Today is a big day for the staff of Street Machine, as we leave the Wheels Media organisation and join up with the Out There Group, who are the folks behind Street Machine Summernats, Meguiar’s MotorEx, Red CentreNATS, the National Drag Racing Championship and more.

Street Machine has had a few different owners over 40+ years (including media titan Kerry Packer for over 20 of those), but for the most part, that hasn’t mattered much to the folks who read our mags, watch our videos or attend our events. What has mattered is the relationship between the brand and the incredible tribe that makes up our sport.

What is a little different this time around is that we are now part of a business that loves what we do. Street Machine was always something of a black sheep in a very corporate world. Now we get to work with a bunch of guys and girls who live and breathe street machining and are ready to help us unleash our full potential as an independent media business for the first time.

We have worked closely with the folks at Out There ever since they bought Summernats from the late, great Chic Henry in 2009. The crew work hard, think smart and are super hands-on. I’m absolutely stoked to be working with them.

And of course, Street Machine has been deeply involved with Summernats as the major sponsor since the very first event in 1988. We reckon both Chic and Street Machine founder Geoff Paradise would be proud as punch.

Why has this happened?

Here’s the lowdown from Out There director Andy Lopez:

“To everyone in the modified and performance vehicle industry and in Australian motorsport, Street Machine magazine has been the Bible for over 40 years. It’s been a staple of the car-loving community, but has also created that crazy car passion for hundreds of thousands of Australians.

“When the chance came up to bring Street Machine into the fold, we knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something really special. Street Machine is a proud champion of the car community, telling the stories of great people in the scene with amazing words, and capturing their incredible machines in beautiful imagery. Our festivals are the playgrounds where that same community comes to show off their awesome cars in a real-life setting. It makes perfect sense to bring Street Machine and our group together.”

What’s going to change?

On one level, not much! Street Machine will remain editorially independent and we’ll continue to promote and attend events of all kinds around the country. If anything, our aim is to ramp up this coverage of shows big and small.

The whole team remains in place, including editor Andrew Broadley and all of our talented freelancers.

There are about a bajillion cool things we’d love to see Street Machine do in the future. Maybe a pro touring event for those of you who like cars that stop, turn and go? Or an Outback Drag Challenge that really puts our street cars to the test, finishing up at Alice Springs Inland Dragway? How about a podcast that uncovers the wildest stories from our most iconic car builders? The possibilities are endless.

The big thing for me, however, is simply to tell as many awesome stories as we can, in different ways, about all kinds of car builds and builders. And now, we have a massive opportunity to expand that mission.

Drop us a line!

As we’ve always said, the ultimate owners of Street Machine are you guys, so drop us an email or let us know in the comments below where you’d like us to go in the decade to come.