Billionaire ‘Lambo Guy’ Adrian Portelli helps put Summernats streets ahead
Billionaire car enthusiast Adrian Portelli celebrated the success of his first year helping run Summernats in Canberra, a ‘passion project’ which may serve as a distraction for his recent legal woes.
Billionaire car enthusiast Adrian “Lambo Guy” Portelli is celebrating the success of his first year helping to run the Street Machine Summernats, Australia’s biggest, noisiest petrolhead festival.
Mr Portelli, who started amassing his fortune in tech in the US before becoming famous for buying houses from television show The Block and giving away thousands of dollars worth of shopping vouchers and food in Australia, got his nickname for his collection of expensive Lamborghinis.
Mr Portelli’s Instagram story was full of videos of him letting off steam at Summernats at the weekend. He posted a video for his 453,000 followers on Saturday of crowds of people leaning over barricades to see a procession of muscle cars as they cheered and reached for Mr Portelli and his camera.
A selfie video from the same day showed him on one of the event’s stages, smiling, promoting events and pointing out into the crowd.
The 35-year-old’s many assets add up to an estimated network of $1.3bn, enough for him to join the ranks of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 for the first time in 2024.
In what he called a passion project in September 2024, Mr Portelli took a multimillion-dollar minority stake in the motorsport festival and media organisation that owns the Summernats festival, Out There Group.
The annual festival – welcoming an estimated 130,000 car lovers to the festival in Canberra at the weekend – may serve as a distraction for Mr Portelli from recent woes, including a probe into the legality of the lottery business run by his company Xclusive Tech, which trades under the LMCT+ brand.
Mr Portelli was charged with nine counts of conducting or assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery in December, following an investigation launched by South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services department in September 2023.
He is to face the South Australian Magistrates Court on January 15, where he could face a maximum penalty of $190,000.
Over four days in Canberra, the festival offered a plethora of loud, competitive and explosive events. Eager car enthusiasts flooded into Exhibition Park on Thursday morning for the opening, feasting their eyes on elite cars worth more than $70m.
Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez last week said the nation’s capital was “jumping” from the get-go. From drag racing and air shows to fireworks and DJ sets, festival-goers had a wide range of activities to choose from.
For one patron, the weekend excitement wasn’t just about the events: Peter Grmusa left Summernats $50,000 richer after he took out the Pro Burnout Championship, an annual highlight.
The Summernats Instagram account also dubbed Saturday the biggest day in the festival’s 37-year history, uploading a montage of skids, smoke, and riled-up crowds.
Summernats 2026 has been announced for January 8-11, with tickets available before 2025’s event has even finished.
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