Showcars Melbourne returned to Moonee Valley Racecourse on February 18, seeing about 900 cars and bikes pack the prestigious venue. Promoted by Elvis Barbieri, some of Australia’s best high-level cars combined with live music and great weather for one of Victoria’s best one-day gigs.

Four entries to the Meguiar’s Superstars pavilion at MotorEx were handed out, starting with Rhys Christou’s Pro Street XR and Adrian Haynes’s LS-powered Torana hatch.

It was also a bountiful harvest for Race Parts Melbourne boss-man and DC racer John Ricca, who scored an invite for both his LH Torrie and R34 Skyline GT-R. Rockynats is now the last chance for hopefuls to get a spot before the big show rolls around.

Two unveil cars added to the excitement, starting with Theo’s genuine XE ESP, which has to be one of the nicest factory-spec XEs around! The Fairmont Ghia was ordered with the cream-of-the-crop 351 Clevo and four-speed manual combo, and Theo finished the resto in late 2019. It’s kept a low profile since then, but it earned the Rare Spares Best Restored Ford trophy on Sunday.

Adrian Panzarino is part of the Showcars crew, and the covers came off his gorgeous ‘55 Chev more-door on Sunday.

As good as static shows are, we love a good race car fire-up. Greg Angus’s seven-second HQ doorslammer certainly delivered, as did the new-look Pro Mod Camaro from Race Parts Melbourne.

This EH Premier was the John Lang Chassis drag car in a previous life. It had been returned to the street under Gav Dowling’s custodianship when we spotted it at All Holden Day back in 2017, and it now belongs to Ross Fortuna. Slung low on Welds with a delicious X2-style engine paintjob, it’s a dab-on streeter for 2024.

The ex-Darryl McBeth Magna now owned by Gary McGuigan claimed a prime spot on the ground floor. It was also up for sale with a price tag of $55k, if the world’s wildest Magna is your thing!

Dave Darcy’s HJ Prem earned Judges’ Choice at Summernats 36. Dipped in custom-mix Ocean Blue, it’s mini-tubbed to the rails with a CRS tubular subframe and power-assisted rack up front. A 6.0-litre L77 and TR6060 manual ‘box fill out the bay and tunnel, and Wilwood four-pot brakes feature on each corner. Dave’s thanks list includes Adrian Haynes, “for his mateship, 1000 arguments and help at every step.”

The culmination of an 18-year build, Mitch Young’s ‘bagged ‘50 Chev ute is a tribute to his grandfather, who passed away late in the project’s final stages. It packs a blown 572 big-block, manualised TH400 and four-linked nine-inch, and wears a custom blue pearl with candy purple flames and airbrushing by Mat Egan. “It hit the road about a month ago,” the Ballarat bloke says. “It got unveiled at Colac, so this is its second show.”

Chris Bosevski’s VL Turbo has run a best of 9.0@155mph down the quarter, care of a spicy RB30ET with a GTX4202R snail and Haltech PS2000 management. The ‘Glide has billet guts and a 31-spline Borgy diff handles the shove, while Chris swaps between these 20-inch Simmons and staggered Billet Win Lites for street and track duties.

With a change of wheels, you’d be none the wiser as to the LSA hiding in Terry Vavitis’s Pacific Blue VH Vacationer! Stay tuned for a proper feature in the coming months.

Heaps of feature cars from Victoria and beyond turned out, including Jamie Small’s HQ ute, the XF-fronted XD Falcon built by Emanuel Darmanin, and Darren Bonnici’s XP hardtop.

Geelong snapper Greg Forster (Caprice Photography) must be one of the busiest blokes in the business! He pulled triple duties at Showcars Melbourne, filming the Greased n Gassed YouTube show, shooting all the stills you see here, and watching over his incredible custom ‘61 Caddy.