Mr Thomas has been addicted to American vintage cars since he was 10-years-old and the bug has been caught by those close to him.

On Saturday he and other members of the Canberra Hot Rod Association will gather their loved machines in Queanbeyan Park for the club’s 27^th Show and Shine event.

Mr Thomas has seen the annual meeting, which kicks off on Australia Day and goes through to Sunday, blossom from just eight members in 1991 to today having almost 80.

Back then his daughter was just 10-years-old and last Friday she turned 36.

But he said her love for the cars remains.

"Both my daughters are in to it,” Mr Thomas said.

“My eldest daughter has a '67 Chevy Impala and my youngest daughter has a '53 Chevy.

"It becomes a big family affair.”

Mr Thomas imported his 1934 black pickup Chevrolet, pictured, 10 years ago, and even his brother-in-law Steve Savage has his own blue 1929 Chevrolet, also pictured.

In the foreground of the picture is his friend Terry Falkingham’s “cute” 1947 Chevrolet.

Members will descend on Queanbeyan from around NSW and Victoria, and even as far as South Australia and Queensland have been known to make the journey to the event aimed at the true car enthusiasts.

Mr Thomas said their event doesn’t have the same rowdy crowd culture that has become synonymous with Summernats.

He said it is just about sharing their passion for cars.

"You're always looking at different cars and other peoples' ideas,” he said.

“A lot of the people who have been coming to the run have been coming to the run for the best part of 27 years, so it's more a get together of old mates than anything.”

Mr Thomas’ local hot rod club and the national governing body, Australian Street Rod Federation, will be bringing a bigger and better show to Queanbeyan in 2018.

They will be putting on a national show and are expecting up to 1,500 hot rods from right across the country.