With the show being on hiatus since 2008, Wei Jie from E3lipse Photography attended this year's edition to find out what it's like.

Words and photos: Wei Jie from E3lipse Photography

Missing the Singapore Motor Show in 2008, I was vehement about going to the Perth Motor Show especially since I reside 10 minutes away from the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. With the “kiasu”(scared to lose) mentality, I bought my online ticket nearly 2 weeks in advance. The 2011 Perth Motor Show was held from 19 to 21 of August and I decided to go on the first day to avoid the weekend crowd.

Walking into the Exhibition center, it was a sight to behold. Visitors were greeted by a whole row of veteran to post classic cars, ranging from what is claimed to be the world’s first affordable automobile, the Ford Model T to a Holden Monaro and a Chevrolet Camaro.

While the show focused mostly on muscles and V8s, there were a fair share of European and Japanese cars too. The last display before entering the main hall held was a trio of Jaguar E Types which have participated in various races and rallies ranging the 1964 Caversham 6 hour race to the more renowned 1997 Panama — Alaska Rally.

Entering the main hall, I was greeted first by a Chinese Massage booth that actually had a customer followed by a few magazine subscription booths and go karts, which I weren’t keen on, till I glanced upon the first show case, by Chevrolet. No, it wasn’t a display of its new Spark or Cruze (which is under Holden in Australia), but a mighty display of power with the Chevrolet Camaro SS running on a LS3 6.2 V8 engine, decked in the Rally Yellow paint and racing stripes like what you saw in Transformers Trilogy.

With it was the almighty Corvette ZR1 with its LS9 Supercharged V8, you’ve probably seen it on Top Gear and awed at it, but looking it at face to face was just as exciting. People were hovering all around the car. Knowing that the rear was soft and plastic from the motoring show, I decided not to put that to the test. Check out those quad exhaust! Laying at the back was the behemoth Silverado, not just any Silverado but the 3500HD V8 Powered variant. At over 6.5 metres in length and 2 metres wide, it puts a Mercedes S Class to shame, but of course I’m comparing it just by the mass and not by other factors.

Laying at the back was the behemoth Silverado, not just any Silverado but the 3500HD V8 Powered variant. At over 6.5 metres in length and 2 metres wide, it will make a Mercedes S Class look tiny by comparison.

The BMW Show Case had an air tent which I was hoping would hide an M3 or 1-Series M Coupe but I was disappointed, BMW had only brought along the Z4, X3 and 5-Series as well as a X1. Admittedly, it was the BMW-powered Morgan AeroMax that captured my attention. Modern Morgans are made from exotic alloys, unlike the traditional models that had wooden bodies on a steel chassis. The AeroMax is the coupe variant of the Aero 8 and only 100 examples were made.

Australians love cars, with many owning a daily "bunky" and a sports car for the occasional cruise. With the Targa West Rally coming up this weekend, I’m not surprised that some rally prepped cars were being displayed like this Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9. Decked in racing livery and rollcage'd, it is definitely not your regular wannabe racer in a Lancer.

In the same way Audi and BMW have their own quattro and M performance divisions respectively, Ford and Holden of Australia have their own go fast divisions with FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) and HSV (Holden Special Vehicles). They have recently went head-to-head by releasing their own Black editions - sense the AMG connection yet?

FPV, who shared the space with Ford only had the GT on display, lacking the GS, F6 Typhoons and their Utility variants respectively . However, HSV did a better job with a wide range of models on display, ranging from the GTS , the Maloo, R8 Clubsport to the Senator.

If there was only one car that I attended the show for, it would be the Lamborghini Aventador. The Western Australian release of the Aventador was THE showstopper.

Joining it were the Aston Martin Rapide, Maserati Gran Turismo, Ferrari California and a Jaguar XF in a display by Barbagallo, a group of dealerships in WA dealing with the finest automotives.

Ferrari had their own show case with a row of 4 driving rigs running the Gran Turismo 5 game. If you scored the fastest time for the day in a Ferrari F40, you would walk away with an AUD$1,000 Shell Prepaid card. On display were the California and the 2010 F10 F1 car. It was only later when a Ferrari 458 Italia showed up on stage along with Top Gear Australia host Shane Jacobsen.

Nissan showed up with the updated GTR in the new Aurora Flare Blue Pearl boosted to 530hp and the Z34 370Z. Volkswagen had a majority of its range on show, showing off the Eos, the Golf BlueMotion and its faster brothers, the GTI and R. Also present were the Polo GTI and the Passat CC.

Porsche made an appearance in the form of the Porsche Club with a mini display of 4 cars, which was rather disappointing. There was no sight of the new Cayenne, Cayman R or even the Boxster Spyder which I saw in a dealership in the vicinity.

I paid a student concession price of AUD$13 and managed to get an A2 Poster of a Peugeot LM Car and 2 Ferrari 1:38 scale models. While I was disappointed that Mitsubishi, Audi and others like Mercedes were not present, the Aventador and the ZR1 displays were the saving grace. In the meantime, check out more show pictures on the E3lipse Photography Facebook page!