MotorEx Melbourne, the Australian Church of Automotive Passion.

If you haven’t been to Tokyo Auto Salon, then Melbourne MotorEx is the closest thing to it in Australia. Enthusiasts, builders and shops from all across Australia congregate for one weekend per year in May to show off and compete against the best of the best.

This year I was invited by Cliff Clayson from Crazy Dog Rotorsports to head over to Melbourne with him for a Speedhunters Live event that he had entered.

When I say that this invite was last minute I mean it was sent out only 12 hours before departure which was 7am Friday morning. Who was I to say no to cruising over to Melbourne for the weekend with what may very well be the CRAZIEST FD RX7 in all of Australia?

So I packed my bags and set off, Melbourne bound.

Adelaide to Melbourne is only a 7-8 hour drive and we made quick time convoying with Sebastian Axyl from Sebastian Axyl Photography in his stanced XR5 Turbo.

Rolling into Melbourne we were advised to head to a DFO multi-story car park for an impromptu photo shoot with Kurtis from KFC Photography and with a surprise twist, Matthew Everingham from Speedhunters.

Saying that its difficult to get 7 metres worth of car and trailer up 6 levels of carpark would be the understatement of the century. But rolling up the final ramp we were greeted by two other Rx7s in all their glory.

A beautiful Blue Bathurst R FD RX7 in its stockest form and the infamous VIC Time Attack RX7 owned and piloted by Jason Dorrington.

This was the first time that most of us got to meet Matt Everingham, an editor and photographer for Speedhunters.

On top of that DFO Carpark we spent the next couple of hours setting up cars, swapping stories and becoming numb from the frigid Melbourne air, while in the background, the photographers worked their magic, grabbing every angle and shot of this trifecta of Mazda perfection.

And as quickly as it began, we were headed back to our caravan park to get ready for the two huge days ahead of us.

Meguiars MotorEx – Melbourne Showgrounds

The holy grail of Australian Motoring Culture

Apart from getting the wrong gate and rolling around the entire showgrounds, bump in went smooth as butter.

We were pretty early so rolling the RX7 off the trailer was a breeze and the slight decline on the grassed area meant that pushing the car into position was a downhill endeavour.

Despite how early we were, there were still some fantastic cars already there; Rocket Bunny S15s, Slam Trucks, Chevy C10s on Hydraulics and 1000hp Barra turbo XYGTs, and that was only on the Speedhunters Live green.

As more and more people rolled into the event, we took the opportunity to explore the vendors pavilion to take advantage of the fact that the event wasn’t actually open yet and there were no crowds.
Now let me tell you, if you get excited walking into a Supercheap Auto or an Autobarn; the vendors pavilion would have sent you into a state of ecstasy that would have required you to be stretchered out of the building.

Show cars, Show Trucks, US imports that dwarfed the size of the booths themselves, and that was just as you walked through the doors!

Turbos Large enough that those stickers that say “Keep pets and small children clear”, would actually be relevant and almost necessary.

Every kind of clutch under the sun and merchandise stand upon merchandise stand upon merchandise stand. It was literally heaven for builders, racers and enthusiasts. And there was 7 individual pavilions/showgrounds. We did our best to try and visit them all but I honestly think we still missed one, even with the two days we had!

I think my favourite part of this entire event was the diversity of builds and people.

It didn’t matter who you were or what you drove, all it mattered was that you were there, and that you were passionate about automotive culture.

Stance Cars sat side by side with purpose built race cars. While you were looking at a Hakosuka 2000GT aired out on the grass you could hear a 1200hp Monaro ringing the hell out of its engine to try and top that turbo Barra. The CLEANEST Mercedes 500SEC I have EVER seen sat beautifully next to what has to be my FAVOURITE VS Ute in Australia. And inside the pavilions 10 foot tall Toyota tundras towered over slammed Camaros and Chargers.

It doesn’t get much better than that……. Except it does.

A night with The Speed Hunters

Kebabs, cars and good vibes.

How does a premier Automotive event like MotorEx get better you ask?
Well; you get asked to go out to hang with Matt, Dino and Blake from the Speed Hunters.

Footscray Park, 7pm sharp.

From the event we cruised back to drop the RX7 at the park we were staying at, much to Cliffs disdain, as much as we would have loved to bring that thing on the streets, that was a no bueno for tonight. And then it was off to the Speedhunters AirBnB, where the street out the front was like something from Fast and Furious; modified cars galore!

A quick Kebab (as the eastern state’rs call them) and more than a few beers later and we were rolling out to the meet (proceeding to do SA proud and getting lost, AGAIN).

It turned out to be a real nice cozy meet, not too many people which meant it was a much more intimate experience, and the quality was still fantastic.

I was astounded by how many people had under-car and interior neon-lighting and to be honest, I really hope its coming back in a stylistic sense.

Even though it was a small meet, there wasn’t more than one of each car, the diversity really added to the feel of the event, showing how no matter what car you own, we could all still appreciate the culture.

We rounded out the cruise at Pizze Societe, and if you ever find yourself in Melbourne and looking for a good feed, hit this place up, the icecream is great and the pizzas are amazing!

There was something so surreal about sitting with some of the highest profile automotive bloggers, while eating pizza and having banter. It made me realise that no-matter your status or profile, true enthusiasts are still just people that are happy to talk about cars and appreciate each-other and their builds.

Truly a weekend I will never forget. Here’s hoping the next is not too far away!

Photos:

Liam Telford – Speed Nasty Garage

Kurtis Flavell – KFC Photography

Story: Liam Telford

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