Funny thing, these COVID-y times we’re living in. For all the seriously bad stuff going on, there are some interesting positive by-products as well. For example, I’ve been seeing packs of pre-teen kids getting around my local area on BMX bikes at levels I haven’t witnessed since the 1980s. After months stuck inside doing home schooling, it seems these young ’uns have rediscovered the simple joys of racing around outside with their mates.

So too with this year’s Milwaukee Street Machine of the Year competition. In a regular year, you’ll often see the contenders getting their rides out to as many events as possible, so they can spread the word and grab some extra votes. After all, there is a lot at stake – not only is Street Machine of the Year the most prestigious award in our sport, it comes with a $20,000 prize.

With a few exceptions, COVID has put the brakes on most of that kind of thing, so we thought we’d get this year’s 16 finalists together for a series of Zoom interviews, two at a time. And while we’d much rather be checking out the cars in the metal, the project has added a whole new dimension to SMOTY by allowing each contender to give their car’s back-story straight to the voters.

We’ve been really enjoying these chats, and we hope you will too!

Our first pairing consists of two Holdens, both built in Sydney by passionate enthusiasts. But aside from that, Chad Ribbons’s HR and Louis Youinis’s LJ couldn’t be more different. One is low, slow and built on a tight budget; the other is a crazy pro streeter with a stack of horsepower and attitude to burn. Enjoy!