hotrod show | Caprice Photography Automotive Art

Bringing the elite to one place

January 26, 2014 · by outffocus

SONY DSC

Once again Melbourne turned on the charm for the 49^th Victorian Hot Rod show held at the historic Exhibition Building. Upon arrival, we were greeted with an array of beautifully presented rods lined up around the large fountain in the front garden giving those attending what they could expect to find inside. 32s, 33s and 4s just to name a few along with some cool customs and classic rides gleemed in the morning sun as we headed to the main entrance to peruse the elite rides and club displays on show in the main hall.

Rockin it in the Fifties!

October 29, 2013 · by outffocus

SONY DSC Last weekend saw the annual Camperdown Cruise fire up once again bringing rockabilly fans from all over the country for the four day festival held at Camperdown in south west Victoria. This historic town opens its doors every year as rockabilly bands from around the world converge on the little town ready to bring a taste of the fifties back to its tree laden streets. Read More →

A club for one and all!

October 14, 2013 · by outffocus

SONY DSC On our travels, we stopped into the 401K club in Anaheim, CA to check out their work and, as it was an open day, there was a car show to check out as an added bonus! The 401K club is a hot rod shop catering for all facets of rod construction from custom body and chassis fabrications, custom paint and vinyl graphics through to electrical wiring, collision repairs and maintenance of your pride and joy. Read More →

Remember the days? (10th Chev Convention)

July 3, 2013 · by outffocus

The historic city of Ballarat was the host town for the 10^th Chevrolet Convention put on the 55,56,57 Chev car club of Vic. Previously held in Bendigo, the biennial convention caters for all Chevrolet models from hot rods through to your later model bowtie branded wheels. Read More →

Keilor car and vintage bike show 2013

May 5, 2013 · by outffocus

This time of year sees the weather turn decidedly chilly for those of us still out perusing the car show circuit and the turnout today at the Keilor car and vintage bike show proved that nothing will deter an enthusiast from what they enjoy most. The Rotary club of Keilor once again put on a spectacular event behind the Keilor hotel filling all areas quickly and by mid-morning new arrivals were lucky to find themselves a spot. The variety on show to the public was vast from all manner of Australian and American makes and models to European and Japanese rides including a great array of bikes to boot.

The popularity of this event grows every year thanks to the professionalism and expertise of the Rotary club and detailed judging done by those who are in the know. The layout lends itself well to a family friendly atmosphere with multiple areas filled with polished and pristine rides discovered around every corner. It’s great to see the regulars turn up each year while new faces and rides come to see what all the fuss is about guaranteeing their return next time too. Congratulations to those who were lucky enough to take home their respective category trophies and a big pat on the back for the organisers.

This event could well be celebrated as the grand finale of the car and bike show circuit for the season with winter around the corner and most of us set to head for hibernation, be it in the shed or catching up with family till September. Don’t fret though as we can always find something automotive related on in this state so keep an eye out for my “what’s on this weekend” listing and you’ll still get your fix somewhere!

Keep on cruising,

Cheers,

Greg

Great displays deserve great photography

ShowcarsMelbourne car show 2013

April 15, 2013 · by outffocus

Once again the ShowcarsMelbourne car show team led by Elvis put on a spectacular event for its second year running showcasing the high quality of vehicles and bikes that can be found throughout Melbourne as well as interstate. This indoor/ outdoor event located in Altona catered for all genres of vehicles from classic rods,street rods, American and Australian muscle through to high tech Australian, American and Import rides. A variety of custom Harleys could also be found dispersed throughout the Sporting Complex.

Noted display vehicles that the punters could peruse over was the environmentally friendly Zeroed, the high tech vehicles of Ovakil and FINEVY as well as the burnout beast of KILLA-B (although no demonstration was on hand). A variety Chev and Ford’s finest were on show while Holden’s elite held its own.

Outside saw plenty of polished pride on display too, bathing in the glorious autumn weather while food and beverage stands catered for the enthusiastic attendees. With forty trophies on hand for the high quality show, judges had their work cut out for them selecting which rides take home the coveted silverware.

All in all, the event went off without a hitch seeing many people mark this occasion as a regular in their automotive calendar guaranteeing they return next year. I’ll certainly be there I look forward to seeing you there too.

Keep on cruising,

Cheers,

Greg

Werribee District Collectible Vehicle Club show n shine 2013

March 24, 2013 · by outffocus

A small but impressive array of vehicles gathered today at the Mossfiel Reserve in Hoppers Crossing for the Werribee District Collectible Vehicle Club show n shine. This annual event always attracts a wide variety of motoring memorabilia covering many genres from your tough street rods, Aussie and American muscle cars through to an eclectic assortment of vintage European and home grown rides just to name a few. The laid back approach to today’s event was just the tonic for a Sunday stroll around our favourite vocation while catch up with old friends and meeting new ones with likeminded interests. It is always a guarantee at these locally run shows and any excuse to get the pride and joy out too!

With fantastic weather, a bucking bronco, a handful of trade stands and Fletch from Classic Restos, the show was complete and catered well for the perusing admirers. Trophy time saw the judges hard work done and all that remained was a casual cruise home and a check of the calendar for what’s on next! If you’re not sure what’s coming up next weekend or in the future, why not drop me an email and I can add you to my “what’s on this weekend mailing list” where you will be kept up to date each week with what shows and swap meets can be found in Victoria.

Keep on cruising,

Cheers,

Greg

Westfad car show 2013

March 10, 2013 · by outffocus

Today I decided to venture off to a show I knew little about and as this show was only in its second year of running, it is understandable. A great local event located at Bunnings Warehouse in Caroline Springs, West side of Melbourne, this car and bike show brought out the quality of rides normally reserved for much bigger events. The variety of vehicles on show covered many genres giving punters a great in vision into what the automotive scene is about.

With all proceeds going to Westfad, a joint venture between the Deer Park and Sunshine Lions clubs to be distributed to the needy, car and bike enthusiasts alike are more than happy to throw their weight behind such a charity if it’s an excuse to get their pride and joy out for the day! The high temperature couldn’t keep them away and the reserved section of the parking lot quickly filled up.

This is to become an annual event and, with the continued support of Bunnings and fantastic organising skills of Westfad, Bunnings may have to give up more of their carpark for future events! So if you’re looking to feel good about helping charity while needing an excuse to get your pride and joy out, mark this one down in your calendar and we’ll see you there next year!

Keep on cruising!

Cheers,

Greg

SpringNats 20

February 25, 2013 · by outffocus

The last weekend of November saw the kings of skid juggernaut roll into the central Victorian township of Shepparton thanks to the team at Autofest bringing with them the hot weather. These guys and girls who love to destroy tires in spectacular fashion weren’t about to take a laid back country approach to the challenge set before them and set about laying a smoke cloud over the small city destined to hang there for some time! With a full program laid out before them, entrants had plenty to keep them busy from the test your rides turning ability corkscrew challenge to the how good does your beast stop go-to-whoa side by side action. The autokana tested the use of their mirrors by driving and reversing around a laid out course and proved they weren’t just for checking what was burning out back and what wasn’t. A mobile dyno was also set up onsite allowing you to prove to your mates that your machine really does pack that much muscle and maybe pick up some silverware for the effort. Supporting this in-your-face sport were an array of both street and elite show cars on display in the pavilions and lush green lawns of the Shepparton show grounds. These highly detailed machines ranging from tough street rods through to wild Yankee iron and Aussie bred muscle gave the doting public a more sedate look into the modified automotive world while things remained at full pace out on the rubber hungry pad. To kick the weekend’s events off were the much renowned burnout team of Peter and Debbie Gray giving the fans double the action with a side by side tire frying feat. Not to be outdone, Team Extreme let off steam by showing us what they were made of while the Drift Patrol put on a worthy demonstration showing us multiple car control at full tilt! The cracking pace of the weekend was destined to have its fare share of casualties in the driving events and only the strongest would survive through to Sunday night’s presentation. Top honors for the weekend went to Ross Mayes and his 32 Tudor better known as Burnt 1 after demonstrating this big block beast has as much go as it does show! The top 20 burnout rankings showed us who was on top after the smoke cleared with the accolades going to Steve Loader and UCSMOKE followed by Peter Grmusa’s EVILXA and David Cufone’s FATRAT filling out the podium. The girls weren’t going to be outdone either with the queen of Springnats award going to Lisa Howie and her Holden Torana. With the sport growing in popularity and engine builders, driveline manufacturers and chassis designers getting a handle on what it takes to build a machine to hack the extreme stresses of a burnout comp in today’s environment, we’re guaranteed this in-your-face high performance spectacular and its eclectic community of competitors will continue to come up with new and imaginative ways of destroying those rubber dounuts while entertaining the masses. I’m hooked on the scene and if you haven’t seen it for yourself, look out for the next burnout comp, pack in some earplugs and sunscreen and come on down!

Keep on cruisin’

Greg

Queenscliff rod run 2013

February 4, 2013 · by outffocus

Summer in Victoria sees some of the biggest automotive events on the calendar happen during this time and this includes the Queenscliff rod run put on by the dedicated team of the Geelong Street Rodders. Once again they have run a flawless event seeing entrant numbers exceed previous figures with over four hundred participants enjoying a weekend of activities, local attractions, cruising and of course the Sunday show n shine. The final day of this long running event sees Queenscliff foreshore fill to capacity with entrants’ rods and rides while other enthusiasts fire their rides up and come on down to enjoy this visual exhibition. With a live band belting out the classics, it gives the whole scene a fantastic ambience while trade stands line the outer perimeter with their wares on show for rodders and budding automotive fans to purchase.

It’s always great to see newly completed and recently imported rides mixing with the regulars proving that a well run event will always bring people back for more and encourage first timers to check it out. The event caters for all styles of rods and rides from your traditional old school rides through to the latest high tech street rods strongly supported by Aussie and American classics; stock and modified. Judges had their work cut out for them with many vehicles showing off a highly detailed finish proving that show can also be go without dramas.

Queenscliff’s layout allows easy walking to the various eateries for visitors to enjoy a pub meal or café lunch just to take a short break from the show while the local Lions club has their own culinary delights on offer at the show itself.

If you haven’t taken the time to check out this side of the bay and have a rod hiding away in the shed, it may be time to bring it out, pack a weekend stay and come on down next year! Book early though because accommodation fills up fast with this ever evolving automotive spectacular!

Keep on cruisin’

Cheers,

Greg