SMOTY 2024 is Here
Enthusiast Motor Insurance
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Street Machine of the Year
Enthusiast Motor Insurance
Proud presenting sponsor of SMOTY 2024
Supporting Aussie car culture and the people in it!
At Enthusiast Motor Insurance, we’re proud to announce our sponsorship of the 2024 SMOTY Awards! Australia’s custom car scene is second to none, and this year we’re excited to see one of our very own customers, Adam Bickerstaff, named as a finalist.
A big shout-out to Adam and his jaw-dropping ’56 Ford F100, powered by a Whipple-blown Coyote. We’re backing him all the way, along with every incredible contender on the Street Machine of the year entrant list!
Why SMOTY?
We’re backing SMOTY because it’s all about more than just the car, it’s about the people driving them, building them…. and enjoying them. SMOTY gives the people access to tell the car world what they love and the love of the cars really shows through the community embracing the voting process.. These awards are more than just a competition – they showcase the pinnacle of hard work and dedication of car enthusiasts from all walks of life. SMOTY voting is now live, you have the power to help decide which custom car takes home the title!
Partnering with SMOTY isn’t just about having our logo thrown on a few photos or social media posts. We’re here to get involved, what better way to share who we are and what we do than to partner with other brands and businesses that support the same community we do? Keep an eye on our socials over the next couple of months because we’ll be sharing as much as we can about the SMOTY process and helping our audience keep up as the countdown to SMOTY 2024 winds down.
Enthusiasts past SMOTY Winners
From left to right: Aaron Gregory’s Memphis Hell, Chad Ribbons’s HD ute, Jasmine Green’s 1991 Toyota HiLux
SMOTY 2022: Jasmine Green's 1991 Toyota HiLux
Jasmine had no experience with cars, but that didn’t stop her from building her own! Working as a barista, Jas spent her free time teaching herself what she needed to know. See how Jas, a Street Machine of the Year winner and fully trained motor trimmer, is making a BIG impact in the restoration and custom car building world.
Check out our Sunday Driver Episode featuring Jasmine and the write-up on Streetmachine
SMOTY 2021: Chad Ribbons's HD ute
Chad has been around cars and all things automotive his entire life and you can ell that just by looking at his Holden that he knows a thing or two about getting his hands dirty. Just look at the result! cranky 6 pot screamer in the engine bay – Check! Custom built chassis with air suspension – Check! Perfectly fitted billet wheels – Check And the paint and panel that sets it apart in a sea of other street machines – CHECK! What a guy and what a ride!
Chad Ribbons’s HD ute on streetmachine
SMOTY 2020: Aaron Gregory’s Memphis Hell
If you’re around street machines and custom cars in Aus and haven’t seen Aaron Gregory’s ’51 pickup either at a show on out crushing highway miles, What rock are you living under? Under constant development and reimagining since the first time it hit the streets this pickup is custom from it’s chopped top to pavement scraping running boards and again if you’re looking into who did all the automotive wizardry, look no further than the owner himself!
Aaron Gregory’s Memphis Hell on streetmachine
2024 SMOTY Contenders
Brett from Enthusiast gave his thoughts on each of the 2024 SMOTY contenders, do you agree?
JIM MENELAOU – XY FAIRMONT – a pro street weapon built around a twin turbo coyote punching out 1650hp is A-ok in our books. Jim and MPW really put together a staunch Falcon that’s hard to fault and with 7 second slips in the pocket there’s a whole lot to smile about
HAMISH DAVIDSON – JAGUAR XJC – with most Jags of this era leaking more oil than they can hold the most logical thing to do is a Barra turbo conversion. Add to that world class paint and panel and an interior that puts high end luxury cars to shame and you’ve got yourself some truly special and unique. This would be a great ride to clock up cruising miles in
HEATH VAN DER WAERDEN – UC TORANA – a three pedal Holden V8 powered Torana hatch that drives EVERYWHERE gets a huge nod of approval from gear heads all over the country. This colour combo is rarely seen in the wild so this one stands out from the crowd. The fact it’s been used as a camper is just bonus points really. Super cool ride with form and function.
CAM WATERS – XB FALCON – Rides by Kam applied their magic touch to the build and to top it off – it’s got the equivalent of a V8 Supercar windsor taking up residence in the engine bay. This kind of car helps keep Australia at the top of the leaderboard when our cars are compared to others around the world
JOE BAUER – 1968 DODGE CHARGER – Blown Keith black 604ci Hemi in a ‘68 Charger rolling on 565 wide rears….. what?! This is tougher than a 10 sided Rubik’s cube after a jug or two of the good stuff. A summernats grand champion built by the legends at team slammer that would blow the doors (and tyres) of almost anything that’s ever seen the road
TIM LAIDLER – HSV SV88 – not for the purists…. This is built for the “what if” crowd. Stuffing a blown Merlin big block into an SV88 that’s this nice is pure craziness. With sights set on Drag challenge we’ll be keeping our eyes out for this one cruising between strips terrorising the other competitors
FRANK DARMANIN – VH COMMODORE SL/E – this one’s legendary. It’s done its laps on the show circuit and it’s since had a massive makeover including a Dart based LS swap that punches harder than any early commodore ever dreamed of. A show winning build sheet with the brawn to match the beauty, yes please
ADAM BICKERSTAFF – 1956 FORD F100 – top to toe and front to back this F100 has had its fair share of custom touches. One of the more unique colour schemes we’ve seen and a Whipple blown Coyote powering the whole shebang. Killer stance and hours and hours of custom work inside the cab. You’d be proud to cruise this one around for sure
JAMES BULLIONS – MAZDA FAMILIA R100 – it’s just so hard to take your eyes off this little coupe. Then when you look underneath it’s just as amazing as it is topside. A tough little 13B turning crazy spec Simmons rollers jammed into the wheel wells makes for one low slung rocket that turns heads everywhere it’s seen
STEVE MOON – LJ TORANA – war is right. Going through the specs on this car tells us one thing- this Torana came to fight. A supercharged Warspeed 440ci LS is the party starter under the bonnet. We might biased but we think the black and yellow paint is near perfect and the engineering that’s gone into this one is absolutely next level
NODDY & JO PERKINS – HQ MONARO – A Quey coupe + a blown small block… it doesn’t get much more iconic than that in Australian Street Machining. This one has done its time as a burnout weapon and it’s back for round two after an extended makeover and rebuild. A legendary car doing legendary things shows us a thing or two about how to build a car
MIKE DAVISON – 1954 CHEVROLET BEL AIR – let’s be honest…. SEMA does weird things to us. If you’re mid build with any sort of plan in mind either don’t go or expect to come home with a laundry list of things you now need to do to your car. This Chevy puts together elements you rarely see together in a ‘54 bel-air but it’s done so well this car is now in a league of its own
RHONDA & AL MAGRITZER – 1959 MORRIS MINOR – custom custom custom. When this Morris hit the scene you wouldn’t believe how long you could stare at a car and continue to find more and more custom touches done. There’s a certain art to changing so much on a car but still being able to recognise exactly what the car started as. Hats off to the owners, this is a true one of a kind
DAN & KYLIE MORTON – XY FAIRMONT – if you build something to this level you better have a spare room for the trophies and accolades that follow its debut. When it comes to big dollar builds that stand out and baffle spectators by how much can actually be done to a car this Falcon will test in every way. Cars built to this level don’t come out of the garage every day but when they do it’s guaranteed to blow minds
YOUNAN & EDDIE KHAZI – XE FAIRMONT GHIA – the XE has been getting a lot more love these days and with examples like this it’s easy to see why. Almost 1500hp of Barra goodness is ready to be unleashed on the track when a set of Weld’s replace the showheels steam rollers. The level of paint and panel art should have people in awe, it’s truly a masters work
JASON HANNAM – LX TORANA – this is what you get when a lifeline Torana lover and highly skilled panel man build his version of the ultimate Torana. Holden powered and ready to clock up some serious driving time this car presents like a jewel from every angle – you could literally eat off the undercarriage it’s so sanitary.
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