One thing I must do in my lifetime is travel to Australia. The weather, the food, the natural beauty (the landscape, not the lasses…) all look so inviting. Fly in, get a car, and take a trip through the region. And yes, you bet your backside that I would time the event so that (A) I can ignore a good sized chunk of North American winter, and (B) be local for when Summernats goes down. Be honest…until the advent of the Internet and YouTube in particular, what all did you really know about Australian car culture? Jack. Squat. Unless you’d gone over yourself or have some kind of legitimate connection, you didn’t know much with the faintly possible exception of Bathurst. Then videos started to be uploaded, and we saw cars we never knew existed doing things that would warrant a felony arrest in pretty much every U.S. state with a loudly cheering crowd egging them on. You might not agree with the show, especially the burnout contests, but there is a lot to Summernats. Speedhunters’ Blake Jones took in the recent round that was just held in Canberra and tried to analyze the scene. Honestly, there is no analyzation needed. Just enjoy the fun!
Speedhunters Link: Summernats: Where Tyres Come To Die
The Aussie Summernats reminds me of the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin,Ill. in the ’80’s, as well as the Good Guys shows here in the states. It is a shame that there isn’t a “foreign exchange” between Bangshifters here in the states and our Aussie Street Machiners.
There has actually been a pretty good showing of Aussies in Drag Week. Think of John Farone in his Valiant Charger. Last year there was a Holden Torana and a Ford Capri on the tour.
lol @ 5:06 about the torana.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woyVR4V1pvw