Nerves and anxiety as mega-buck show cars fire up for grand champion

But three hours on a chainsaw later and they were on their way, ready for a fresh tilt at a top three place in the elite vehicle judging at Canberra's modified car festival.

"We saw there was more bad weather coming so we didn't want to risk it, we packed up and got on the road," Mike Davison said.

The Davisons lost power to their home in the fierce weather which swept through south-east Queensland on Christmas Day, then watched on in alarm as the storm cells grew in intensity, tearing roofs from homes in the suburbs around them and shredding leaves the leaves from trees.

"There was no power at our place when we left and there was still no power on Thursday, hopefully we will get it back soon," Mr Davison said.

"I've never seen a storm like it. It really was like a series of mini tornadoes that rolled through. There was debris everywhere, all over the road as we left; people in our area will be cleaning up for weeks."

Mike Davison, who runs a successful engineering company with factories overseas and sells products into 16 countries, could pass muster for any other Summernats patron in the obligatory T-shirt and shorts.

But he's a dyed-in-the-wool car nut, with an enviable collection of cars and motorcycles. His immaculate Chevrolet called Blue Moon, which was one of the top 10 cars at the show last year, has had some special upgrades in the interim which he hopes will lift his judging scores even higher.

His wife Abbie said she had to forgo a bathroom restoration so her husband could purchase the car's expensive upgrade suspension parts from the US.

"Mike took me out to dinner, bought me a nice bottle of red wine and then asked me if I'd mind if the money we'd put aside for the bathroom went into the car instead," she said.

"I agreed and then at 3am the next day he was on the internet ordering the parts."

In any other Summernats year, Blue Moon would have a genuine chance at the much-coveted Chic Henry grand champion prize.

But they are competing this year - in the judging as well as on the track - against the most spectacular show car ever seen in the 35-year history of the Canberra car festival.

Forged is an XY Ford Fairmont hand-built by one of the country's leading restoration and vehicle builders in Beaudesert, Queensland.

Such is the extreme attention to detail in the car, and the cost-is-no-object quality, that it exceeds the extraordinary standard of last year's winner, a Porsche 911 built by the team at Real Steel in Queanbeyan.

A 10-year project, every single panel gap on the Ford is perfect, and every nut, bolt and washer, and every tiny detail given individual attention.

More than $400,000 worth of parts have gone into the car and there is not a single lick of chrome on it.

Instead, the substitute was a bronze, thin-film, heat-resistant ceramic coating product called Cerakote. There no shortage of technology, either; while a conventional street car has one or two electronic control units, Forged has 13.

To achieve the immaculate paint finish demanded more than 600 hours of buffing and polishing.

Forged has swept all before it in 2023, winning every static car show it has entered.

But the big difference this weekend is that its Canberra appearance will be its last as a "pure" show car. Under the rules stipulated by Summernats founder the late Chic Henry, a show car can't win the supreme grand champion sword unless it competes in the driving events.

So the $25,000 wheels will go on the Ford, the 900 horsepower racing engine fired up, and the mirror-like paintwork splattered with dust and grime for the very first time.

Vehicle builder Pat O'Shea readily admits he's nervous.

"This has been a once-in-a-lifetime build for everyone involved so to take it out on the track and drive it for the first time is a pretty big occasion," he said.

"But we decided that this was the time and the place to do it. So no pressure!" he said with a laugh.