Fans of films and television series such as American Graffiti and Happy Days will be able to inspect Australianised versions of their dream machines when almost 200 modified cars descend on the city this weekend.
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The vehicles, which are more about style, comfort, safety and on-road drivability than the hardcore performance machines associated with SummerNats, are family fun and works of art event organiser, John Thompson, says.
The Hume tyre distributor has loved rods ever since being exposed to them for the first time as a kid.
''I was born in 1965 and grew up in Narrandera,'' he said. ''A rod run came through in about 1973 when I was about eight and I was hooked. I said to myself 'I'm going to have a car like that one day'.''
The dream came true when, a few years after getting his licence, he bought a 1934 Plymouth roadster (open car) which was running a 360 cubic inch (six litre) Chrysler V8 engine.
When he moved to Canberra Mr Thompson let the Plymouth go so he could concentrate on building a 1933 Ford Tudor rod.
''The 1933 and 1934 Fords are considered the classic rods,'' he said. ''I just loved the look and I built this from the ground up. A fixture in his life for the past 23 years, the Tudor runs a 302 Windsor engine with a C4 automatic gearbox.
''The engine is basically stock but it goes harder and is a lot more reliable than the old side valve would have been.''
Ford's flathead (side valve) V8 was the mainstay of the rodding scene in the immediate post war era but, overtime, has made way for more modern designs.
Engines can be highly modified, cost tens of thousands of dollars to build and develop prodigious levels of power.
A case in point is Mr Thompson's project car, a sleek wedge based on a 1934 Ford coupe and running a big block 454 cubic inch (7.5 litre) V8 generating about 560kw. That's just under three times the power produced by a current-model Falcon Six.
The decision to hold Saturday's show and shine event at Queanbeyan is one Mr Thompson said the Canberra Hot Rod Association had made reluctantly.
''It is becoming increasingly difficult to find places to hold events [such as the show and shine] in Canberra,'' he said.
This is a shame given the ''kruse'' is a family event for participants and spectators.
''That is one of the things I love about it [rodding],'' he said. ''It is about families; I've got to meet some great people and have made fantastic friends over the years.''
Other activities over the weekend will include nightly rock'n'roll dances at event headquarters, the Capital Country Holiday Village at Sutton, and visits to attractions like the National Mint.
Mr Thompson said 1950s music always went down well at hot rod functions. ''People do want to relive the age of American Graffiti and Happy Days,'' he said. ''Nostalgia is a big part of it.''
Canberra's 24th Rod and Kustom Kruse, Australia Day long weekend. Highlight is show and shine event at the Queanbeyan Park (behind the police station) from 11am to 1.30pm on Saturday.
