This year I was lucky enough to be ask to cover the QLD Hot Rod show for Downshift, so on a fine sunny Queensland morning I ventured to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center to attend what is the crème de la crème of old school muscle. Upon arrival I quickly realised my CPL filter would be getting a workout as the sheer shininess of every single surface on every single car was almost unbelievable. From transmissions to wheels hubs, everything was a mirror!
Even the undersides of the cars were impeccable, literally everything was just so shiny!
The variety was another thing that really surprised me. I had been to several Hot Rod style events before but usually it was simply a Chevy here and a Falcon there, but the QLD Hot Rod Show really turned it up with everything from Japanese to the odd Euro lining the walkways. Every single car on display all had their own little personal touches – one ute even had what I presumed to be a lounge suite in the tray.
The engines of the cars on display were a thing of engineering marvel. There were cars with huge big block carburetted engines and some with modern powerful turbo engines that produced power well into the 4 digits.
The theme of the day was old school, and how could you have that without pinup girls? This year was the inaugural Miss Queensland Hot Rod Show pinup pageant being held alongside the show which saw some very attractive girls strutting their stuff in the name of good fun.
The crowd favorite had to be Bender; sadly the judges disagreed.
Some of the cars where dressed appropriately for the pageant as well.
All in all the atmosphere was excellent and I highly recommend that is anyone is a fan of chrome and anything Hot Rod it is a must do for the calendar.
Thanks again to Downshift for giving me the opportunity to attend this show! It was an absolute cracker and I will definitely be making the trip to go again next year!
-Kim