Thousands of people from around the globe flocked to the Melbourne Showgrounds this weekend to visit Meguiar’s MotorEx 19. The enormous show - that boasted a 30% increase in footprint over last year – had a large focus this year on branching out into as many automotive categories as possible.
Meguiar’s MotorEx 19 was the biggest ever, with over 30,000 spectators visiting over the two-day event, over 300 businesses and exhibitors on-site to talk about their products and services, and a combined total of over 900 cars on display. But what was most evident about the weekend is that it wasn’t just the quantity that was impressive, but also the quality.
“The automotive community loves the event being in Melbourne. New elements such as Speedhunters Live and the GTR Festival showcases have come into the fold alongside the more traditional elite and street driven Aussie and American Muscle. MotorEx has really become an all-encompassing show for anyone who loves performance and cars. Meguiar’s MotorEx has found its home in Melbourne” says Andy Lopez, Owner of Meguiar’s MotorEx.
The Rare Spares Real Street was once again a huge event, bringing the street driven community in to the mix and filling the Boulevard and Main Arena with a nice mix of cars that are driven and not hidden. Owners also had the opportunity to drive their cars up onto a car presentation stage and talk about their pride and joy to crowds of people.
The highest achievement to car builders at Meguiar’s MotorEx is the Superstars Grand Master award – the most prestigious super-elite award available for the weekend. There were over 20 top shelf completely custom vehicles pre-qualified for the award.
This year’s winner of the Superstars Grand Master award went to “Speedbox”, the 1938 Fordson E83W Van built by Johnny Z’s. Being built over the span of eight years - with two full-time dedicated builders focused on the project in the last 12 months of the build - the van boasts over 300 unique body modifications and custom panels as well as a unique paint colour and custom interior. The inspiration for the vehicle came from imagining what Ford would do if it were to re-build the car in this day and age, using a classic style but updating the vehicle with all of the modern conveniences of today.
The Street Elite Pavilion, home this weekend to the country’s best street registered vehicles, hosted a huge House of Kolor Inauguration at midday on Saturday. Many vehicles unveiled boasted a unique House of Kolor paint colour.
A real treat for Australian car lovers was special guest Ryan Friedlinghaus of West Coast Customs, who made the long trip to Melbourne to see his Australian fans. Friedlinghaus is famous around the globe for the insane customisation and one-off vehicle builds that he and his team at West Coast Customs do from their Californian headquarters, with majority of their work filmed for TV on their hit show “Inside West Coast Customs”.
The Herrod Performance Garage was host to a big number of Australian automotive aftermarket exhibitors, showcasing their latest products, tools, parts and services for retail and trade customers. In amongst the impressive range of exhibitors featured some incredible modified vehicles and 4WD’s, showing just how passionate the Australian Automotive Industry is for their product, their cars and their customers. Harley-Davidson also turned it on for the lovers of machines with two wheels, with the awesome Softail tour experience and a dozen incredible bikes set by leather couches, TV’s and pumping music. Patrons also had the opportunity to ride Harley-Davidsons on their rolling road setups; getting a real feel for what makes the brand so inspiring.
A new attraction this year was Speedhunters Live – a static car show featuring some incredible machinery built all around the globe, including stunning Mazda RX-7 Drift Cars, an original Honda NSX recently imported from Japan, and European brands rarely seen at previous events. Meguiar’s MotorEx are proud to be showcasing Speedhunters Live and hosting to an automotive crowd that is rapidly growing in the Australian Automotive community.
One of the weekend’s most popular attractions for the large crowd was the live drifting, presented by Drift Cadet. Many of the country’s most skilled drifters drove their high-powered machines with absolute precision around the dedicated Meguiar’s MotorEx drift track. Spectators were also invited to join in on the drifting action, with passengers allowed in the vehicles and gaining insight into the world’s fastest growing motorsport.
The mothers at Meguiar’s MotorEx this year were celebrated on Mother’s Day. Mums were treated to free massages from the MotorEx angels, as well as receiving half price passenger sessions with the Drift Cadet crew.
The large crowds were treated by the Freestyle Kings all weekend, who took flight showcasing their death defying stunts surrounded by the precious metal in the Rare Spares Real Street.
MotorEx locked in for 16 & 17 May 2020, at the Melbourne Showgrounds.