Indholdsfortegnelse for No 139 December 2016 i NZV8

I like to think of myself, rightly or — most likely — wrongly, as a fairly hands-on sort of person when it comes to building cars. I’m generally willing to give anything a shot, but, at the same time, I know my limitations; my desire for perfection is often well beyond my average, at best, abilities. Ian Neary, the owner of this issue’s cover car, takes being hands on to a whole different level. Sure, he’s a perfectionist, too — in reality, well beyond that, if there is such a thing — but he’s willing to give absolutely any part of vehicle building a shot. As you’ll see when you check out the article on Ian’s Plymouth GTX, the car is nothing short of mind blowing. It’s the type of…

KEN BOOST You remember the ‘Hoonigan’ — the all-wheel-drive wide-body Mustang with which Ken Block destroyed Los Angeles in his Gymkhana Seven video? If you don’t, you’d better watch that video right now. If you do, it may excite you to know that it’s just gained a pair of turbos, a methanol fuel system, and 1400hp to all four. Read all about that, and the story of the Kiwis who helped build it, online on The Motorhood — just search ‘Hoonigan’. WEEKLY MOTOR FIX You could say that Trev Halstead is a man who knows his Studebakers, being widely regarded as the go-to guy for any and all things Stude. That includes extending his general automotive wizardry to builds for customers. He’s just finished this neat kustom-style ’50 Studebaker bulletnose…

Late 2013 was a pretty bland time in New Zealand history. Not a lot worth recalling was going on, unless you were interested in how long it took for Mark Lundy to drive from Wellington to Palmerston North and back. However, in the car world, or, more so, in NZV8 world, something pretty special was erupting — pun intended. That was Ian Neary’s 1968 Plymouth GTX, known as ‘Eruption’, gracing the cover of the magazine in an unfinished state. It’s not often that we do such a thing, but Ian’s car was, without doubt, something unlike anything New Zealand had seen before. The level of custom work on the car was above and beyond that of any other muscle car ever built in the country, and that’s exactly how it…

One of the biggest events in the US, and I’m sure on the bucket list of all true hot rodders around the world, is the National Street Rod Association (NSRA) Street Rod Nationals. After all, the US is the recognized birthplace of hot rodding, so attending the annual nationals at least once is something to be ticked off. The first nationals was held in Illinois back in 1970, then the event rotated through several cities in the ’80s and ’90s. However, Louisville, Kentucky, which is also the home of Muhammad Ali and KFC, has been the location for the nats for the past 20 years. The event is held at the impressive Kentucky Exposition Center. The 47th nationals was held in early August this year, and it’s not too hard…

There are some patterns you begin to notice when featuring cars in a magazine, and one is to do with vehicle owners. Maybe it’s that Kiwi sense of modesty, but many owners of vehicles that we think deserve to be featured will tell us, “I didn’t get in touch, because I didn’t think my car was good enough.” It’s easy to get so caught up in a project that you forget to step back and appreciate just how far it’s come. That’s probably why Troy Slater, who owns this sweet ’63 Holden EJ wagon, told us, “I was wondering what you guys wanted with my car!” Having owned his EJ for eight years, during which it has been in an almost-constant state of upgrade, it seems he was so focused…

“SSS — street, show, and strip — would be the aim for the next one,” declares this month’s cover-car owner, Ian Neary. “I always loved ‘The Pie’ when I was growing up, so I’d base the build on a modern interpretation of that — with my own spin on it, of course.” That famous ‘pie’ that Ian’s talking about is the 1952 Ford Anglia panel van that was a regular at events around New Zealand back in the 1970s. The gasser-style build was a big hit with the crowds at the time, and we’re sure Ian’s reincarnation would be every bit as popular. The build would be based on a custom chassis — gasser style, of course — with a straight axle up front and a nine-inch on ladder bars…

You may not know the name ‘Brendon Neiman’, but that’s soon set to change. Those who do know him, or know of him, know him as a savvy businessman and dedicated racer — or, more so at this point in time — ex-racer. Back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Brendon campaigned a ridiculously overpowered MkII Ford Escort in the Sports Sedan class. With massive box-flared guards, the car was about as wide as it was long and was more often than not seen lifting a front wheel coming out of corners as the massive torque of the 355ci small block Chev was utilized. In 2003, Brendon decided that he’d outgrown the car, and it simply wasn’t the best machine to keep fighting with to get around the track.…

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON The top level of domestic New Zealand motorsport is gearing up for the new season, with the categories all set for their first round at the forthcoming Supercars event before looking ahead to the first stand-alone Premier Motorsport meeting at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo, on December 10 and 11, where nine of the best categories will compete. The event at Taupo will be the first to be promoted and run by the Speedworks events team, and will feature all of the major categories. Topping the bill will be the BNT NZ Touring Cars, with a field that should see more up and coming young guns in both the top V8 SuperTourers– and TLX-specification class-one cars and the older, development-level TLspecification class-two cars. Although the Toyota…

If you’re reading this, thank you — not just for spending valuable time reading my drivel but for picking up a magazine and supporting print media. I think NZV8 readers are the best a magazine and its editorial staff could hope for, and I’m not just saying that. Here’s why: Do you know what an ‘uroboros’ is? It’s the name given to the symbol of a snake eating its own tail — an infinite paradox — and I feel that each issue is a little like that. The lifeblood of any magazine is revenue, but it’s not the $10 per issue that keeps us going so much as the money we receive from advertisers. That 10-dollar shelf price pretty much covers only print and distribution costs. The amount advertisers are…

RAW BEAUTY The team at Rods by Reid has been making great progress on Mike Neilson’s scratch-built ’32 coupe. As with all Rods by Reid cars, plenty of thought has gone into the build, and the workmanship, which, as we’ve come to expect, is nothing but the best. The car is based on a Rods by Reid ’32 pinchedframe chassis with 12-point tubular centre section. Up front is a Rods by Reid Lo-Boy independent front suspension (IFS) setup, while out the back is a Rods by Reid independent rear suspension (IRS) package with Winters Quick Change diff. Both ends run Wilwood brakes, and, with a 427 Ford Racing small block topped with Inglese Eight Stack fuel-injection system, they’re there for good reason. We’ll bring you more as the build progresses.…

“I floated the idea of a Mustang past my wife, Kaylee, while she was in labour with our daughter — she couldn’t really say no!” laughs Steve Walker. Looking at the tough piece of kit that that simple idea of a Mustang has now evolved into, it’s a decision that neither Steve nor Kaylee has any regrets about. However, to appreciate fully how the Mustang came to be the way it is, we may need to explain a bit of Steve’s automotive history. As the proprietor of Mikes Engines in Whangarei, Steve is no stranger to working with his hands, especially when that work involves producing large amounts of power. His first real foray into the world of old-school V8s involved a 1971 Falcon XY ute, for which he built…

Meremere Dragway — or Champion Dragway, the name it’s often recalled as by we of the older generation — is often considered to be the home of drag racing in New Zealand. What many don’t realize is that, by the time the Meremere strip opened, Port Road was already in its seventh year of racing! While it’s not a quarter-mile track, and it may have started out as essentially a street sprint spot, Port Road is New Zealand’s longest-running drag racing venue and, this year, is celebrating 50 years of racing. Unlike Meremere Dragway and other tracks, it’s never had a rainout, with racing completed every single year — although sometimes only just! For those of you who have never ventured to the Port Road Drags, you really don’t know…

Travelling to the States has always been popular for Kiwis, and it seems like more and more of us are making the trip each year. To enable this, the airlines are trying to break the near-monopoly held by Air New Zealand, with ever more flights being added to their weekly schedule to tickle the fancy of New Zealanders. My wife is American, so we make an annual pilgrimage to the ‘old country’ to see the sights, family, and friends. Our recent trip to the US with our two kids incorporated five days rafting down a river in Idaho, several days on a large rice farm with a choice of either the latest Ford F-150 or GMC Sierra truck, a visit to a brewery, jet skiing, and wakeboarding on a hydro…

The tale of how 26 of New Zealand’s toughest muscle cars took on Bathurst began around five years ago. The local Enzed Central Muscle Cars (CMC) has always had a strong association with Australian-based Touring Car Masters (TCM), and the drivers have raced head to head at Eastern Creek, out of Sydney, twice before. With the association between the groups that had been built up over the years, it had been loosely discussed that CMC would venture over the ditch one day to race with TCM at Bathurst. After a number of attempts to make it happen, a lot of heartache, and even more hard work, it finally became a reality when CMC appeared as a support class at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for 2016. Reasonably tight time frames…

WHERE IS IT NOW? 1969 CHEV CAMARO GREG PEPPER A little over 10 years ago, Greg Pepper released what must, at the time, have been the country’s toughest street car. ‘SS540’ was the final incarnation of Greg’s insatiable need for speed and his dream to build the quickest reliable streeter he could — and, when the feature ran, the Camaro had run a 9.90-second quarter-mile at 140mph. Shortly afterwards, the car was sold to Darren Saunders. After racing the car, and dropping into the eight-second zone, Darren wisely retired it from racing, stating, correctly, that the car was really too nice to risk damaging. Eventually, Darren sold the motor from the car to Bruce Cox and installed a supercharged 454, built by Magnum Automotive, which made the car a touch…

HSV GTS-R W1 — FINAL DINKUM AUSSIE MUSCLE While there has been no official word yet, the internet is abuzz with rumours about the last-ever Commodore-based HSV — the 2017 HSV GTS-R W1. With a production run apparently limited to around 250 units and a supercharged LS9 under the bonnet, this will surely be an instant classic if it happens. The LS9 is the same supercharged 6.2-litre V8 that powered the previous-generation Corvette ZR1, in which 638hp and 604lb·ft are produced, so expect the W1’s numbers to be somewhere in that ballpark. Transmission choice is apparently non-existent, with just a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual on offer — perfect for what is almost certainly going to be the last true-blue, real Aussie muscle car. While the car itself might be fair-dinkum…

REPCO BEACH HOP ’17 IS ALL GO! The crew behind Beach Hop is stoked to announce that Repco New Zealand has signed on the dotted line as naming rights sponsor for Repco Beach Hop 2017, to be held over March 22–26, 2017. “Repco New Zealand is delighted to continue its association with Beach Hop 2017 as naming-rights sponsor,” said Sunnette Kennard, Repco New Zealand’s marketing manager. “Repco, as is the case with Beach Hop, has a passion for cars and is proud to offer New Zealand car owners the largest range of auto parts and trade-trusted parts expertise across its network of 84 stores. The team at Repco look[s] forward to making Repco Beach Hop 2017 another great and memorable event.” Event spokesman Noddy Watts, would also like to thank…

NOVEMBER 5 SCRAP PALACE MORRINSVILLE BURNOUT COMP It’s that time of year again — New Zealand’s biggest home-grown burnout competition is back for 2016. This year, the one and only Mick Brasher — Aussie burnout king in the ‘ULEGAL’ Corolla — will be heading over as a guest judge. You can be sure that the local talent will not disappoint, with a selection of the country’s toughest skidders working their magic on the pad. If you’re into the finer things in life, a licensed bar will quench your thirst, as will the wet T-shirt competition in the afternoon. Visit burnoutcomp.co.nz for all the information you’ll need. NOVEMBER 11–13 NEW ZEALAND DEUCE DAYS 2016 Deuce Days is the biggest New Zealand celebration of all things ’32. Hosted by Magoo’s Street Rods,…

The first New Zealand top doorslammer to break into the six-second zone was Mark Holland at Thunderpark, way back in 1996. While there have been plenty of technological changes since then, it’s only in recent years that the ETs have edged closer and closer to the five-second zone, making that the new target for drivers. In fact, some may say that running the first five-second doorslammer pass is one of the last achievable — or almost achievable — titles remaining. After all, it’s unlikely we’ll see four-second doorslammer passes in our lifetime, if it all. While it may sound simple enough to improve from running low sixes to running into the fives, the reality is far from it. The physics required to move a 2700-pound — the minimum weight for…

Johnny and Nigel Alsop’s wild Willys coupe has been a familiar sight up and down the country for the past few years, but, for the coming season, the brothers have decided on a different approach to the never-ending quest for speed. Nigel says, “We’re closing a chapter on the Willys coupe era and changing body style — in the eternal fight to get the car lighter. We’re going lighter, a little longer in the chassis — previously, it was a 115-inch wheelbase to suit the Pro Mod body, so she’s stretched out to 125 inches now — and, while we’re at it, we’re going to throw a bit more overdrive at the PSI. We’re going to step up and give Top Alcohol a nudge.” When asked if a five-second pass…

“I had a T-bucket many years ago,” says wellknown race driver Dean Perkins when asked if he’d ever owned a hot rod before. Of course, that was back before his days of racing touring cars and the endless quest for horsepower. Wanting to get back into a hot rod a few years back, Dean was dead set on a ’30 or ’31 coupe. After not finding what he was after locally, he aimed his sights at the hot rodding homeland, America. Trawling through the internet, it wasn’t long before Dean found just the thing: a supercharged, channelled, but un-chopped ’31 coupe for sale in Charlotte, North Carolina. Straight away, the thought of purchasing and roof chopping the car appealed. With the seller being based in Charlotte, Dean chatted to his…

TINMAN RETURNS Previous CMC series champion and ultracompetitive driver, Shane Wigston, is set to make a return to the CMC grid this coming season. After stepping back from full-on racing to focus on a few select events each year, he and his iconic HQ Holden will be a welcome return to the grid at round one. At this stage, Shane’s not sure whether he’ll compete every round; the plan is to see how the first few events of the season go before committing to anything further. Despite taking the win at the V8 Supercar round in Pukekohe last season, Shane’s car has undergone a few upgrades recently, including an increase in the capacity of the Nascar-sourced motor from 358 to 410ci. To compensate for this, new larger brakes have been…