Slip 'N' Grip

THE RIDES BY KAM TEAM BRING OUT THEIR BEST BUILDS AND BEST MATES FOR A DAY OF DRAGS AND DRIF TING

- Ashleigh Wilson

WHEN Gold Coast-based car builders Rides By Kam told us they were putting on a track day, we thought we’d head out to see their masterful builds in action. Seventy custom cars took over Queensland Raceway on 30 August for one day of powerskids, muscle-car and mixed track cruising, drift sessions and drag racing. Rides By Kam owner Rob Zahabi put the call out to get the cars rolling in. “We sent an invitation to our customers and close friends to come and enjoy the cars we built for them,” he said. “It’s about getting passionate car people together for maximum track time and a really cool day.”

While the RBK team is known for their immaculate muscle cars, a variety of JDMs, Aussie toughies, US muscle cars, exotics and supercars pulled up to the pits, making for interesting banter between race rivals. “We had some call-out drag battles,” Rob said. “A lot of the drift cars went up against the muscle cars. You don’t usually get these two types of cars on the track together!”

For Rob, it’s not ‘drive it like you stole it’, but rather ‘drive it like you built it’, and it was quite something to witness elite, showquality builds being put to the test. It’s one thing admiring the work and attention to detail up close; it’s another to see these cars cutting laps and doing powerskids down the track.

Brock Mahoney’s IN ENVY blown XC Falcon (SM, Sep’ 14) turned heads as he hit the blacktop, with Brock jumping at the chance to pedal the Summernats Top 60 stunner. With its shaved and fettled bodywork, the car’s familiar sleek-but-tough look has Rob’s name all over it.