SUPER TROOPERS

THE SATURDAY-NIGHT SUPERCRUISE IS USUALLY A DUSTY AFFAIR, BUT EVEN THIS YEAR’S WEATHER CONDITIONS COULDN’T TAKE THE SHINE OFF THIS GREAT SPECTACLE

AFTER the hottest day ever recorded in Canberra, it was a welcome relief when the temps finally dropped as the sun dipped below the western horizon and the cars started to line up for the Saturdaynight Summernats Supercruise. The glitz and shine of the event had definitely been dulled by the amount of dust falling on the cars all day, and the cars vying for Grand Champ didn’t have to complete the usual three laps of the trotting track or compete in any of the driving events. This meant that there were very few, if any, cars from the Elite Hall lapping the track, but there were still plenty of Street Elite and burnout cars chucking laps.

One of the coolest was the new ride from David

Cufone of 1FATRAT fame. It’s a ’68 Chevy Nova, resplendent in black (of course) and highlighted with a white Yenko S/C stripe; Yenko being racer Don Yenko’s Pennsylvanian Chev dealership that was renowned for its customised muscle cars in the 60s.

Dom Luci left his just-unveiled VK in the Elite Hall and jumped into LITMUP to cut some laps with a carful of mates, but surely the wildest ride at the Supercruise was Fred Cavassini’s ’34 coupe, which had been off the road for 20 years. After losing good mate Mario Colalillo to a heart attack in late 2018, Fred figured life’s too short and is getting as much use as he can out of the blown and injected methanol-fuelled beast.

Three waves of cruisers completed their laps, and the next item on the agenda would usually be a fireworks display, but not surprisingly – with fires ravaging the country and EPIC about as dry as a dead dingo’s old fella – that was called off. All it meant was the crowd could get into the rock’n’roll a bit quicker, so as the gates opened onto the infield, people bolted to get a good spot in front of the stage to ensure the best view of Nollsy’s crotch and sweet-rocking moves.

Even after his hard-fought victory in the mower racing, Nolllsy still had the energy to belt out a one-hour set. It must be tough to follow such a legend, but hard-rockers Airbourne had no problem getting the crowd jumping. If you’re worried about AC/DC not being around anymore, make sure you get onto these guys.

For plenty of ‘more experienced’ street machiners, there’s just something about a hotted-up FJ Holden. “My mate Paul Cundy reckoned he had a dream about my FJ looking like a nostalgia racer,” explained owner Ben Wells, who had his Chev 350-powered FJ at the ’Nats last year. So just before Christmas, body-man Paul ‘patinaed’ the car for a fresh ‘old’ look for 2020 Scott Barter from Oxytech brought along his ’56 Chevy pick-up, cruised the wheels off it and picked up the Top Cruiser award. Being a purveyor of fine powdercoating, it’s not surprising su that there’s no paint pa or plating on the truck

This is what it’s all about: getting a carful of mates, having a great time and tapping into the spirit of Supercruise. The chariot is Martin Ciccone’s HZ Kingswood, RU4RIL, which spent most of Summernats popping wheelies on the cruise route David Cufone will never be able to replace his killer Chevelle 1FATRAT, but his latest ride, this equally tough ’68 Nova, will do just nicely. The NOVAKILL plates say it all Summernats founder Chic Henry and judge Tony Cairns clown around in front of Chic’s iconic big blockpowered ’62 Impala