As the inaugural Milwaukee Young Street Machine of the Year rolls on, we’re being inundated with entries from all corners of the Aussie automotive scene, from slammed JDM rides to American land yachts and tough 4x4s!

Entries for YSMOTY are still open, so if you’re 24 or under, get involved for a shot at a cool $2500 cash prize, a raft of Milwaukee gear, and of course bragging rights!

DECLAN LEONARD

“This is my VG Valiant coupe. My dad bought me this car when I was three years old. My first ever memory was towing this car behind a VR Commodore. Fast forward 15 years from when we got this car, and my dad and I were having a few beers at the Adelaide Chrysler show. We decided we would get it going in time for Mid State Mopars. The original plan for the car was a full resto but between work and other projects we never had the time. Although it doesn’t look like it, there were quite a few rust repairs done by myself to get it to the point it is now. My uncle and I went through all wiring that had previously been ‘repaired,’ and Mum made some Mexican-themed seat covers.

Dad and I went through all the brakes and dropped in an ex-cop 265 with an auto to get it going in time for Mid State Mopars. It will shortly be getting a pretty rowdy 265 backed by a four-speed for optimum skids. This car was done on an extremely thin budget and short timeline. Although the car isn’t quite what I imagined it to be when I was little, at least now I am finally able to rip around in my first car, enjoy it for what it is, and make some great memories along the way.”

JAKOB ORMSBY

“G’day guys, the car I’m entering into this competition is my 1992 Toyota Cressida Grande. I’m proud to say as a P-plater this little beauty is my daily driver. I wanted to keep the car as original as possible but still with a bit of street cred. The only modifications I have done are the new 17-inch Simmons OM rims that are wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza tyres all ‘round. The car has been lowered by heating and compressing the original springs to sit at a respectable yet functional height.

I’ve also got custom black and grey plates that match with the wheels and body trim colour that give the car a more VIP look. Besides that, the car is as immaculate and original as possible with the mechanicals, interior and body all in almost factory-new condition. I’d love the opportunity to have my car professionally photographed as I believe it deserves it and as you guys have the best vehicle magazines out there. Thanks for the opportunity!”

JESSE WILKINS

“This is my ‘49 Chevy. I bought it dead stock and chopped the roof on it myself. I started shaving a few things on it, one-pieced the bonnet and drove it around. Then I pulled it back off the road, chucked in a 283 and 350 ‘box, and fully notched and four-linked it with a 9-inch diff. We painted it about four days before Cooly Rocks On.

That was a year ago, and I’ve been driving it every weekend since. I still need to finish the wheel tubs and glass but, it’s cool. I also have my HQ sedan I fully caged and tubbed. It runs a 378ci, 700hp SBC on E85. It just needs trim and a gearbox and it’s back on the road. I also have my daily HJ ute with a blown 202, and a project XK sedan I’ve been doing for a few months. I’ve worked extremely hard for all my cars, and it’s taken me a lot of buying and selling to get to where they are today!”

DREW FRIEND

“I’m 24 years of age. This is my LS1-powered 1984 AE71 Corolla called BELTZM. I bought it as a former burnout car with a five-litre and Trimatic. I have recently done a full rotisserie build. Behind the 464hp tunnel-rammed LS1 is a T400, and it has a Holley HP ECU and Holley loom, with a digital dash and a set of Recaro seats inside.

It’s been tubbed by myself and runs a 9-inch rear with full spool, 3.25 gears and 35-spline billet axles. There’s also a rear clip with four-link and chassis connectors. I have recently come second at Summernats, which has landed me a spot in Burnout Masters. I also own a green LS1-powered two-door Galant that I built at 17, which has been featured in Street Machine and in the Top 60 hall at Summernats.”

LACHLAN HUNTER

“This is my 1984 Datsun 1200 ute. It started life as a farm ute, and I bought it off a close family friend as my first car in August 2015. It was always my dream car and having finally got my hands on one, I worked hard with my dad to get it registered. I did my Ls, red Ps, and green Ps in the weapon, and had a dream of swapping in a CA18DET.

I bought one and planned a straight swap, but one thing led to another and it now has a forged bottom end and mild head work, running all the Haltech gear and goodies. It’s also got a BorgWarner diff with a Truetrac and billet axles. Still being a manual, it’s gonna be quite a handful! It’s had a ground-up restoration at home on jackstands, and was even painted at home in the garage. It has an awesome dash put together by myself and dad, fully wired by ourselves.”

CAMERON PRIOR

“This is my 1988 Triton that I purchased for 700 bucks. I fixed it up and painted the body and built a stainless tray with an exhaust stack.”

MATTHEW WATSON-HENLEY

“This is my R33 Skyline which I bought when I was 14 and have been doing up over the past three years. It still has the factory RB25DET in the engine bay, but I will be upgrading the turbo ever so soon to a top-mount 30/76. I’ll also be changing the gearbox out for a T56 from a VZ HSV. This has been a huge project for myself as it is a drift car and not street legal, but she’s my pride and joy and I won’t be letting her go for any amount of money!”

JOE MUSCARELLA

“My 2002 Toyota Crown Athlete Estate was imported personally back in 2019, as I wanted something in the form of a wagon that was fast and had some style. After buying it from an online Japanese auction I thought I got scammed out of my money, having barely read into it. But five weeks later I got the call that it was all ready for rego and sitting in Sydney, and I was pumped. I’m definitely a lover of a longroof, mixing practicality and nostalgia into one. Having grown up driving around the country in the back seat of dad’s wagon, I don’t see myself ever driving anything else.

When I purchased it I promised myself that I would barely modify this one. That thought lasted a total of six minutes. Before I got it home I had coilovers and a whole array of arms purchased for it. I wanted to get the ‘authentic’ Japanese look; low with big camber and tight fitment.

It took a lot of time to dial in and to get the car sitting right and driving well. I still drive the car daily, which is always a blast. Being a metal fabricator, I love to play around with loads of things on the car. It’s currently rocking a low mount GTX3582, keeping it somewhat stealthy under the bonnet.”

JACOB PIOVESAN

“This is my 1990 BMW E30. I bought this three and a half years ago now. It was very rough; the paint was in very poor condition and the interior was all ripped and torn. Over the past years I’ve resprayed the car the factory metallic colour at home, installed Airlift Performance suspension, refurbished the wheels and installed E46 lower control arms. All of this was done at home and the interior was done by a close friend.”

JACK CUTAJAR

“I got a casual job at 15 and worked countless hours to make 20 grand in that year and buy my 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser. After school, weekends, didn’t matter, I was adamant to buy my baby. At 16 I dragged my old man from Melbourne to Port Macquarie in NSW to purchase the car, and we drove it home. Since then it has been an absolute rollercoaster. Having modified everything myself in the shed with a bit of sweating and carrying on, she’s become the beast she is today. From making it a turbo diesel from N/A, to throwing a full lift kit under it, rebuilding things, and breaking it on the tracks, it’s been a rollercoaster and one that has just started as I’ve got no plans to get rid of it.”

SCOTT DYER

“It’s an ADM S15, running a forged 2JZ with a TR6060. It runs a Hypertune intake manifold and 6boost exhaust manifold with a G35-1050 and ProGate 50mm wastegate. It’s got a Radium Engineering in-tank surge tank and fuel pump hat, GTR rear end, DC Power 290-amp alternator, MoTeC M150 and two MoTeC PDM 30s. There’s also electric air con.

All fab work was done on my shed floor on jackstands, along with the whole swap. The car is engineered and regoed in WA and is daily driven. All the intercooler system is lobster-back — no premade bends. There’s lots more but I’m limited for words so I’ll leave it at that!”

ERIK BALINT

“Here’s my 1981 Mazda RX-7 with an N/A 13B Series 6 motor. It’s bridgeported and has a bodykit, twin 12-inch Pioneer stereo system with Kicker speakers, a 3.5-inch straight exhaust to an AES muffler. Wheels are 14-inch Datsun 240Z pieces, and inside are SASS bucket seats.”

WILL GONG

“Here I have my Toyota 86. Some noticeable modifications include a Pandem V3 widebody kit and GReddy turbo kit, along with GReddy boost controller. There’s also a flex fuel kit, full ECU remap, GReddy oil cooler, Cusco catch can, Koya custom two-piece wheels, Tomei exhaust, coilovers, custom head and tail lights, and much more.

This car has been my prized possession and I take good care of it. It’s pretty fast and it sounds amazing, especially with the turbo flutter. It’s fun to drive and overall it’s a really good car!”

JOVAN BEKRIC

“The Integra Type R was turbo K24 swapped with ported heads. It was built to be a little bit like a modern-day sex spec car. It’s a tidy and strong build. The car has nitrous, nice Recaros, and Sparco racing harnesses, plus a Hybrid Racing short shifter, massive twin subs in the back and much more.”

JEFFREY CAMM

“My Silvia is an ‘OEM-plus’ look that pays homage to the 90s engineering style on the S-shassis, while also incorporating Aussie brands. The crown jewel of the car is the engine bay, which has a 90s style to it. There’s aluminium intercooler and intake piping and side feed injectors. I’ve relocated the battery, fuse box, and power steering reservoir to free up the pretty OEM S-chassis tubs. I welded up the exposed holes on the tubs to really give it a clean look and cleaned up the wiring on both sides of the engine, painting the engine, bay and brake booster to match the body.

The intake had the casting marks shaved out of it to really change the look, and all the hardware for it got zinc-coated. The bay has a blue-to-black fade working across it, starting at one strut top and changing by the time it reaches the other. The interior has carbon fibre accents while looking OEM and neat. The leather wheel, shifter boot, and handbrake cover have red stitching to match the red in the gauges and on the Recaro. The lower half of the dash has been smoothed out to remove the original texture, and painted to match the exterior. The rear seats have been removed and an S14 LRB aluminium cover kit has been adapted to suit.

The exterior has had a lot of work, including a glass-out respray, bootlid lock shave, lip kit, LED tail lights, and re-lensed headlights. Underneath has had a lot of work, with new rose joints and arms everywhere, new engine and gearbox mounts, and new rack bushes and sway bar bushes. The bottom of the car has also been undersealed. Power-wise it’s making a modest 220kW with 550Nm of torque on the factory T28 ball bearing turbo. I’ve installed a pair of 258 Tomei cams for a great mid-range, and installed a heavy-duty organic NPC clutch and billet flywheel. There’s a Nistune piggyback ECU to keep the old school 90s theme, coupled with an Aussie GFB boost controller and blow off valve.

There have been small fab projects along the way like a heatshield for my ABS unit to protect it while I’m racing, and brackets for mounting my relocated fuse box, as well as the catch can and power steering reservoir bracket. All in all, it’s a very balanced street car that’s great to drive long distances as it’s quiet in the cabin and has a/c. It’s also great to drive on a twisty road or the track, while looking the part during the whole experience.”

HAMISH BOLTON

“I bought my 1977 Land Rover Series 3 as two cars off a guy from a property. He used the base of my car as a work ute for many years with a tray on the back. Dad and I rebuilt the ute using the tub from the other one, to turn the Landy into what it is now. It’s is running a Holden 202 red motor which helps it to cruise along at 100km/h, which almost too fast for an old Landy!”

TIM STEWART

“This is my 1983 Datsun 1200 ute. It runs a CA18DET, good for about 40psi through its Disco Potato. It’s been mini-tubbed and runs heaps of great extras provided by some excellent suppliers and friends. The run-in electrical work and tuning was done by a great dyno shop in Botany. We tried to keep it looking very stock, but it’s anything but!”

ELIJAH CITRONI

“Growing up, I fell in love with old-school while muscle cruising around in my grandfathers ‘65 Parisienne, so when I got the opportunity to have one to call my own, I couldn’t have jumped sooner. The ‘66 Dodge Coronet 500 is the right balance of nostalgia and power. Running a 361ci big block followed by a 727 Torqueflite, it was born for the open road.

This car is not for the classic purist. With its small blemishes and two-tone patch bodywork, it makes for an immaculate patina look, although the interior tells a different story with the upholstery being brought back to original and maintained as such, with a few minor personal additions. This car has no secrets and a lifetime of stories. The beauty in her imperfections makes her the perfect daily, as keeping her locked away would be a disservice.”

ANTHONY CHIDDO

“My first car is a Mazda RX-7 Series 2. I put in a bridgeport 13B from a Series 5, as well as the turbo gearbox. I sprayed the engine bay and the outside and changed the brown interior to black with RX8 seats. I also put in LED lights and an 8-inch head unit. Hoping to do more soon!”

ANTHONY TERRANOVA

“This is my 1963 AP5 Chrysler Valiant. This was actually an 18th birthday present from my parents back in November 2017. The running gear is a 225 slant six, with a Torqueflite three-speed push-button auto.”