THE CONTENDERS - VOTE NOW
01 SHANE KEENE EH HOLDEN UTE MAY 2018
“I DID all the fab stuff myself, and my brother and I did the panel beating together,” said Shane Keene of his gorgeous EH ute. “We were working on it every day after work for four years in our backyard shed.” Shane is proud of the fact that his blown, small block-powered EH ute is shed-built, and so he should be. After all, it made the Top 60 at Summernats 31, graced the cover of Street Machine, and scored a SMOTY nomination!
02 ANTONY ATKIN PLYMOUTH CUDA JUN 2018
A PRO touring masterpiece powered by a 604ci Ray Barton Hemi, Antony Atkin’s ’74 Plymouth Barracuda is as black as the ace of spades and just as sinister. Kinsler eight-stack injection sits atop the monster Hemi, which spits out a monumental 970hp! “I could have put a crate motor in it for six or seven grand, but I wanted the biggest-horsepower and biggest-cube motor they could build, so that cost a lot more,” explained Antony. “I did everything as top-notch as I could possibly do it.”
03 BEN JUDD EH HOLDEN WAGON DEC 2017
WITH stunning paint, slick panelwork, a slammed stance and monstrous wheels, Ben Judd’s PRO EH was always going to be a full-blooded people magnet. But it’s only after being drawn in by those big-ticket items that you get blown away by the clever marriage of old-school 202 six, the incredible attention to detail, and the innovative interior – all of which set tongues wagging at Motorex 2017.
04 JOHN SAAD XY FALCON NOV 2017
JOHN Saad wanted a streetable car that had 1000hp naturally aspirated, “no blowers, no turbos”. And that’s exactly what FAT XY is. With an engine bay filled to the brim with a massive 673ci Sonny Leonard, hemi-headed big-block Ford, this gorgeous black XY GT tribute exceeded John’s requirements with a bona fide 1354 98-octanefriendly horses.
05 STEVE BELLIA XB FALCON JAN 2018
LOOK closely at any square inch of Steve Bellia’s ultra-sanitary XB and you’ll quickly realise that nothing is what it seems. Everything is modified (even if only subtly), re-engineered, or fabricated from scratch to be smoother, slicker and a whole lot neater. It’s not just the number plates that scream “fat”, it’s also the mean pro street stance and mile-wide rear rubber – all necessary, given the 754hp on offer from the 434ci Ford.
06 GRANT MAHONEY HQ KINGSWOOD WAGON AUG 2018
FOR custom car fans, Grant Mahoney’s extensively modified HQ Holden wagon is a blast of fresh air in this era of obsessive nut-and-bolt restos. The car boasts an exquisite level of detail throughout, and is slung low – or pitched high, for that matter – on airbags at all four corners. “I’d been planning this car for years – it’s all the things I wanted to do when I was 18,” Grant told us. “All these ideas have been spinning around; the wagon is almost exactly as I first imagined it.”
07 SHAUN BRAYBROOK HK MONARO GTS JUL 2018
OUT of the Southern Rod & Custom stable, Shaun Braybrook’s HK Monaro is a drop-dead stunner. Starting with arguably the most revered body shape in street machining, the SR&C team created a resto-mod masterpiece without compromising any of the genuine GTS’S original appeal. The car has been completely re-engineered from a handling and braking perspective and stuffed full of 434ci of small-block Chev, wrapped up neatly in a factory-inspired colour scheme and GTS warpaint.
08 SHANNON HERAUD MARK I ESCORT AUG 2018
ANY time you drop a Holden engine – especially a 253 – into a Ford, you’re going to polarise people. But when we saw Shannon Heraud’s killer MKI Escort at Motorex, we fell so deeply in love that we put it on the cover of our August issue. In turn, you loved it enough to nominate it as one of your favourite 16 street machines of 2018, and it’s easy to see why. The car has boundless appeal, with its loud-and-proud blown-andinjected thongslapper, prodigious stance, and fat Minilite-style rollers.
09 CRAIG MORROW VH COMMODORE SL /E JUN 2018
ROCKING a striking two-tone paintjob, bench seat and dashmounted shifter, this VH SL/E stands out from the crowd. It was one of the star unveil cars of Summernats 31, and it is packed with innovative features. We were into it as soon as we laid eyes on it, and the judges agreed, awarding it a swag of tinware including outright Tuff Street Champion. A mental, 1050hp Whipple-blown LS is one of many highlights.
10 PETER & JUDY BEAUCHAMP FB HOLDEN JUN 2018
THE more you look at Peter and Judy Beachamp’s WILDFB Holden, the more you see. They’ve owned it for 28 years and it once served as the Beachamp family daily, but these days it’s a far cry from those humble beginnings. We’re talking a twodoor conversion and tilt front end, which flips forward to reveal a twin-turbo Lexus V8. The list of modifications is extensive, and the car is finished to absolute perfection.
11 JASON MCGRATH LC TORANA JUN 2018
WITH a carb-fed 355ci Holden motor and four-speed cogswapper, Jason Mcgrath’s delectable pro street LC Torana is decidedly old-school in the powertrain department. Searing Spitfire Green paint, a great stance and a neat custom interior make it a well-rounded, genuinely street-driven car, tidy enough to finish up in the Elite Top 20 at Summernats 31 – no mean feat.
12 SCOTT REEVES XY FALCON UTE JUL 2018
MOST parents are against the idea of their offspring spending heaps of cash on cars. Not so with Scott Reeves – it was actually his dad’s suggestion to build the brutal XY street/strip weapon you see here. A howling small-block Ford spits out 770hp – more with nitrous – and most of the build was done at home in the shed, so Scott and his dad Robert were stoked to pick up the Engineering Excellence award in Pro Tuff at Summernats 31.
13 PHIL EDMONDSON XB FALCON COUPE JUN 2018
WHAT’S not to love about Phil’s real steel, eightsecond, 1740kg street bruiser? Packing a turbocharged small-block Ford worth 1400hp, the big hardtop takes
Street Machine Drag Challenge in its stride (pulling a giant trailer, mind you), rips down the quarter in 8.46@165mph, sees regular street use, and looks great doing it.
14 DAVID XUEREB TC CORTINA JUL 2018
DAVID Xuereb bought himself this Corty from a Parramatta Road caryard as a fresh-faced 14-year-old lad, and their relationship has been an enduring one. Back then it was a six-pot, but it evolved steadily over the years as David swapped in a 302 and turned it into a bit of a hottie. But this latest build really elevated things – the car is now a full-blown, mirrors-on-the-ground showstopper, popular enough to pick up People’s Choice at Summernats 31.
15 GRAHAME BARKER FX HOLDEN UTE MAR 2018
GRAHAME Barker’s FX ute is a stellar example of what you can achieve if you’re patient and take your time with a project. The car was 20 years in the build, but what a great result! Detailed to absolute perfection and beautifully engineered, the car won Top Judged Elite at Summernats – the top gong for Elite-level show cars at Australia’s biggest modified car show.
16 ANTHONY GHINIS LC TORANA GTR AUG 2018
SHOCK horror! In a move that will no doubt draw the ire of purists, Anthony Ghinis has fitted a Nissan motor to a genuine LC GTR Torana. One of Adelaide’s quickest street cars, the LC is knocking on the door of an eight-second pass thanks to the 658rwhp being offered up by the heavily fettled RB30 singlecammer. Powertrain and wheels and tyres aside, the car presents as an original GTR, complete with the optional stripe package.