Motorvation 25 Perth, 2011

First published in the March 2011 issue of Street Machine

One thing Motorvation will always have over Summernats is that it’s been going a year longer. This year was number 25 for the west’s biggest car festival — a quarter of a century — and a silver anniversary is always a reason to celebrate. Keeping any event running for 25 years is a big effort and as good a reason as any to pull out all the stops.

Naturally enough, everyone had a blast and there was some fantastic action with super-tough cars hitting the track and shredding tyres in the Snakepit but sadly there was little on display in the Elite tent that was new and exciting. Importing Peter Fitzpatrick’s FC right off the back of its Summernats Grand Champ win was a great move, however, and the car was constantly surrounded by people checking out all the clever details.

Fitzy was having a ball, handing out free autographed posters and checking the action during the Supercruise.

“Cruise?” he said, “it’s like a full-on burnout comp out there!”

Yep, that’s how they do it at Motorvation and this year it seemed a lot more people were trashing tyres through the Snakepit during the cruise. Maybe it was the slightly cooler weather or simply the well-oiled operation that had two lanes of cars constantly moving through.

Of course, there were a few standout vehicles on display in the big tent and they weren’t all cars. Robert Watson, of Watson’s Express Transport, brought along his Kenworth semi and it appears he’s quite the AC/DC fan. The entire truck is covered with airbrushed tributes to the band members and their songs but my favourite part would have to be the rear fenders which are airbrushed to make the flames look as if they’re embossed into the guards.

Another ride that caught my eye was Mark Barker’s Gemini, not normally a model I’d spend much time on. But when they’re wearing a gorgeous coat of candy red and gold pearl, have a full leather interior and a killer engine bay, they tend to stop you in your tracks.

The Edward family’s mini monster truck was a ripper as well. A scaled down C10 Chevy ute, it used a custom chassis and a 250cc Honda three-wheeler motor. Everything on it worked, including the lights, horn and spotties, and it even did some laps — and attempted skids — during the elite Supercruise.

MORE Motorvation 26 Perth (2012) – Gallery

Mitchell Rando’s EH would have to be the coolest stretch limo in town by a long way and much more tasteful than a stretched Hummer, while Mark Miocevich’s MAX RAT was impressive for a different reason — 632 cubes of Merlin goodness. If the name’s familiar, he built FAT GT (SM, May ’04). Matt Naylor’s VL also looked stunning, with pearl orange appearing to be a highly favoured colour this year.

But the show tent is just a small part of Motorvation; it’s really about what happens out on the track and, most importantly, at the Snakepit.

This year the burnout competition was split into Blown and Open classes and with Steve Sines sitting on the sidelines, as he’d just got back from claiming third in the National Burnout Masters at Summernats, the competition was a little more open though still very tough.

Mick Hocking had his brand new tonner out on the track and it looked killer with its three-inch chop and beautifully detailed and polished blower punching through the bonnet.

“I was going to go down the show car path with it, so it’s all painted underneath as well. It’s just a 350 with Dart heads, Scat H-beam rods and a Lunati cam. The blower was done by Bob Fisher,” Mick said.
One thing’s for certain — it looks way too nice to chuck around the burnout pad but that’s where Wild Mick does his best work.

As sweet as the car is, he abused it hard enough to earn third place and he shouldn’t be too disappointed as Matt Pernell’s HQUBED scored the win, making it two tonners on the podium. They were split by Steve Moggs’s RUFFAZZ Hilux, so it was a clean sweep for the tray backs.

Matt Pernell literally blew the tyres off HQUBED to take out the Blown class win

In the Open class it was Ford’s turn to shine, with James Calway going back-to-back in his RAVIN XD ute while Darran Williams’s DIESEL XF ute took second. Rounding out the results was Colin Byrne in SEWERSIDE, which seems to send the message that if you’re not doing burnouts in a tradie’s vehicle, you don’t stand a chance.

Despite the quality of the skids, the toughest job at Motorvation would have to be selecting the winner from the six stunning Miss Motorvation finalists. They sure do build them nice in the west and it was a close call to split Gemma Taylor, Karissa Gilham and Mackenzie Smits, with Gemma taking the title.

Motorvation will always be a major part of the West Aussie scene but with more events on offer than ever, it’s going to be tough to stay on top. And that’s good news for us punters!

GRAND NATIONAL SLEEPER

Here’s something you don’t see every day, especially on this side of the Great Victoria Desert. Sean Tippet rocked up in his Buick GNX clone, a sleeper if there ever was one. These things were rocketships out of the factory, thanks to turbo 3.8l V6 power, but Sean plans to get his one running 10s. So far the car has been treated to wheels, brakes and a bigger turbo but it’s not quite sorted, so it hasn’t hit the track yet.

SNAKE EYES

Benno Eaton and Ryan Press bagged the perfect spot to check out the burnouts and cruising action at the Snakepit. Front row and right at the start, the prevailing winds blew the smoke just past them. It works so well that you can even wear a white T-shirt! My kind of thinking.

BOG STOCK

One of the stand-out cars in the Elite tent was Aaron Scott’s XP Futura coupe. Admittedly it’s stock as a rock but if you’re going to have an XP, this is the one to have. Disc brakes, 14-inch wheels and the 200 cubic inch big-block! “This was my first car; I drove it with P-plates and everything. It’s been off the road since 2000 but was fully rebuilt over the last couple of years by Bert Hawkins, who has one of the original Bill Warner XP Falcon Sprints,” Aaron said.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Matt Pernell smoked them all in the Blown Burnout class and then showed everyone how to do it in a straight line, winning the Megaskid comp.

2. Best use of a flamed bed sheet ever must go to Matt Naylor and his VL Turbo. The pearl orange paint and the RB25 aren’t too bad either.

3. One of the coolest cars in the Elite Tent was Taylor and Elissa Edwards’s ‘Chevasaurus’. The mini monster truck is fully functioning and even cut laps during the Supercruise.