rooftop, no less than six bands blasting out on the ground floor, barbers cutting some slick haircuts, live tattooing, and the Hoods’ rides formed up outside. This year, the guys also brought out renowned pin-up photographer Mitzi Valenzuela all the way from the USA. It was a scene, man!

Next year’s event is locked in for 9-13 June, so hit up coolyrockson.com for all the info, and book your accommodation now!

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Long-time SM readers will remember Nick Karathanasopoulos’s XY GT dubbed TUF58 from the April-May 1993 mag. While the XY is the car that Nick is best known for, he isn’t adverse to a Chev, fronting up at Cooly with this wild pro street ’57. The beast is powered by a 540ci big-block with staggered Kinsler EFI injection poking through the bonnet.

2. This sweet 1979 F100 is a father-and-son project for Eddy Vanderee and his son Mitchell. Bought off a farm, the F100 has been rebuilt from a bare chassis and is powered by a mild 351/C6/9in combo. The truck has been lifted 2in, with 32in tyres on 15in Baja rims underneath. Tasty! 

3. When we saw Nev Shears’s XD Falcon panel van take on Drag Challenge in 2023, it was running a EFI stack-injected Clevo, but now he keeps it all under the bonnet with a 700hp, Tremaniac Racing 393ci Clevo!

4. Lil Sketchy is one of the most spectacular Vintage Gas cars getting around! Built by the father-and-son team of Bruce and Ryan Jiggens, the home-brewed VW Bug packs a blown and injected 460 big-block and wears some extra-tasty signwriting thanks to Jeff Marshall.

5. Our buddy Chad Silvey drove his spinner up from Victoria for a few weeks that saw him take on the Sydney Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo, Beachfest in Caloundra, and Cooly Rocks On. “I covered 4307km and went through 600L of fuel.” Chad laughed. He did it on a budget too, opting to camp in his tent at local caravan parks for most of the trip.

6. Geoff Houlden cruised up from the Castlemaine region of Victoria in his unique FX Holden. It runs a 202 bottom end, but with an EA Falcon SOHC head grafted on top, with a trio of SU carbs on the side! His next project is another humpy, this time with supercharged grey power.

7. Geoff’s mate Paul Rockes has a similarly wild early Holden – this time an EK van stuffed full of turbo Barra! The much-travelled EK did the trip from Victoria on its ear, with only a faulty cruise control module giving Paul any grief.

8. We loved seeing Mark Story’s fuel-injected, Holden red-powered Model A roadster pick-up on show in Kustomville! So cool to see vintage speed equipment being put to good use.

9. Dion and Trudie Willcox’s ’41 Willys coupe is a stone-cold stunner, packing an 8/71-blown 489ci big-block Chev, fed by twin 750cfm Holleys! The US-sourced fibreglass body was smoothed and painted to perfection by Dion’s crew at The Kustom Shop, while the wild interior boasts tractor seats trimmed in distressed leather, heaps of alloy panelwork, and a rollbar. 

10. The overall winner of the Classic Pin-Up competition was Bec Dreyer, aka Bow Dacious, who we have also seen in action as a back-up lady for the Queensland Vintage Gas crew.

11. The Beatniks always put on a great show in Kustomville with their car builds! This year, the boys assembled a bad-arse, Olds-powered Model A coupe on the Saturday, and then chopped a ’42 Chev pick-up. Beatnik Mogi-San got stuck into it, all the way from Japan! 

Rodney Frood’s ‘32 Ford is a sweetheart, powered by a 350 Chev, TH350 and 9in. The car is based on a Deuce Custom ‘glass body with a push-out windscreen and vinyl insert in the roof.