BROADCAST

IT’S been a month to the day since we sent the 40th-anniversary edition of Street Machine to print, and while we had a feeling it was a pretty special mag, remain floored by how well it has been received.

I heard from one bloke who felt compelled to call and tell me I had rocks in my head for featuring an electric car in Street Machine. We ended up chatting for half an hour, bonding over our mutual hatred of the wretched things (not to mention our love of two-stroke dirt bikes), then we bade each other farewell.

That aside, the feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive, and if I’m honest, I’m still on a bit of a high as a result. I’m proud that our team was able to produce a mag that measured up in the eyes of our readers, and did SM’S storied history justice. It was a real career highlight for many of us.

The occasion really reinforced the incredible affinity there is for the Street Machine brand, four decades in. I really enjoyed how the anniversary mag prompted so much online discussion about memories people had growing up around cars and reading the mag. It’s evident that SM and the Aussie hot-car scene have grown together over the past four decades, and the two are closely intertwined. I thank you for being so vocal about how much you enjoyed the anniversary mag.

This issue isn’t half-bad either, just quietly. Pleasingly, we’ve seen a few cracking events take place amid the COVID mess, and if you weren’t able to get along to the inaugural Motor Madness, the 17th running of Mopar Sunday, or the oh-so-cool, invite-only Mud Run, you can live vicariously through those who could by reading about their exploits.

There’s a cracking tech yarn on building bulletproof diffs, an all-important men’s health chat with a couple of Aussie Touring Car legends, and another instalment of the freshly revived Expression Session. My jaw hit the deck when I saw this month’s rendering – it’s an incredibly cool concept that has been executed to a T.

There are seven killer feature cars, ranging from an exquisitely crafted showpiece to a head-kicking, twin-turbo big-block street beast that I reckon has the potential to win Drag Challenge outright. The oldest of the bunch is a ’34 Chev and the youngest is a VE Maloo, so there’s something for everyone. Plus, the first four of them have parachutes, so I reckon that means we’re doing something right.

Oh, and don’t forget, this issue is your last chance to vote for Milwaukee Street Machine of the Year, so check out the contenders from page 53 and get your vote in. You could win five grand for your trouble!

Cheers,

Broads

THE FEEDBACK ON OUR 40TH-ANNIVERSARY MAG HAS BEEN OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE, AND I’M STILL ON A BIT OF A HIGH