While there’s no denying that in the past the Street Machine Summernats in the ACT has made headlines for the wrong reasons, the ‘Nats has grown up. It’s boisterous, but it’s a family affair, supporting a hobby that is often equally family-based.

The numbers for 2013 event show that 101,486 paying fans strolled through the gates and 1767 cars were ‘entered’ for the four-day extravaganza.

The dress code at Summernats is casual and tattoos are a common sight.

Burnout Masters reign at Summernats. These men and women are performance artists. Their cars are perfectly finished showpieces, while their engines are as highly tuned as a V8 Supercar’s.

While everyone else parties, some people are here to work. Ricky Caton and Anthony Operoek have the job of burnout pad preparation.

‘Coupé utilities’, or ‘utes’ for short, were developed for Australian farmers. But who knows who invented the ute pool?

It’s not a batmobile, but this car art helps this vehicle stand out among the other cars. Car artists are sometimes known as ‘cartists’.

The ACT police reportedly made no arrests in 2013 and weren’t called on to intervene in any incidents, underlining the family-friendly nature of the event.

Dirty Pierre and Moondog are fixtures, hitting up the Summernats crowd with rude T-shirts and even dirtier jokes.

Outside, those who mock the ‘show ponies’ and ‘trailer queens’ tucked away in the hall declare their loyalties via a popular bumper sticker, “Driven, Not Hidden”.

Summernats 26 created an official Guinness World Record, with 69 cars doing simultaneous burnouts. It would have been 70 cars but show creator Chic Henry made smoke from the transmission rather than the tyres.