First published in the November 2004 issue of Street Machine

We get the odd complaint that the cars featured in Street Machine are trailer queens — they look tough but don’t see much action. While that might be true for some of the best Elite-level masterpieces, you only have to visit an event like Supernats to discover that many of the sweetest cars to appear in this mag also get driven like hell!

Dave Maiolo’s blown, big-block Willys is a case in point. It’s a gorgeous machine — our Hot Rod Annual cover car in fact, built from a valuable real-steel shell — but Dave has no qualms about giving it stick. Dave not only entered the go-to-whoa but also the drags (running mid-11s) and the burnout comp!

“Mate, I drove it here and I’m gonna drive it back,” beamed Dave. “I’ll have to give it a bit of a clean but it’s run perfectly, hasn’t dropped an ounce of fluid or anything. People can’t believe I’m doing skids in it, it’s great!”

The judges rewarded Dave’s incredible enthusiasm with the Show ’n’ Go Grand Champion trophy, the ultimate recognition of true, all-round street machining excellence at Supernats.

This was the first Supernats held at Sydney’s WSID, just across the road from its previous home at Eastern Creek Raceway, and the team took full advantage of this great new venue. Space restrictions meant that the Show ’n’ Shine side of the event was a little overwhelmed by the activities on the drag strip but a host of primo show cars turned up to give punters the chance to look them over in natural sunlight.

Anthony Sant’s all-conquering ’57 Chev took the Show ’n’ Shine Grand Champion gong, while Dave Ritchie’s XP was close behind with a haul of five trophies, including Top Paint, Top Undercarriage and Top Bodywork. Other cars to do well included Bob Evans’s GT, Pete Olver’s ’33 and Mario Colalillo’s Caddy.

The drags brought a bunch of great cars out to play — some streeters, some full competition. At the top of the tree were the Pac Performance MX-6 and Daniel Callaghan’s LC Torana, both brought in as exhibition-only cars. Each ran more than 200mph, but it was Rocky Reheyam who took the prize for quickest ET, running a 7.001-second pass in the tube-chassis MX-6, against Callo’s 7.113 in his back-halved LC.

The drag competition proper was a dial-your-own affair, with Quick 8, Quick 16, Quick 32 and Street ET brackets. The Quick 8 was headed by Brain Bennet’s super-mean, full chassis Walkinshaw drag car. Powered by a nitrous-fed 505ci big block, Brian top qualified with a best of 8.10. The field included plenty of the local VPW Top Ten heroes, including Robert Campesi’s twin turbo Cortina (8.18) and the Trick and Manswetto Capri (8.35). The rotaries made their presence felt too, including the quad rotor BMW of Mouhamed Ibrahim (8.36) and Matt White’s wild R100 (8.44).

The Quick 8 final was a shootout between Mark Hayes’s nitrous-sucking Pro Street LC and Mark Flowers’s supercharged Austin A40 ute. Hayes had blown the pinion in his Torana on the Saturday but had it fixed and back on the track with plenty of time to make his way through the heats and claim the final.

Supernats organiser Ahmet Shiringeli opened the burnout comp in fine style, blowing both rear tyres off his long-suffering HD ute. A series of excellent skids followed, most notably from Mark Dallaqua in his Escort and Queenslander Nathan Owens-Place in his XD. Mark Yardy was looking good in qualifying in his Yummy Holden ute, but his charge was cut short when he put a piston through the sump of his blown rat motor. This left Gary Myers to claim the title in GM 176, proving that the intensive work creating the new Silver Bullet Mustang hasn’t dulled his fighting spirit.

Seeing gorgeous cars like Gary’s Mustang being used the way the Lord intended is what Supernats is all about. Whether it was Ben Gatt’s slinky Lincoln performing tow car duties or Frank Pudarich’s Torana on the burnout pad, there were amazing Street Machine feature cars doing their thing everywhere you looked. Bliss!

Winners

Burnout: Gary Myers – Mustang
Gary came second in the Show ’n’ Go Grand Champ stakes but claimed the burnout crown in GM 176, making short work of a pair of brand new BFG radials. He also ran same quarters in the low 12s.

Show ’n’ Go: Dave Maiolo – Willys
Dave Maiolo thrashed the arse out of his gorgeous Willys in the drags, burnout and go-to-whoa to run away with the Show ’n’ Go Grand Champion gong. You can check the beast out in detail in the Street Machine Hot Rod Annual, on sale now!

Show ’n’ Shine: Anthony Sant – ’57 Chev
With trophies for Summernats Top Judged, Summernats People’s Choice and Meguiar’s Showcar Superstars already in his lounge room, you’d think Anthony Sant would have enough but he sneaked in front of Dave Ritchie to win the top gong at Supernats too.

Quick 8: Mark Hayes – LC Torana
Mark Hayes’s LC fronted at Supernats with a new 1000hp Chev rat and a ton of nitrous. Mark pulled the front wheels hard on each run (sometimes twice) and won the Judges’ choice trophy.

Quick 16: Mick Voase – LX Torana
Mick Voase missed out on a spot in the Quick 8 but redeemed himself with victory in the Quick 16. Mick ran a new PB of 8.99 in the amazing 540ci rat-powered LX Torana.

Quick 32: Anthony Penna – LJ Torana
Anthony’s RAMPGE Torana packs a small-block Chev built by Paul Sant of Pro Flo fame. Anthony ran super-consistent flat 10-second quarters to take home the cash.

HIGHLIGHTS:

When we saw Shane Narayan’s DEFECT Monaro at last year’s Supernats he promised to bring it back with a blown donk — and he wasn’t kidding! Next on the agenda is a set of mini tubs and a full leather re-trim.

Johnny Briscas’s Capri has been a long-standing features of the VPW Top Ten list. The Capri runs a big-block Chev on gas, with a best of 8.1@168mph.

Clint George’s UC is looking better than ever, now with über-cool Weld rims on the front, along with a set of Strange four-spot discs. Clint ran mid-nines on the track to snatch the Street Machine’s Choice trophy.

Ben Sacilotto’s CLASIK EH has had a few mods since our feature (SM, March 2003), with mini-tubs, bonnet scoop and a set of Convo Pros. Ben broke into the 11s for the first time, running a series of 11.9-second passes.

One of the more unusual cars at Supernats was Gordon Ross’s GT40 and it had a crowd around it all weekend. Gordon did 95 per cent of the work on the replica himself. It runs a 302 donk through an Audi 90 transaxle.

Mario Colalillo brought his mighty Plymouth out of storage for Supernats. The blown, alcohol-fed small-block powered him to mid-nines.

Former Summernats Grand Champ Peter Fitzgerald dropped the pipes off his beautiful FC and pulled flat-13s down the quarter on street rubber.

Joe Pagano’s VR ute is now running his first-ever blower and the Forza-built Holden mill powered him to a very impressive 11.1 second pass. He also cut sick on the burnout pad!

Taking the fight up to the LS1 crew was Ramsin Badal and his AU XR8. Running a 347ci stroker kit, AFR heads, Trickflow intake and a 150hp gas shot, the AU ran a best of 11.2@118mph.

Jake Edwards’s single turbo LH continues to impress. Still running its budget 308 donk, the Torana now sports Microtech EFI and a reverse bonnet scoop. Jake ran a new PB of 8.98@147mph, with just 11.5in of rubber and 22psi of boost.

One of several quick Capris was the 454-powered beast of Craig O’Brien. The motor was built by Pro Fab Motorsports and runs a 275hp gas shot, going as quick as 8.75@154mph. SV5000 paint and RS3000 bodywork helps it stand out from the pack.

Rob Godfrey’s Toy Ton is one serious street car. Packing a 427 mill, Rob has run a best of 10.3@130mph over the quarter on pump gas.

Joe Cauchi’s evil black HK had everyone’s attention. Packing a blown and injected 454, the Munro was pretty much the loudest car of the event. Currently tuned ‘fat’, the Monaro is going to cop an even bigger set of rear wheels, with Joe hoping for an eight-second timeslip in future.