It was 2019 last time we saw Drift Cadet put on a drift demo at Meguires MotorEx. So why has it been so long between events? Well we all know the answer to this one…COVID. That’s right I said the C word! regardless it was great to see Drift Cadet bringing drift to the uninitiated crowd.

Adding a live action event to Meguires MotoEX has made the event so much more than just a car show! Bringing Drifting to those who have never seen it before really blows peoples minds.

The speed and action of drifting really gets the crowd going! Even though some die hard burnout fans think that drift is just like doing a fishy up the street! Its more than that!

If your a fan of GSS you will know 90% of our content is drift! Why? because its our favorite form of motorsport. Although we love Rally, Time Attack and Circuit Racing.

Daniel Prior is a gun behind the wheel, his 370z is so loud and angry! not to mention grippy, the car really gets down and booggies!

Big car show means big crowd, Drift Cadet did a great job selecting some of the best, most consistent safe drivers for this event.

Mr Engineered to Slide, AKA Nigel Petrie. A name that is well know around the internet for a good reason, not only can he build and engineer a car from scratch but he is also one hell of a drifter!

We all know that JDM prices are soaring! And seeing Dean Newcomb throw his S15 around like a toy scares me! Although we love to see these cars in action they are now becoming rare and the parts to fix them even more rare.

Motorsport is not dead! people love it but with the distractions of social media and life many people don’t get a chance to see live Motorsport anymore. This is also a reason why its hard for some drift event to pull a decent crowd.

Now to secure a big crowd at a Drift event you have to spend a big wad of cash to advertise. Social media is still king, to reach an audience these days you have to compete against all the other events. So to even let people know that there is an event on you have shell out more cash than ever.

In the future I think we will see more of these type combination events or pairings. Car show and big drift event together or Major car event plus smaller car event combined.

With the prices of all things on the rise it is a certainty that many events will join forces. More the merrier right? Whatever keeps drift alive is ok with us!

Justin Gruener’s newest addition to his fleet of performance vehicles is this super tough R32. This was the cars first event for Justin and it did not disappoint.

Everything was going great until the clutch started slipping, in true fashion Justin decided to drive around the issue and take it easy on the car to prevent more damage happening.

“Two hot boi’s” Well I think that’s what the kids say these days! What I’m trying to say is that these two boys are super popular online.

Its for a good reason, their S chassis are some of the nicest looking low Silvias in the Victorian drift scene. These boys can also steer! Their cars are not just trailer pony’s!

A historical figure of sorts the 180sx of Nigel Petrie has been in this form for at least ten years! The car still turns heads! The 180sx has been engineered to drive low, Nigel intentionally moved the rear sub-frame up so the rear wheels can tuck and have enough travel to drift well.

Ben Loft is a quiet achiever! Some call him the ladies man of the century.. I’ve herd many rumors that he has millions of fans on social media and has turned down offers to be on the Bachelor TV show.

But its not only the girls that find Ben hot! the boys find his car rather exciting as well. Ben is part of the infamous SR20 tribe and many people in the crowd lined up to hear its sweet sounds.

The smoke the noise and the battles are what was making these kids get rowdy! Im not sure if they had ever seen drift before but one thing is certain, they loved it.

Nigel’s fabrication online courses are a massive success and now he has started his own Youtube channel to document all his adventure’s! check it out here and be sure to subscribe!

The battles between Matt and Ben were intense! They really had some door on door action, the passengers who were lucky enough to get a ride along got the best seat in the house.

The owner of the worlds largest Hoshino racing wheel collection was in attendance at Meguiars MotorEX, otherwise known as Matt Russell.

Gavin having not as much power as the other car’s in the field was having to grip up to catch the faster cars, but once in front he dictated the pace.

Kumar a scholar of the drift game was putting on an absolute clinic for the unsuspecting MotorEx crowd. He kept pushing wide and getting as close as he could to the plastic barriers which was fun to watch.

The late Drift demo show had less of a crowd as the spectators tended to see drifts in the morning then looked at the car show. Because Melbourne Showgrounds is a big place it takes a long time to complete a full lap of the venue.

Top Chef Michael Greenhill cooked up a storm for the demo drivers, then put the Drift Cadet V8 ute through its paces around the car park kidney course.

This was a great event, good crowd great energy and a great bunch of people. Drift Cadet always do a superb job of organizing these Drift demo’s. We can’t wait to see more demos like this at other big events around Australia.
Thanks for reading,
Grant

Bonus Video

It was once again time for Meguire’s MotorEx to hit the streets of Sydney. Now in its’ 13th year, the show is truly bigger than ever and reaching a wider audience.  This is all thanks to a huge display of cars ranging from classics and hot rods, to all out custom cars and even a few Euro/JDM models thrown into the mix.


The show consists of hundreds of top quality show cars filling out the Sydney Olympic Park hall. However before you even step foot inside, you’re greeted by dozens of Sydney’s best street cars.

Dubbed ‘Real Street Boulevard’ the street car themed display leading into the main show has proved to be a hit, year after year.

The ISON Industries EG Civic was strutting it’s stuff for all to see. Without the bonnet on every nut and bolt was exposed showing the incredible amount of detail in this build!

One of our favourites from the entire show had to be this ratrod inspired Datsun ute from the street display.

The extent of the modifications don’t become fully apparent until you take a peek inside though. Every surface has something ripped out and replaced with old wood or has been wrapped in twine.

Laying frame and blinding onlookers thanks to some shiny chrome Moonee hubcaps.

Our necks snapped when we saw this fiery red head! The Testarossa 512 TR was the perfect poster car back in its’ day.

Even after all these years the mid engined super car is simply beautiful from every angle.

From one bright red car to another… The cars inside the main hall were a stark contrast to the street cars outside, with meticulously restored domestics and American muscle filling out the arena.

With so many Aussie icon’s being tirelessly restored from the ground up, it’s often hard to show off every part of the car at once. Some creative displays had cars raised in the air with carefully positioned mirrors reflecting all efforts that are normally obscured.

One of the stars of the show had to be this XY Flacon dubbed ‘427 RR’. Everywhere you looked, this build had it’s name etched, stitched or painted on nearly every surface, taking huge pride in its stroked 427ci motor filling out the engine bay.

Another show stopper in white, was the LeBrese 1978 XC GS Hardtop. A favourite from previous years, this car has had a ridiculous amount of work done over the years. Centered around a hand made tube chassis and F1 inspired suspension.  So the question on everyone’s lips, what is the cherry on the top? Quad Webbers bolted to a stroked 393ci Clevland motor.

Pimp’n ain’t easy and nether is building a custom low rider in Australia!

Got wing? The Plymouth Superbird is quite an interesting looking muscle car from the past. A fun fact for those playing at home, the iconic rear wing was only made so big so that the boot could be opened on the production version of the car. Tests had suggested that a wing as high as the roof was all that was needed to tame the rear at high speeds.

From a toy car inspired build to real life, Custom body works brought the house down with their debut of this House of Kolor purple Dodge Charger. Poking through the bonnet is a 426ci Hemi with a blower strapped on for an easy 1000hp!!

Truly a thing of beauty, the interior of this Shelby GT500 had us staring into the intricate details for what felt like forever. It is cars like these that make us appreciate how special some cars were back in the days of cubic inches and racing stripes.

The Australian built and globe trotting ‘Wild Cad’ has been doing the rounds since it’s 2010 MotorEx debut including a 12 month stint in an American showroom. Not bad for a 1959 Coupe DeVille, Go Aussie!!

There was absolutely no shortage of custom hot rods at this years show…

We’re still wondering were you sit in this one though, not the most inviting of cockpits with many a pointy bolts sticking up from everywhere!

This lime green 200SX is a former star from the Autosalon days.

Whether it’s your style or not, not a single inch of this car has been untouched and it’s hard not to admire the hard work that has gone into this build.It is decked out with suicide doors, shaved everything and a massive turbo bolted to the side of a rotary engine for good measure.

While keeping with the Japanese theme there were quite a few clean examples hiding around the hall. This FC RX7 for example was immaculate!!!

There were actually quite a few RX7 packed into the show. It was great to see such a strong following for the mighty Mazda!!

Check out this massive Garrett turbo stuffed into the tiny engine bay of this old school Mazda RX2.

This was one of the bulkiest looking R33’s we have seen in awhile. This wide mouthed GT-R was looking spectacular thanks to it’s incredibly shiny paint job. Quite an interesting colour choice too!

This little Datsun has been in the works for an astonishing 8 years!! The conversion list is very extensive but the cream of the crop has to be the 700HP 13B rotary conversion!

The Built to Order EG Civic has gone through quite the transformation since last years event. Complete with a full roll cage, matte pink paint job and a fresh new set of ‘BTO’ kicks!!

Another relic from the Autosalon days that has been in hibernation for many years. The OVAKILL Magna is indeed regarded by many as over kill… Looking past the chassis choice this is some top quality work and we can see plenty of innovation as far as show cars go.

Woods & Woods showed off their concept car. The striking long body is stretched over massive 24×10″ wheels. Helping the car spin those massive rollers is a whopping 14 liter V16!!!

No Sydney car show would be complete without an appearance from Queen Street Customs. Stepping up their game from their previous halo car is a hard act to follow… From Ferrari to Rolls Royce seemed to be the only logical choice!
With the unstable nature of car shows in recent years, it is great to see MotorEx go from stride to stride. This year saw the show extended with a third day open to the public, 12 brand new cars were unveiled and the attendance seemed to be bigger than ever. We are counting down the days till next years show!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Photos courtesy of Robberto Mochetti | Full Motion Photography (< Check him out on Facebook!)