VIC ZedFest #12 Melbourne

ZEDFEST #12 2026 (SHOW AND SHINE EVENT) [PART 1]

First off, I’d like to thank Rob (rob260) and everyone else involved in organising this year’s Zedfest. In the 20 years I’ve owned my Z, I’ve never been able to attend the national Zedfest event—mainly because it’s usually held interstate from where I live in Victoria, along with ongoing family commitments over the Easter long weekend when the event takes place every two years.

This year, however, Zedfest #12 was finally held in my home state of Victoria. Despite juggling family commitments over the Easter break, I was able to attend the “Show and Shine” event at Bellbird Park carpark in Lilydale on Saturday, April 4th.

It had been at least seven years since my last AUS300ZX community event—the 2018 Doug Memorial Cruise—so it’s fair to say I was feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. I was especially looking forward to meeting interstate members for the first time, catching up with familiar faces, and, of course, getting my Z out on the road to show it off.

With very little time to properly prepare the car, I did what I could to clean up the paintwork and interior in the lead-up to the event. At the same time, I was rushing to install a few rare and optional parts I’d been collecting, which made for a pretty frantic final push to get the car looking its best.

Living in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, I organised to convoy to the event with fellow member Yousif, whom I met at work a few years ago. This would also be his first 300ZX community event. After arriving at our meeting point early Saturday morning, I gave the car one final quick clean while waiting for him to arrive.













The exterior came up reasonably well. It might look great in photos, but I knew I wouldn’t be competing for any awards just yet—there are still plenty of exterior upgrades planned, including front and rear TwinZ diffusers to complete the look I’m aiming for.

I also gave the interior a quick detail. It’s probably the best-preserved part of the car, even though I didn’t have time for a full clean. One highlight was installing before the event was the optional Navan auto shifter the weekend before—another rare piece added to the collection for people to check out.







However the standout last minute addition I added to the car was my newly installed replica Lamborghini-style carbon fibre headlight trim covers. Initially, I wasn’t going to rush the install, but with the chance to meet so many community members, I couldn’t resist showing off one of the coolest mods I’ve added to the car. That meant a slightly stressful late-night install the evening before—but it was absolutely worth it.







Even though I did my best to present the car well, my main goal for the day wasn’t trophies—it was catching up with old members from the Victorian scene and meeting new people from across the country. That, to me, is far more valuable than any award.

When Yousif arrived, we had a quick chat before setting off on an hour-long drive through the countryside of eastern Victoria toward the event location.



Arriving at Bellbird Park, I was genuinely excited to see such a strong turnout. There was an incredible mix of cars—not just 300ZX Z32s, but also a couple of Z31s, classic 240Zs and 260Zs, and even several of the newer Nissan Z models—all lined up throughout the carpark.













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ZEDFEST #2 2026 (SHOW AND SHINE EVENT) (PART 2)







An original ADM 25th Anniversary model was also in attendance, presented in all of its factory-original glory.







Although not a Z car, a classic 1960s/1970s Datsun Fairlady 2000 roadster made an appearance, and it was in immaculate condition inside and out.







Alex’s Beast (badxtc) was my pick for the People’s Choice award. I chose his car because of the incredible workmanship and effort put into the build, and as one of the OG forum members, I felt it truly deserved the recognition.





With cars arriving and departing throughout the day, it wasn’t possible to capture every vehicle all at once. Here’s the rest of the field that I managed to photograph during my time at the event.



















And that wraps up all of my photos from the day. Overall, it was an exciting and genuinely fun event. I got to reconnect with a few old friends I hadn’t seen in years, which was a highlight, and also met some new faces.

I’ll admit my nerves held me back from striking up more conversations, but I did finally meet Rob in person—something I had been looking forward to—and was able to thank him for all the effort he put into organising the event.

One of the best takeaways from the day was hearing discussion from the VIC crew about potentially hosting another Great Ocean Road (GOR) cruise in the future. Hopefully it comes together—I’d rather not wait another seven years for the next chance to cruise in the Z again!​

 

Scrolling the pictures, it's nice to see a couple of Z31s represented, as they seem to be the forgotten/neglected or ignored model in the Zed history.

 

Funny enough I actually was interested in buying a Z31 at one point in time to have along side my Z32 but when I thought about having to maintain 2 cars at the same time and the fact I loved the Z32 more then the Z31 I decided against it even as a second car.

The ones at the show were very nice though.

 

Was a great event, thank you for organising. It was a pleasure to meet some new faces. Cruise on Sunday was so good, was actually able stretch the old girls legs a bit!

 

Some great pics of great cars there guys! And kudos to Rob again for organising it.

Hah, I'm always "a day late and a dollar short" these days.
I had no idea that Zedfest was in Melbourne this time. I would have been there if I'd known but I got lazy and absent on the Forum.
So sorry I missed it.