Hot rods on show

The honours for the best hot rod marque will be decided this weekend when the two brands do battle on the floor of the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens.  Even the car park is an attraction, as hot rod club members enjoy a once-a-year chance to park free in the CBD and mix and mingle with the country's most passionate car lovers.

The show opens with a static display of more than 300 vehicles, ranging from pre-1948 cars to wildly worked motorbikes.  Show manager Peter Unsworth says the three-day event gives visitors an opportunity to reminisce about the past, enjoy the present, and look into the future of hot rodding.

"Inside they will find a capacity display of mind-blowing hot rods, wild street machines, way-out customs and some unbelievable motorbikes, and for the first time in the show's history there will be an outside display of some fantastic chrome bumper Aussie Muscle Cars," Peter says.

"Hot rods have a universal appeal, appreciated by all ages, regardless of whether you are a car enthusiast or not. Its just hard not to be impressed by these machines and the many hours the owners put into building them. The Victorian Hot Rod Show is just a lot of fun for the whole family."

Motorsport champion Jim Richards will be signing autographs and greeting fans throughout the weekend and the show will boast a number of unveilings as painstakingly restored or modified vehicles are presented to the public.

Trophies will be presented on the Sunday, with awards for vehicles in four categories:

Street Rods - these pre-1948 machines are the darlings of the hot rod purists. Some have had up to $300,000 spent on making them the artworks they are today. 

Street machines - a little younger and a little tougher, street machines may not be babied like the older cars, but don't let that fool you into thinking they're any less loved or valuable.

Custom cars - these are post-1948 cars that have been, in some cases, totally transformed from the stock machines they once were. The "weird and wonderful" is on show in this category where you can only marvel at the engineering skill required to create them.

Competition - while the exteriors are no less glamorous than their counterparts in other categories, these car are speed machines, where as much money and passion is expended under the bonnet as on the paint and interior.