Inside Our Pop-Up at AR Bodyworks Car Show - Sunshine North, 16 May 2026

This was the first time we'd shown the full V2 Overtake range in person, at the AR Bodyworks car show in Melbourne's west. Here's how the day went, what people said about the scents, and why we're not trying to make the strongest air freshener around, even though we know that's what a lot of people reach for.

The day: AR Bodyworks Car Show

On Saturday 16 May 2026 we set up at the AR Bodyworks Car Show at 6 Grainger Street, Sunshine North. AR Bodyworks do smash repairs and custom work on prestige, import, classic and vintage builds, so their show brings out people who really care about their cars.

There was a bit of everything, from JDM imports to restored classics to weekend-only toys. Plenty of coffee, plenty of chatting, and people doing laps to check out every build. It felt like a community day rather than a trade show.

The stand: the full range, hands on

We brought the whole current lineup: Aqua Fresh, Cool Melon, Grape Ice, Citrus Lift, JDM Fizz, Auto Aurora, Very Vanilla and Berry Chill, plus the Handover Spray and our vent mount.

Every scent had a tester out so people could pick it up, twist the cap and have a smell. That was the whole point of being there. You can describe a scent all day online, but it doesn't mean much until someone actually smells it. We also ran pop-up pricing for anyone who bought on the day.

What people said

The reactions were the best part of the day. People would pick up Aqua Fresh expecting it to smell like a supermarket freshener, then do a double take and go back for another sniff. Very Vanilla's light sweetness kept pulling people back for seconds. And Grape Ice got the most "wait, that's actually really good" reactions of any scent on the table.

What surprised me most was how many people stuck around just to talk scents: what they had in their car, what they liked, and why their last freshener gave them a headache by week two. Those are the conversations I love having.

The story behind Overtake, and why we're not chasing "strongest"

A lot of my day was spent telling the Overtake story to people who hadn't heard it before. Three years of small-batch development in Melbourne, a plant-based gel formula and fragrance oils used within IFRA usage limits, all refined by one person based on real customer feedback.

The thing I most wanted people to walk away with is that we're not trying to make the strongest air freshener on the market. Every servo already has a shelf full of those. Overtake is made to be balanced, a scent that sits in the background of your drive and keeps its character for weeks rather than just the first few days.

How it went

Some of the builds on display at AR Bodyworks. Melbourne's west turned out in force.

Sales were strong all day, and a few scents sold well beyond what I expected. The bigger win was meeting people: customers who've been ordering online for years and told me why they keep coming back, and plenty of people who'd never come across a handmade Australian car air freshener before.

Running a pop-up on your own is a lot of work. There are weeks of prep, then packing, setting up, selling all day and packing it all back down again. Luckily I had friends helping out, from the setup through to sharing their own experiences with the scents when people had questions.

Getting someone to actually smell the product and hear why it's different is the hardest thing to do over Instagram. At an event like this, it just happens.

Thanks, and what's next

A big thanks to the AR Bodyworks team for putting on a great event and making room for local brands. And to everyone who stopped by, asked questions, picked up a scent or three, or showed me their build, thank you.

If you missed us, the full range is online, with the same Melbourne-made formula and the same scents you could have tested on the day. We'll announce the next pop-up on @overtake.scents first.