Summernats 2009

When it comes to car shows, they don't get any bigger or better than Summernats

There was plenty of anticipation leading up to Summernats 22 for all sorts of reasons. Would there be a let down after the 21st, and would the economy play its part?

Chic Henry also put a few things in place to combat this, mainly the appearance of Troy and Jack Trepanier from Rad Rides in the US. Troy and his team are well known in Australia and arguably the best custom car builders in the world today. The crowd was down a bit but the traders were all back and reported good business as usual.

There were the same amount of entrants and still a high standard. The trends are changing with very few high dollar cars debuting but plenty of excellent finished drivable vehicles. On the Friday night 7 new cars were revealed at the Great Meguiar’s Uncover, a Tuff Street LH Torana hatchback, an awesome 49 Buick custom and 5 really neat street machines 4 finished in HOK paint. This was well attended and adds a great deal of variety to the event. It is great having 2 venues to unveil new cars now at Summernats and MotorEx.

All the judging went well with Tuff Street and Street completed by Saturday. Both of these classes are very competitive With the Meguiar’s judging team doing a great job to get through so many cars.

Elite was up on numbers this year but as I stated the level plateaud this year with 5 of the 6 top cars being built for 2 or more years. For the first time in the history of Summernats the same car won top Judged and Grand Champion! Congratulations to Darrell Leehmus with his 1990 Rodeo Ute, Boosted. This is an awesome pickup finished in Kandy red HOK with graphics by Todd Malcomnson  All the cars compete in the judging and anyone who wants to win Grand Champion must compete in the driving events and score well in Peoples Choice. Darrell topped the judging sheets, 3rd in peoples choice and finished 3rd in both driving events, one slalom course on grass and one go to whoa on bitumen. Last years winner, Rob Godfrey came home winning both driving events but couldn’t close the gap.
House of Kolor did well again with several paint trophies including top special effects on Mark Course’s Boydster, looking as good as it was 4 years ago when painted.

There is also a Master Craftsman award where a builder rather than a vehicle is recognised. This year Andrew Ash from AA Panelcraft in Bowral took it out.  Over the last 3 years he has had 4 cars in the top ten, 4 top paint trophies, 2 body awards, several magazine cover cars and nominated as a House of Kolor Prestigious Painter in 2009.

There is also a high impact award for a car that attracts a lot of attention, drives around and is noticed. This year it was a 68 Camaro brought over from New Zealand. This car was awesome in its bright red paint, great red leather interior and proved the Kiwi’s can build good cars and compete in Australia.

Something else noticeable this year was quite a lot of non V8 engines with a 4 cylinder winning, several others scoring well and a rotary in the top 20. Also a few retro tech vehicles, old body style with late model fuel injected motors and running gear.

Even with negative press and crowds down a bit this is an awesome event confirmed by Troy Trepanier who said there is nothing like this in the US. The organization, judging, array of vehicles and entertainment is unequalled anywhere in the world. Looking forward to Summernats 2010, wherever, and in whatever format, but it will be on!

The main trophy winners of the show were:

Summernats 
Grand Champion – Darrell Leemhuis - 1990 Holden Rodeo

Top Judged Elite – Darrell Leemhuis - 1990 Holden Rodeo

Meguiar’s People’s Choice –

Top 10:
Howard Astill - Red 1996 Ford Mustang Coupe
Mark Course - Orange 1932 Boydster Roadster
Peter Elliot - Teal / Silver 1937 Ford Roadster
Aaron Fitzpatrick - Rockmelon Kandy 1969 Datson 1600 Sedan
Les Lawry - Green 1932 Ford Roadster
Les Lawry - Red 1930 Ford Victoria
Darrell Leemhuis - 1990 Holden Rodeo
Joe LoRe - Deep Purple 1971 Ford Flacon XY Sedan
Willie Parker - Razberry Pearl 1957 Chevrolet Belair Sedan
Stephen Rich - String Red 1933 Ford Tudor

There are a lot of good shows and events in Australia these days but after 22 years Summernats sure is the pinnacle of the outdoor shows making it a real car festival. Congratulations to Chic Henry and his team and all the winners for such a great 22nd Summernats.

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