Summernats 37 Meguiar’s Great Uncover, part one

The Thursday night of Street Machine Summernats kicks off a mammoth weekend at Australia’s best car festival with the Meguiar’s Great Uncover, where sheets are pulled off the newest hotness to be added to the ’Nats Elite Hall honour roll. This year’s Uncover saw a bumper crop of 23 cars shown to the public for the very first time. Here’s the first batch, and we’ll cover the remainder on the website very soon.

Martin Pecotich – HT MONARO

Another balls-deep bad-arse out of the ProFlo Performance stable, Martin Pecotich’s HT Monaro boasts a 533-cube Noonan H2O billet Hemi coupled to a 14/71 BDS air smasher. FuelTech management and a Turbo 400 manage the mammoth grunt, while tucked under the rear quarters is a full-floater rear end and 24×13 wheels. The front is converted with modern IFS goodness, and the outside is finished in a lick of custom-mixed Champagne Metallic by C&J Custom Paint.

Chris Symeou – VG VALIANT

Chris Symeou’s restomodded ’71 VG hardtop brought the Hot Mustard spice to the Elite Hall. Originally a special-order 770, the Val was in a sad state when Chris found it seven years ago. “It’s been off the road since the early 80s, and it went through various hands and then became a parts car, so when I got it, it was a basket case,” he said.

The original 245ci Hemi-six rocks hidden EFI courtesy of a Haltech ECU, while the electric a/c and power steering help modernise the car while still presenting like a stock restoration.

Andrew Broadhead – HJ MONARO GTS

Andrew Broadhead’s genuine HJ GTS has been fully rebuilt since we featured it in SM back in June 2020, when it was owned by Shaun Dunstan. It now rocks a 1225hp, Harrop 2650-blown 427ci LS, radiused tubs and four-link rear end from ProFlo Performance. Down Town Kustoms in Taree redid all the bodywork to get it millimetre-perfect, along with handling a full colour change to a custom metallic brown.

Mick Carter transformed the interior into a stock-themed cabin with hidden smarts, including a custom 3D-printed dash housing Speedhut gauges, one-piece hoodlining, and a full-length console. Wheels are billet Intros measuring 19x8in on the front and 20x10in out back, housing Brembo six-pot and four-pot disc brakes, respectively.

Chris Murphy – XW FALCON UTE

Dubbed the MNYPIT, Chris Murphy’s XW ute is no standard resto. Under the bonnet sits a 607hp, 427-cube Windsor built by AJ’s Engines, while the firewall, trans tunnel, rear wheel tubs and ute tub floor have all been renovated and smoothed, with the colour and bodywork sorted by Resurrection Panel N Paint. To top off the build, it sits proud on a set of American Legend Thunderbolt wheels, measuring 20×8 in front and 20×12 under the new rear tubs.

Matt Smoors – VL COMMODORE

Matty Smoors’s drag-and-drive 1987 VL is an HDT Group A tribute complete with a Polarizer and a spicy, twin-turbo 388ci Dart LS from ACE Racing Engines in California, capable of making up to 2500hp on 50psi.

“I miss going racing and I wanted to go fast, so I built this car from scratch to run high sixes at 200mph,” said Matt. “This way I can still enjoy my VK, which is my first car.

“We wanted to unveil the VL at Summernats because it’s a little too nice to ruin it straight away, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But on Sunday, I’m pushing it to the outside of the hall, putting fuel in it and we’re driving it.”

Paul Buttigieg – 1955 CHEVROLET BEL AIR

Paul Buttigieg’s ’55 Chevy is a loud, low and luscious throwback to 80s pro street builds. Forget the late-model LS; Paul’s heavy Chevy packs a monstrous 502ci big-block rat motor up front, with EFI to improve its manners. Behind the 8.2-litre powerhouse, the Western Street & Custom-built brawler rocks the traditional drivetrain of a TH400 and nine-inch diff, which has been heavily narrowed to fit those giant 15×16.5 Weld V-Series rear wheels.

With all brightwork now colour-coded to the turquoise green worn by the shell, the four-year build is engineered, as Paul intends to put plenty of ‘street’ in ‘pro street’, despite the smoothed and detailed undercarriage.

Steven & Kathleen Alldrick – XM FALCON UTE

Deluxe Rod Shop’s Steven and Kathleen Alldrick are no strangers to having customer cars grace the Elite Hall at Summernats, but this XM ute is a bit different, as it’s their own car! The pair first spied the ute 10 years ago in Yea, Victoria when they first moved there.

Fast-forward to mid-2023 and Kathleen bought it for Steven as a birthday present, as his first car was an XM (which he still owns!). Being the way they are with building cars, the pair’s original plan of a tidy-up quickly turned into a full-blown resto worthy of an elite-level first showing.

Rick Absolom – 1948 CHEVROLET PICK-UP

Assembled and polished to within an inch of its life by owner Rick Absolom, this 1948 Chev pick-up rocks plenty of stonk from a 6/71-blown small-block Chev built by Robbie Lupo. The truck sits nice and low on independent suspension under all four corners using the old-school trick of nicking the suspension set-up from a Jaguar.

Damien Jensen – XY FALCON

Damien Jensen’s plan of turning his crusty Falcon 500 into a simple GT lookalike escalated into a five-year build, largely taken care of by himself and his good mate Darren. “We did all the re-assembly and the build ourselves; the only major part of the car we outsourced was the paint to Garage 12,” said Damien.

That fresh colour is Electric Blue, while under the Falc’s bonnet is a 393ci Clevo making 560hp.

Rob Downing – 1963 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

A dak-dak in the Elite Hall? You betcha! Rob Downing’s Bug runs a 2276cc Type 1 stroker engine with a steel crank, forged internals and CNC-ported heads. It needs all that to take boost from a sweet turbo, feeding through a Holley intake and an external wastegate to combine for a 380rwhp package.

Taking that grunt to the ground is a four-cog transaxle with an LSD, while a braced chassis and Air Ride suspension all ’round get the V-Dub down low over its 15×8 Boyd Coddington wheels.

Inside, you’ll find a chrome-moly rollcage and smoothed sheet metal throughout, while the exterior is finished in a custom turquoise metallic. Body mods include widened front and rear guards and flush-mounted glass.