A DECADE in business is cause enough to celebrate, but for our mates at Oxytech, the milestone is all the more significant. A devastating fire ripped through their premises not 12 months ago, destroying everything in its path. Scott Barter and the Oxytech team have worked tirelessly to re-establish operations in a stunning new factory in Smithfield, NSW, and they decided it was time to throw a birthday bash, with tough cars, live music, a barbecue, giveaways and Krispy Kreme doughnuts for days.

“We just asked some mates to bring their cars around, and it ended up much bigger than we’d planned,” said Scott. “It was great to be able to show everyone that we are well and truly up and running after the fire, and it was awesome just to catch up with so many good people. I was rapt with the turnout; it was brilliant.”

Scotty’s own toy is this beaut ’56 Chevy pick-up, which runs a ’58 Fleetside back and rests on an HQ panel van chassis – hence why it’s powered by a blown Holden V8, which fits neatly under the bonnet. The car was built at United Speed Shop in Newcastle, and the vast majority of it is powdercoated, including the chassis and body panels; it’s a very cool look. It was quite literally finished at the event, with Smiths Kustoms coming down to stripe it in front of the crowd.

Craig Dixon’s TUFHQ still looks absolutely stunning, years on from its feature in Street Machine. Powered by an angry 414ci, 630hp small-block Chev, the car had a solid crowd around it all day.

Jason Lowe’s KE20 Corolla is a street machine trapped in a four-pot Jap car’s body! Exquisitely detailed from pillar to post, it runs a Toyota 4AG 16-valve engine, rolls on billet wheels and has a crazy purple interior that contrasts against the orange paint. Rumour has it he has another ’Rolla on the go, which will be better again.

Jason’s brother Damien ‘Chubby’ Lowe continues to toil away on his wildly reimagined VB Commodore. With Lowe Fabrications’ own IFS front end, a crazy nine-inch-based IRS rear end, plastic power and a rear-mount twin-turbo set-up, it’ll be a real jaw-dropper once complete.

Johnno’s FJ20-powered Escort is a work of absolute pro touring art. With so much track-focussed fabrication work mixed with show-quality finishes, you could be excused for thinking Johnno was aiming to show the car. On the contrary, he’s looking to cruise it and beat up on it at the track at his earliest convenience. The car is nearing completion, and the instant it’s there we’ll be sure to point a camera at it.

The man responsible for much of the fab work on the abovementioned Escort is Aaron Gregory from Memphis Hell Custom Vehicle Builders, and Aaron’s own truck has recently undergone a very cool pro touring makeover. Make sure you pick up the October issue of Street Machine for a full feature on this thing!

Russel Zout’s Moonshine GMC sits on a bagged Hilux chassis and runs LS1 power. She’s nearly ready to fire up.

Ryan and the boys from United Speed Shop hauled their in-the-build shop truck down from Newcastle. Packing a bunch of their own hardware including USS four-link arms and Magnum IFS front end, it’s slammed on a monstrous set of 20- and 22-inch Billet Specialties rollers.

Fresh from mid-11sec passes at the track on its Harrop-blown, internally standard injected five-litre, I brought my own car along to partake in the fun.

Drag Challenge veteran Steve Grima has himself quite a stable of cars these days. Pictured in the background is his wild ProCharged big-block Camaro, parked next to his similarly named VN Commodore, which packs turbo LS power and should be a cat among the Haltech Radial Blown pigeons at DC this year.