Focusing on traditionally styled hot rods and customs along with classic bobbers and choppers
What do you do when you want to hold a social gathering of like-minded people for a great weekender? You invite them and call it The Boogaloo Invitational, which is exactly what Des Russell and his girlfriend, Tesha Mahoney, did.
Des came up with the idea of such an event 2 years ago but decided to put it all into action six months from the event date this year. The inspiration for The Boogaloo Invitational came from car shows like The Lonestar Round Up Rod & Kustom festival held annually in Texas, USA, which Des has attended a couple of times.
The inspiration for The Boogaloo Invitational came from car shows like The Lonestar Round Up Rod & Kustom festival
Des was able to source many suitable vehicles via Instagram
And where did “Boogaloo” come from? “I’m good friends with Piero De Luca (from America) who does Mad Fabricators Society. He runs Motornation TV. He’s stayed at my place a few times and we’ve filmed a bunch of stuff before he went home and put a DVD together. We were joking about calling the DVD ‘Mad Fabricators invades Australia II kangaroo boogaloo’ which he did. Then we organised a screening of the DVD at the Elphinstone pub and we called it The Boogaloo and got 200 people in the pub who drank em out of booze. So when it came to thinking up a cool hot rod name for this event, we thought “let’s just call it the Boogaloo again!” It’s a catchy name and people won’t forget it. It doesn’t have to mean anything. You could call it whatever you want to call it. The people will either come or they won’t but I’m glad I called it The Boogaloo because everyone loves it!” explains Des.
Focusing on traditionally styled hot rods and customs along with classic bobbers and choppers, the guidelines for The Boogaloo were simple; pre-sixty five cars, pre-seventy five bikes and no billet! By utilising social media, Des was able to source many suitable vehicles via Instagram and sent out over 400 invitations. From there, the social media hype kicked into action with many more like minded enthusiasts contacting the organisers, wanting to be part of this new spectacle! “I didn’t realise there were so many of these vehicles around! The hardest part of organising the whole show was writing out all the invites!” says Des.
Cool customs and vintage hot rods along with a host of classic American and British choppers and bobbers from all over Australia converged on the Wattle Flat
This is the first major run for SA resident Brentyn Wakefield’s 32 5 window coupe which has taken 12 years to complete. That sweet motor is a 350 Chev running a rare cross ram X1 Edelbrock manifold and 6 97 Strombergs.
Des Russell, the inspiration and organisor behind The Boogaloo Invitational
Recreation Reserve in Castlemaine, Victoria for a great weekend of camping while catching up with mates over a moonshine or two. Vendor alleys were set up for those who wanted to grab a haircut, stock up on their vintage fashion or check out the latest pin striping, air brushing or fabrication work. Fire pits were fired up for Saturday night’s entertainment as an outside screen projected scenes from the Mad Fabricators Society as a suitable backdrop.
Des and Tesha have nailed this one right out of the box! “I’d like it to always be like this but it’s bigger than I thought it would be. I’d like it to be close so I can hang with all the guys from interstate that I don’t normally see, the guys you only see once or twice a year and a celebration of this style of car and bike.” Boogaloo goal achieved!
Nailed is modelled off early speedway cars which SA owner, Tony Jenkins has been dreaming of for 50 years! Running a nailhead motor, T400 and Halibrand Champ change diff, this 32 2 door sedan with its 4 inch chop and nerf bars has nailed the theme!
Clint Chegwidden cruised up from Melbourne in his stunning 33 3 window coupe running a 302 Windsor, C4 auto and 8 ¾ diff. Clint and his dad completed the project in 4 ½ years.
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