Cars & Culture Melbourne — My First Open Car Show in the Z32 On 16 August 2026, Cars & Culture hosted what was their biggest Melbourne car show yet at the Palais Theatre car park in St Kilda — and what an incredible day it turned out to be! I don't know the exact numbers, but there had to be 150+ cars on display, with what looked like 400+ spectators coming through throughout the day. The atmosphere was fantastic, with excitement, enthusiasm and plenty of interest in just about every car on display. For me, this was a pretty big deal because it was my first-ever open car show. I was excited, but I also had plenty of anxiety about what people would think of my car. Knowing that my Z32 isn't exactly a pristine example, I wondered whether anyone would pay much attention to it at all. Still, I was hopeful that a few people might stop by, have a look and appreciate what I'd put together. Meeting Up With the Z Crew I left home early that morning and headed towards the city to our planned meeting point, where I was hoping some other Z owners would meet up with me so we could cruise to the show together. I was stoked to find a beautiful, heavily modified Sapphire Blue 300ZX, Josami, already waiting for me when I arrived. Not long after, Steve, one of the OG 300ZX owners I'd recently met, joined us in his built TT 4-seater. Finally, 70KYO_ZX arrived, completing our initial group of four Zeds heading to the show. I was absolutely wrapped with the turnout, and we were all pretty excited to get there and put the Z32s on display for the public. Cruising to the Show I originally wanted to arrive at the event before 7:30am, but we decided to hang around the meeting point a little longer to see if any other 300ZXs would turn up. Unfortunately, no one else arrived, so with the fear of a massive queue forming at the event, we decided to head off just before 8am. The drive itself was only around 20 minutes, but cruising together as a group of Z32s made it a lot more fun. There's something pretty cool about seeing a group of 300ZXs heading down the road together. When we arrived, I was surprised to find no queue at all. We were able to drive straight in, with plenty of spaces still available. There were already photographers and videographers capturing cars as they rolled into the show, which was awesome to see. At that point, it really started to sink in that we were actually part of a pretty huge event. I found an empty section of car parks towards the edge of the lot where we could park all four Zeds together — and that's when the fun really began. The Z32s on Display Seeing the four Zeds lined up together looked awesome. I'll admit, I was pretty nervous about what people would think of our cars, and especially mine. But that nervousness quickly disappeared as people started walking through the show and taking an interest in the Zs. We were already getting plenty of attention while more and more cars continued pouring into the car park. Before long, the lot was filling up quickly and there was an incredible variety of cars everywhere you looked. Once everyone started exploring the show, I realised just how impressive the lineup really was. There were some seriously cool and unique builds on display. One car that immediately caught my attention was this C5 Corvette. That massively wide rear end looked absolutely sick, and I couldn't help but wonder why I'd never really wanted one of these back in the day! And this was only the beginning of the day...
Cars & Culture — The Variety Was Incredible For me, one of the best parts of the show was the huge variety of cars on display. There was genuinely something for everyone — everything from classic and modern muscle cars, JDM legends, European builds and even exotic supercars. No matter what you're into, there was something at the show that you could appreciate, walk around and spend some time looking over. That's what made the atmosphere so enjoyable; you could turn a corner and find something completely different from the last car you'd just been admiring. Even with only 10 minutes to go before the official start of the show, cars were still pouring into the event. At that point, I was just hoping everyone arriving so late would still be able to find an empty spot to park and display their cars. It was awesome watching the car park continue to fill up right up until the last minute. Showing Off the VG30 To make the Zs even more eye-catching, I decided to open up my bonnet and show off the heart of my car — the mighty VG30. I encouraged the rest of the group to do the same, especially since each of our cars had its own set of modifications and interesting things going on under the bonnet. It was a great opportunity to let people get a closer look at what makes these cars tick. One funny moment happened shortly after I opened my engine bay. Two gentlemen walked up to the car and started discussing how there was supposedly no way to remove the spark plugs from a VG30 because the engine bay was so cramped. I had to laugh to myself a little at the confidence with which they were discussing it, despite clearly not being familiar with the 300ZX's engine layout. The VG30DE/DETT engine bay is definitely tight, but the spark plugs are absolutely removable! It's moments like this that make car shows so entertaining, though. You get to meet all sorts of people, hear some interesting opinions and, every now and then, learn just how much — or how little — someone actually knows about the car they're looking at. Either way, it was great seeing people taking an interest in the Z32s and asking questions about the cars.
It wasn't just the cars that made the show memorable. One spectator even brought along his three dogs, cruising around the car park in a little yellow ride-on Lamborghini! The dogs were more than happy to sit in the car while their owner slowly drove them around the show, and they ended up attracting almost as much attention as some of the actual cars. It was honestly pretty adorable watching the crowds stop to admire them as they cruised past. My Other Dream Car, A DeLorean DMC-12 I was also really excited to spot a DMC-12 DeLorean at the show. Besides the 300ZX, the DeLorean has always been one of those unobtainable dream cars for me — a car I'd absolutely love to own if I ever had the money. Realistically, I doubt I'll ever get the opportunity, but it's still awesome to see one in person. There's just something about the DeLorean that makes it stand out. Even sitting completely still, it looks incredibly cool, and the car's low, sleek profile is surprisingly noticeable when you see it alongside modern cars. Exploring the Show For the rest of my time at the show, I did my best to photograph as many of the cars as I could. With such a huge variety of builds on display, there was always something interesting around the next corner. Some cars caught my eye because of their modifications, others because of their rarity, and some simply because they looked incredible. I definitely didn't manage to photograph everything, but I came away with a pretty decent collection of photos — and there were plenty of cars that I could have happily spent even more time looking over. The more I walked around, the more I realised just how much variety there was at this show.
Meeting More of the Z Crew Dass was a late addition to the show, so unfortunately he wasn't able to park with the rest of us in the Z group. Even so, his car looked absolutely amazing, and after months of chatting with each other on Instagram, it was awesome to finally meet him in person and have a proper conversation. The rest of the day was spent socialising with the Z crew, talking about all things 300ZX and just enjoying being around people who share the same passion for these cars. It was honestly such a great experience finally meeting everyone who came along with me to the show. I definitely walked away having made some new friends, and we all agreed that we needed to get together again soon for another cruise and enjoy these awesome cars together. The Final Surprise But there was one last surprise waiting for me at the end of the show — something I never expected when I first arrived that morning. As we prepared to leave, I noticed huge crowds had gathered along the nature strip on Cavell Street, with people filming and photographing the cars as they exited the event. I honestly felt like a superstar driving down the road with hundreds of people watching, filming and taking photos of the cars. Even before we started leaving, several cars had been cruising up and down the street, revving their engines and popping their exhausts, which was drawing even bigger crowds along the various vantage points on Cavell Street. Then it was our turn to leave. Driving the Z out of the event with all those people watching was honestly one of the coolest experiences I've ever had with the car. Seeing so many people genuinely excited about the cars made all the nerves I had earlier that morning completely disappear. At one point, a young kid even told me I had a "clean-looking 300ZX" before giving me a fist pump as I drove past. That moment honestly made my day. I really didn't want the event to end. I could have happily kept cruising around with everyone for hours, but unfortunately, the show was officially over. There was also word going around that a large police presence was supposedly on its way to the area to book and fine cars leaving the event. Thankfully, as far as I'm aware, that never ended up happening. From my experience, the officials running the event did a fantastic job managing everything, and despite the huge number of cars and spectators, the day went incredibly smoothly. Heading Home Eventually, I headed home, but the Cars & Culture experience definitely didn't end there for me. For the next few hours, I found myself scrolling through social media looking for photos, videos and any other content people had captured from the event. It was awesome seeing the show from everyone else's perspective and finding footage of cars I'd missed while walking around. Looking back, this has to be one of the best car show experiences I've ever had. It was my first proper open car show with the Z, I got to meet a bunch of awesome people, made some new friends, cruised with a group of 300ZXs, saw some incredible cars and — perhaps most importantly — got to experience what it's like to have people genuinely appreciate the car I've put so much time into. I absolutely will be attending the next Cars & Culture event in Melbourne. Hopefully, next time we can get an even bigger group of Z32s together! Until then, here's to more cruises, more meets and plenty more adventures with the Z. Thanks Cars & Culture for putting on an awesome event!
