First published in the September 2004 issue of Street Machine
More than a few punters were perplexed when they walked through the doors of Meguiar’s MotorEx to find a few of the cars still covered up. Probably thought ‘lazy sods haven’t even showed up to pull the bloody car covers off!’ Actually the seven cars and one bike still under wraps were part of the … erm … inaugural House Of Kolor Inauguration.

Owen Webb, from Meguiar’s, explained the point of the Inauguration, describing it as a way to feature the best cars, screwed together by the best builders in the country. With the effort that goes into creating these cars, Meguiar’s felt the people behind them needed to be better recognised.
Well ahead of the 11am unveiling the crowd grew steadily, surrounding the silhouette of what was, despite the black sheet over it, obviously Gary Myers’s wild, twin blown, chopped Mustang. As the covers were removed and the flame-covered pony car was revealed with a tower of gleaming metal through the bonnet, the crowd responded with cheers, wolf-whistles and applause, and Gary — rather reluctantly — gave the audience a few words about the build.

Attention then shifted in turn to Wes Sparkes’s wild custom bike; Daniel Cassar’s immaculate ’32; Dave Ritchie’s redo of the Hillier XP; Mick Fabar’s Model A roadster pick-up; Mark Jones’s FAT GTO; and lastly Darryl McBeth’s insane — and long-awaited — Magna. Along with the freshly-unveiled creations, the crowd was treated to the best street machines, hot rods and hi-tech imports the country has to offer, courtesy of the grand final of the Showcar Superstars competition. Every major State show, as well as Summernats, selects two street machines and two hot rods as Showcar Superstar finalists. The hi-tech import finalists were the top 10 contenders from the Auto Salon Final Battle. This hand-picked group was invited to attend the grand final at the Meguiar’s MotorEx in Sydney, to try for top honours.
For this year’s finalists, the competition was fierce in every category. Pete Olver’s ‘33 Coupe, Rod Hadfield’s Model T, Ben Knobben’s ’32 Roadster and Steve Portelli’s ’34 Ford Tourer fought it out for the hot rod honours. In the end Portelli was the last man standing and took home the big trophy.


In the street machine class, Anthony Sant with his super-sano ’57 Tudor, Drago Ostric’s Gemini and Dave Ritchie’s XP were hard to separate but in the end it was the Sant ’57 that took it out. Interestingly, Ritchie’s XP qualified while sporting the old paint-job rather than the colours it wore after its unveiling in Sydney.
Hi-tech import honours went to Mouhamed Ibrahim and his tough, quad-rotor BMW M3 Coupe.
All of the finalists featured stunning workmanship and detailing, and judging must have been a staggering task, but in the end three happy owners and three popular cars came out on top.



An important thing to remember about Showcar Superstars is that there is no requirement for the cars to be registered so there are no limitations and, most importantly, no rules. Just build whatever your imagination can conjure up.
It was especially tough this year at MotorEx though, with four selected finalists being part of the HOK Inauguration. They were McBeth and Myers in the street machine class, and Cassar and Fabar for the hot rods. But it wasn’t just about the Showcars at MotorEx. Once you’d finished checking out the 140 or so cars in the dome, you could wander down into the main pavilion and check out hundreds of classic, vintage, muscle and race cars, as well as a few dozen bikes.

As the show fell on American Independence Day, there was a large contingent of yankee iron, with everything from Mustangs to Hudsons on offer. There was also a large display of Aussie muscle with a strong showing from the Mopar crowd.
All in all, a top weekend with enough variety to keep even the most jaded car show attendee interested. We can’t wait to see what people come up with next year for the HOK Inauguration — word is that there are already 10 people knocking on the Meguiar’s door, keen to debut their cars. Bring it on!
HIGHLIGHTS:

1. This is the motivation behind Mick Fabar’s Model A pick-up. Scott Lane at Hot Rod Lane built this neat rod with a ’60s Hilborn stack injection modified to run EFI. Independent suspension all round, House of Kolor paint and just the right stance made this a favourite.

2. Also competing in Showcar Superstars was Gerry Mediati’s one-tonner (July ’04 cover car). Since its last outing, Gerry had completely re-done the tray to make it appear lower as well as spending a bunch of time getting the tray mirror-smooth. Sadly the blown motor wasn’t ready.

3. Ben Knobben’s ’32 roadster, over from Adelaide for the show, was good enough to book itself a place in the Showcar Superstars final. With flawless detailing and an injected Corvette motor, it’s easy to see why.

4. Greg Wilton’s FB two-door came across from Perth to compete in the Showcar Superstars Final. The car now sports a set of 17-inch billet wheels and low profile tyres for a change of pace.

5. Dave Ritchie took a Showcar Superstar finalist, pulled it apart for a complete re-paint and some major mods, and started assembly 10 days before the show! New features include suicide doors by Drago Ostric, a new dash, air-bag suspension, Matt Egan flames and superb paint by Frank’s Panel & Paint. The XP was a real contender for top prize in the street machine class of Meguiar’s Best of Breed.

6. Top Car of the show was Daniel Cassar’s new ’32 Ford roadster. Built at home by Daniel, his brother Adam and the rest of the family, the car is amazingly detailed. From the hand-formed steel roof and Duvall-style screen to the hand-made, fully-polished exhaust, this rod had onlookers spellbound as they tried to take it all in.

7. A fade-away paintjob is hard to get right. Master of the fade-away is the legendary Gene Winfield. Don’t look him up in the phone book though — he’s in the US. This ’57 Chrysler Imperial features one of Gene’s cool paint jobs as well as a twin quad 392 Hemi.

8. Three popular attractions were these trad customs built by John D’Agostino in the US. Now part of the Hollywood Classics fleet, they’re available for hire. You’d be hard pressed to find a cooler way to roll up to the church. Hardest part will be picking which one you want to hire.

9. Anthony Sant’s super-clean ’57 Tudor was deemed Best of Breed among the Meguiar’s Showcar Superstars street machines finalists. With amazing engine bay detailing and a clean and classy interior, it’s easy to see why it took out the top prize.


10. Darryl McBeth’s astounding Magna made its long awaited debut at MotorEx. The Magna features extensive bodywork modifications, including suicide doors. Awesome paint by True Colour Restorations, wild trim, a massive Sony stereo system and an all-alloy.

11. Mario Colalillo with the car that inspired his custom Caddy. Mario helped get the three D’Agostino customs to the show. The custom bug has bitten and a Buick is next on Mario’s hit list.

12. Featured in the August SM, Bill Sultana’s ’26 Model T is tough as. With Model A fenders, this little roadster is as smooth and clean as they come. Blown small-block up front keeps the dust from settling.

13. Dave Hart’s latest rod is this ’34 Tourer with big-block Chev. The same Pete Osbourne body as Showcar Superstar winner Steve Portelli yet a completely different look shows clever handiwork and plenty of imagination.


14. Up from Victoria was Ted Krolo’s HOT ’57 Chev. Sporting an outstanding Matt Egan flame-job, the Chevy stood out like the dog’s proverbials. With a stock interior and standard brightwork it’s a restorer’s dream — except for the blown, big-block Chev and 15.5-inch Convo Pros!

15. That’s a mighty big hole in the bonnet of Steve Leerendvelt’s Torana — bigger than it used to be. Steve has added a couple of turbos to the mix as the blower just wasn’t enough! And he was one of the few who drove his car on and off the trailer.


16. Yeah Baby! Vans are making a comeback, so lock up your daughters and dig out the flares. There was a small but varied collection of panos on display which had many people standing around with glazed looks in their eyes, reminiscing about the good ol’ days.

17. The first car to be unveiled as part of the House of Kolor Inauguration was Gary Myers’s Mustang. When the twin blowers were uncovered the crowd was awestruck — or it could’ve just been that everyone was blinded by the reflection from that polished hunk of metal!

18. One neat trick in Gary’s Mustang is how he has run the fuel and brake lines through the cockpit. After installing the twin three-inch exhaust in the trans tunnel with the tailshaft, there wasn’t room for anything else.

19. Archie Fullerton trekked from Perth for the Showcar Superstars. With a polished stainless steel floor, red pearl paint and lots of other polished bits, the Tudor is like a hall of mirrors underneath. With a blown small-block up front it goes hard and Archie isn’t afraid to drive it.

20. Mario Colalillo’s King Cad was keeping company with the D’Agostino customs. With the heavy metalflake paint seriously sparkling under the bright show lights, the judges were dazzled enough to hand over the trophy for best wild custom.

21. This crazy creation is the latest from Wes Sparks’s workshop. We featured Wes’s previous bike, Goldfinger, in Dec 2003 but the new scoot makes that look positively tame. With its single-sided fork, wild paint and massive rubber, this murdersickle really stands out in the crowd.

22. Adam Le Brese had his SMOTY-winning EH there and it drew admiring crowds.

23. Mark Jones’s FAT GTO was completed just in time for MotorEx after a four month build. The GTO’s tow car broke down on the Hay Plains at 2.00am the day before the show (on the way from Adelaide to Sydney), but that wasn’t going to stop Mark! Options that aren’t available at Pontiac dealers include a full chassis, blown big-block, and snakeskin interior by Carmine Carofano. The slick paint and graphics work was done by Ben Reid and Matt Egan.

24. Another home-built car, good enough to bag a top five trophy among high-dollar competition, was Al Scott’s ’50 Chev Fleetline. Under the big plastic cockroach is a Holden V8 and the colour is Hothouse Green. Air bags give the right stance, ivory and silver sort the inside.

25. More often than not (thanks to the twin-blown, 429 Boss engine) the front of Rod Hadfield’s Model T Coupe receives all the attention. Here’s a shot that shows how tough the car is from all angles.

26. Best of Breed winner in the hot rod class was Steve Portelli and his immaculate ’34 Vicky Tourer. No excuses now Steve — you’ve won everything, so get that rod on the road.

27. Street machine Best of Breed winner Anthony Sant stands in front of his awesome ’57 Tudor with the spoils of victory.
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