Plenty of amazing cars and bikes converge on Alice Springs each year for Red CentreNATS and it is always a challenge to narrow down a list of our faves. Nevertheless, the SM staff have cast their votes to produce our unofficial, highly-subjective Top 10. Some are fast, some couldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding. Some are elite quality, some not quite so much. But they are all caught our eyes and put smiles on our dials. Enjoy!

1&2: Adam Howell had two ripper little Suzuki vans up from Whyalla, SA. He burned rubber on the pad in his yellow Carry with its fresh LS3, and used his wicked, turbo 4WD Every van to cruise the streets of Alice.

3. 2023 Drag Challenge combatant Tim McClure had his sleepy turbo LS-powered EH Special over for the weekend. “I’m here to have a crack at the grass driving events, drags – everything!” he grinned. He went rounds in the Heavy Hitters and DYO grudge racing.

4. The late Alan Hale’s famous FC225 was out and about on Thursday night for the Fringe Festival, with Alan’s son Brendan behind the wheel, and it also took pride of place in Saturday’s elite showcase at Blatherskite Park. The FC remains almost identical to how it appeared when it won Top Street Machine at the 3rd and 4th Street Machine Nationals! 

5. Husband and wife Kevin and Jodie Blackley dual-entered their LS-swapped Ford ute, ‘LS Tonka’, in the Open burnouts, and their sons Andrew and Martin also had a crack in a One Tonner and LJ Torana, respectively.

6. West Aussie Mick Jury had a beaut weekend in his 1971 HQ Monaro, cruising the streets by day and winning the 11.00-11.99 class in the Heavy Hitter drags on Saturday night. “We did a 10.97 during the weekend as well, so I got my 10!” he said. The Quey runs a 434ci Dart SBC, backed by a TH400 from a Jag, of all things.

7. Built by Shields Garage in tribute to the late Nigel Warr, the Warr family’s stunning HQ Monaro headlined the elite unveilings on Saturday. With a Noonan-built, twin-turbo LS and exemplary finish inside and out, it landed a spot in the elite Top 10, along with awards for Top Engine Bay, Top Paint and Top Undercarriage/Engineered.

8. Hayden Walsh’s EF XR6 may look like a tidy stocker, but under the bonnet is a four-cylinder Isuzu 4JJ1 turbo-diesel! “It confuses a lot of people; I love it!” Hayden enthused.

Being a diesel mechanic, swapping the 4JJ1 in wasn’t a difficult task for Hayden. “It uses a full FG Falcon front end and subframe, which bolts straight in with no cutting,” he said. The engine itself is stock, just with bigger injectors and a turbo upgrade to yield 235rwkW and 944Nm through the five-speed auto.

Hayden was rolling coal all weekend, even running a 13.32@105mph pass in the drags!

9. South Australians Amanda Clarke and Daniel Van Geel unveiled Amanda’s 1950 ‘El Choppo’ Mercury sled on Saturday morning, a car they built virtually by themselves. “We did everything including the paint in the garage at home – everything except the interior trim,” Amanda said. The car is powered by a 8BA flathead, backed by a C4 and 9in. Mod cons include electric air con, power steer and fast glass.

10. Dave ‘Bam-Bam’ Martin had his ‘Dirtyhore’ ’34 three-window coupe taking pride of place in the elite hall on Saturday. The body is a modified fibreglass Deuce Customs jobbie, while up front, a BDS-blown 540ci fatty bellows through a set of zoomies. Bam-Bam nabbed a place in the Top 10 Elite judging.