The 32 nd running of the annual Chryslers on the Murray (COTM) rolled into Albury-Wodonga from 14-16 March, 2025, with a huge turnout of entrants and spectators rocking up for Australia’s biggest Chrysler show. The three-day event fired into life on the Friday, with entrants running timed sprint laps around the DECA – Logic Centre circuit in Barnawartha. This was followed by the ‘Great Reveal’, where some newly built Mopar machines were unveiled at Wodonga’s Gateway Lakes.

Saturday kicked off two days of show ’n’ shine and swap meet action at Gateway Lakes, and the official COTM cruise to the Table Top Hotel (formally known as the Ettamogah Pub). Here’s 10 of the coolest cars we spotted over the three days.

1. Rodney & Dodge Neindorf’s ‘BAD FISH’ Barracuda

‘Chrysler of the Show’ went to the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda ‘BAD FISH’, which was unveiled in Friday’s ‘Great Reveal’. Owned by Rodney Neindorf and his son Dodge, the custom-built drag car is fully street registered and was recently repainted by Exotic Kustoms. “We’ve had it for 10 years now,” Rodney said. “It runs a 611ci Hemi, with EFI and makes 1040hp at the hubs through a 727 TorqueFlite transmission and a chromoly fabricated nine-inch.”

2. Carl Cox’s 1970 Dodge Challenger S/E

International DJ Carl Cox, who is also well-known in the drag racing and show car scenes both here and abroad, unveiled his 1970 Dodge Challenger S/E. “I’ve built it to drive,” said the Englishman. “It’s a good driving car and well-mannered on the road. I’ve always liked these later-model Challengers – they’ve got really good flowing body lines – but this is as late a year as I’d go.” The car was imported from the USA in stock condition before being stripped down and repainted in the factory colour Plum Crazy. “We also added the vinyl roof and stripes,” explained Carl. “All the running gear was gone through too. The engine was built by Dandy Engines. It’s a 383 Magnum stroked to 468ci, and it’s got a 727 auto and a nine-inch rear.”

3. Nick Papasergio’s Barra-powered ’69 VF Valiant Safari

This Barra-powered 1969 VF Valiant Safari belongs to Nick Papasergio, who built it specifically with Street Machine Drag Challenge in mind. “I bought it basically as it looks and did the running gear swap,” Nick said. “The motor was built by Jason at Tunnel Vision Turbocharging and makes 900kW at the wheels. It has a Powerglide with an SDE converter, and the nine-inch diff was built by Daniel at PSIDUP in Dandenong.”

4. Joe Anzini’s 1970 Plymouth Road Runner

Another standout car unveiled on Friday was Joe Anzini’s drop dead gorgeous 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. “I bought it basically as it sits,” said Joe, who hails from Guilford, NSW. “We did up the front end and now it drives beautifully. It’s a genuine matching-numbers 440ci six-pack, four-speed manual car with a factory track pack that included the radio delete, heater delete, power steering delete, console delete, and passenger mirror delete options. The colour is Burnt Tan Metallic.”

5. Rod Maloney’s 1964 Plymouth Savoy

This rarer-than-rocking-horse-droppings 1964 Plymouth Savoy belongs to Rod Maloney from the NSW Central Coast. The 426 Max Wedge-powered, four speed manual car is a museum-quality piece of Australian drag racing history. Ron has owned it for 10 years and has done an amazing full restoration. “It’s a lightweight factory-built drag car – it even came from the factory with alloy front panels,” he said. “The body was pretty rough when I got it.

The quarter panels had been cut up over the years for bigger tyres so they were replaced, and we managed to repair the original alloy front guards and reskin the alloy bonnet.” As to the Savoy’s provenance: “Plymouth only built 50 of them and this is one of two brought to Australia in 1964 by Ash Marshall,” Rod explained. “The car has a long racing history in Australia and it won the 1966 Super Stock title, running an 11.80sec quarter-mile.”

6. Brian Dowell’s Dodge Daytona tribute

One of the coolest cars to be unveiled at COTM this year was Brian Dowell’s Dodge Daytona tribute. The car had started life as a Dodge Charger, but when Brian brought it in from New York, it was a total basket case. Every panel needed to be replaced, which made it a perfect candidate to be cut up and turned into a Daytona. Although it looks like an original car from the outside, under the bonnet lurks a late-model, fuel-injected Hemi, while inside the cockpit is a full custom-trimmed interior with comfy late-model seats.

7. Mick Lewis’s 1939 Dodge D11 Luxury Liner coupe

Mick Lewis from Melbourne took out Best Pre-1945 and a spot in the Top 5 American classes with his hot-rodded 1939 Dodge D11 Luxury Liner coupe. “I bought it pretty well as it is out of Tennessee,” said Mick. “It runs a 5.3-litre LS out of a Chevy Suburban. It’s mildly worked with a small cam. It’s got a six-speed Tremec manual gearbox and a nine-inch rear end. I’ve rebuilt the suspension and it’s great to drive now.”

8. Mike Armstrong’s 1934 Dodge pick-up

This sleek, retro-styled 1934 Dodge pick-up is owned by Mike Armstrong from Bendigo, Victoria. “I wanted to build a cool-looking old ute with some modern upgrades for safety,” he said. “It runs the original 215ci flathead six-cylinder that’s been rebuilt with better compression and an aftermarket finned alloy head, aftermarket intake manifold with twin Stromberg carbies, and custom headers. It has a Toyota Supra five-speed manual gearbox with an 8¼-inch BorgWarner rear end and has Commodore front disc brakes.” The ute is painted in 1934 Harley-Davidson Olive Green.

9. Mick Knight’s VH Valiant Charger

Mick Knight has owned his VH Valiant Charger since 1989 and finished building it in 1991. “It was in Street Machine back then in 1991,” recalled Mick, who brought his son Kai along to share in the fun. “It still has the same paint as it did then, and still runs a 265 with 48mm Dellorto carbies, with a Supra five-speed and nine-inch.” The interior is fitted out with old-school Recaro seats and matching trim throughout. It rolls on V5 Simmons wheels.

10. Gonny Radio’s 1948 Dodge D24 sedan coupe

Gonny Radio was the epitome of cool in his Dodge lowrider. “The car’s a 1948 Dodge D24 sedan coupe that I named ‘La Bombita’, which translates to ‘Little Bomb’,” he said. “Suspension is all air bags and it has 13-inch wire wheels – it sits on the sump when fully dropped down!” Engine-wise, the coupe runs the original 230ci flathead six with a fluid-drive auto and an XA Falcon diff. “It’s had a bare metal respray, been rewired and fully retrimmed right through into the boot,” Gonny said.