Indholdsfortegnelse for No 142 March 2017 i NZV8

While some countries have strict import regulations, in this fine country of ours, we’re spoilt for choice regarding the types of vehicles we get to own. Essentially, within reason, we can import and drive any vehicle we like, regardless of where it was manufactured. Then, thanks to the LVVTA, we also have relative freedom to modify those cars to our own personal taste, be it retro or something groundbreaking. Hell, you can even chuck a few motors into one if you like, or replace the lot with a big bank of batteries, assuming that it’s done safely. The range of parts we can use is almost unlimited, and, with internet sellers being keen to get their slice of the market, parts from around the world can be on your doorstep…

There’s been much speculation about HSV’s plans for 2017, and, on February 1, they were officially revealed. Yes, the rumoured GTSR is real, but, more than that, there’s set to be three GTSR variants. The first GTSR — the ‘standard’, for want of a better label — despite not being the top dog, will still be the most powerful vehicle HSV has offered to date. That’s thanks to the LSA engines receiving a bump in performance up to 435kW (583hp) and 740Nm (546lb·ft). As you’d expect, HSV hasn’t done things by halves, with the vehicles set to receive an impressive sixpiston brake package that will see monobloc forged aluminium calipers clamp on 410mm rotors. To help the cars get this power to the ground, new 20-inch forged alloy wheels have…

If what we’ve seen of the current drag season is anything to go by, it’s going to be an exciting year — especially when events like the Meremere Dragway Competition Meeting, held in early January, featured the usual array of tough machinery doing amazing things. Nigel Dixon’s new Falcon slammer drove deeper into the Top Doorslammer numbertwo spot, while the Alsop family’s altered edged closer to their five-second dream, and Reece Fish once again reset his own PB — taking the crown a little further out of reach for the rest of the street car drivers. To check it out, search ‘Meremere Dragway Comp series’ on themotorhood.com.…

The 2017 New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing, held in late January, was a big success. Before the dust has even settled, plans have been announced for the 2018 running of the iconic event. Hampton Downs track owner Tony Quinn has announced that he’s excited about bringing the cars and stars from Bathurst to New Zealand for the event. “Bathurst holds a special place in the hearts of everyone involved in motorsport in New Zealand and Australia,” explained Quinn. “Everyone has their favourite Bathurst moment. Some of the best drivers in this part of the world made a name for themselves around Mount Panorama, including legends of the sport such as Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, and Jim Richards. “The festival will still celebrate classic cars, but there will be a…

EMAIL YOUR BUILDS TO EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ Arthur Pullen-Burry has had this tough old ’56 in the garage for around eight years but hasn’t had the time to work on it due to other commitments. Now, he’s making slow but steady progress. Originally a four-door family hauler, the ’56 was converted to a twodoor by a previous owner, with suicide doors, a tilt-front, a mini-tubbed rear end over a nine-inch diff, and 15x12-inch Convo Pros. The current engine is a 355ci small block: “Nothing great, but it fills the hole in the bonnet,” according to Arthur — although the Chev used to run a tunnel-rammed 476ci big block and TH400. Arthur plans to build either a larger-cube big block or one with a pair of snails attached. Time will tell what he…

Taranaki’s Daniel McKerrow is now deep into the build of his ’64 Impala sedan. The car was imported from America in an average state before being pulled down to have every nut and bolt replaced. With the goal being to make a tidy family cruiser, the car runs a rebuilt 350ci small block with 350 trans and stock rear end. The paint, however, is far from stock, with Daniel putting in plenty of hours’ work to get the big panels smooth before Leath Williams sprayed them in the custom blue hue. All going to plan, the car will be on the road in just a few months. WE KNOW THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC CARS BEING BUILT OUT THERE, SO DON’T BE SHY — FLICK US AN EMAIL WITH A BIT…

HE DECIDED HE NEEDED A TOW VEHICLE — SOMETHING HE COULD PILE THE FAMILY INTO They say that time waits for no man; well, Warren Black sure has been making the most of his. Just two years ago, he revealed his insane Holden HQ Monaro — a wildly customized street car with 555 supercharged cubes of Big Al’s Toybox power at one end, 20x15-inch Billet Specialties rims at the other, and a six-point roll cage in between. It took even less time for Warren to hustle the Monaro to a quartermile ET of 9.81s at 137.95mph — seriously impressive given the all-steel body and well-appointed interior. However, living in Oamaru does present a slight problem, as that the Pegasus Bay Drag Racing Club’s IHRA-sanctioned meetings take place at Mike Pero…

There isn’t much that can be said about Street Machine Summernats that hasn’t been said before. Most comments contain a flagrant use of superlatives, insane hyperbole, and much raving about “the best automotive event in the world”. Since it’s all been said before, our introduction probably validates all of those points — Summernats is in a league of its own, and if you’re into the kind of stuff it’s about, you will not find a better automotive event. Period. Local street machiner Chic Henry helped to build the dedicated burnout pad at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) in 1987, hosting the first ever Summernats in January of 1988 — but surely even he couldn’t have predicted what the event would become. At this year’s event, which marked its 30th anniversary,…

EMAIL YOUR INFO TO EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ The Hartley family from Lower Hutt are well known as Mustang lovers, despite eldest son Allan departing from family tradition to run his six-second New Zealand Home Loans–sponsored altered for the past few years. However, Allan’s set to join father Murray and younger brother Nathan, as he’s recently purchased a 1966 Mustang funnycar body. The plan is to fit the body to a top-alcohol chassis, which, all going well, will also be fitted with a new engine combo. At the moment, the plans require the altered and its engine to be sold to free up funding for the new components required. The body, which was used by American Dan Horan with a nitro engine, needs a few minor repairs and will receive an all-new look…

One of the South’s most iconic front-engined dragsters is set to make a return to the track some time over the next season or two. The Enex Express, which was built by Paul Shaw and Steve Joyce in the mid ‘80s was run until 1991. The motor was then sold and put into a jet boat, while the car was then put into a shed, where it remained until purchased by Jason Cole in 2006. With family and other commitments taking priority, it’s only recently that the car has reached a point where it could be fired up. Deciding to make an occasion of the ninth anniversary of Ron Collett’s death, the 306ci small block was fired for the first time on September 10, 2016. The engine itself was built…

Grahame Berry is one of the big names in local hot rodding history, with fabrication and engineering skills allowing the Grahame Berry Race Cars name to become one recognized by most petrolheads of the late 20th century. However, Grahame didn’t just build race cars; no, his talents were applied to kit cars as well — but don’t even start thinking of Lotus 7 replicas. If he was going to build kit cars, they would have to be something real blokes wouldn’t mind being seen in. That’s how the Berry Cobras came to be a small part of the New Zealand car scene. After all, not many can afford the real deal, but a wellmade replica is the next best thing. Nick Scammell certainly understands that logic, and couldn’t be happier…

“I’ve decided to stop racing the Monaro [coupe]; it’s too tidy and it’s getting wrecked — not to mention that it’s too heavy. I still love the quick street car thing, though, so have been thinking about building a car specifically for that. Going to America last year to watch drag week certainly put a few ideas in my head,” says Warren. “To be at the pointy end, it’d need to be a full tube-frame construction, and, if we’re going that far, we may as well use a fibreglass body, seeing [as] the car will need to be registered as a scratchbuilt anyway. So, I’d grab one of the ’69 Chevelle bodies from Andy McCoy Race Cars and have Roger Binnema at Balclutha Automotive Services take care of the fabrication.…

As usual, Enzed Central Muscle Cars put up a good field at the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing meeting at Hampton Downs — held this year on January 20–22 — with 31 vehicles entering the event, which celebrated Kiwi motorracing legend Kenny Smith. The weather was a real mixed bag: it was either really wet or really dry, which is a driver’s nightmare — even more so for those competitors with high horsepower. Practice on Friday was cut short: Tony Boyden had brake issues, then, while he was trying to make it back into pit lane, they ceased altogether at the entry to the pits. Consequently, the rest of the session was cancelled. Luckily, Tony managed to work out what the issue was and was able to compete in…

PREMIER MOTORSPORT EVENT NEWS With Simon Evans running away with the BNT NZ Touring Cars series in the Smeg Holden, it has taken a former Bathurst winner to turn the tide and re-ignite the second half of the season. Having won a race the previous weekend at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna, Jason Bargwanna claimed another win and two second-place finishes in three thrilling races at the Teretonga round in Invercargill — round four of the six-round championship series — enough to give him a points advantage over Nick Ross in his Nissan Altima, who finished second for the weekend ahead of Evans in his Holden Commodore. More important, it proved that Bargwanna’s first win in Christchurch was not a fluke and that the monopoly of Evans race wins is…

One of the stories of the season so far on the race tracks has been the high quality of the racing in several of the national-level categories in the Speedworks Motorsport Championship. The international Castrol Toyota Racing Series has produced several of its usual action-packed and breathless races, but alongside that there have been some fantastic encounters in the BNT NZ Touring Cars between Simon Evans and Jason Bargwanna, in the Toyota 86 Championship, the Porter Group NZ V8 Utes and, as we have come to expect, the SsangYong Actyon Sport Ute Series. The key to the races in the Toyota 86 series has been the identical cars and those lucky enough to be at events at Pukekohe, the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park Taupo, the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch,…

GAME CHANGER You’ve read about Warren Black’s mental 572-powered tow car and family hauler, but how about the insane Monaro it was built to tow? We’re not exaggerating when we say this could be the most incredible Holden, old or new, in the country — to check it all out, just search ‘Game Changer’ on themotorhood.com. WHOPPER CHOPPER With a twin-turbo small block stuffed into a motorcycle frame, it would have been rather rude of Robbie Ward not to have broken traction, right? He’s not the kind of bloke to say no to a skid, and we’ve got a little video so you can hear that NRE-equipped Chev shred the big fat on the back. Search ‘RIPS Chopper’ to see it in action. ’STRAYA! ’STRAYA! ’STRAYA! We fitted as much…

Rumours surrounding the upcoming Dodge Challenger SRT Demon are starting to point at the car being four-wheel drive. The 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat engines will transfer their power to the tarmac through 315/40R18 Nitto NT05R drag radials, which will be under wider guards all round. Despite the added bulk of the four-wheel drive system, apparently the cars will be around 100kg lighter than the SRT Hellcats, which we can only guess is through a more stripped-out race-ready style of interior. Could this be the new king of late-model muscle cars? It’s certainly looking that way.…

TORQUEBACK, NZV8 MAGAZINE, PO BOX 46,020, HERNE BAY, AUCKLAND 1147; EMAIL TORQUEBACK@V8.CO.NZ Come on, guys, do the maths! We have three major makes of V8 in this country: Ford, Chev, Mopar. A year has 12 months. Why do we have only one representative of the blue oval in this year’s calendar when there was plenty of quality Ford content in the mags to pick from in 2016? Congrats on a great magazine … the calendar sucks! Roger We shouldn’t have, but we had to laugh when we read this, as you’re dead right about a serious lack of Fords in the calendar; it’s something we’re aware of. What we’re even more aware of, though, is the lack of Ford cover cars we’ve had of late. It’s something that’s been bugging us…

EMAIL YOUR NEWS TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ Damn, NAC Car Culture is almost over for another season! Already, it’s eight episodes down and just two to go — airing Feb 19 and March 5. A hefty dose of drool-worthy automotive perfection has been brought to your TV screens on Sundays over the past few months. Stress not about the end, though — the inside scoop on Ian Neary’s Plymouth GTX is still to come — and, yes, it does drive and get driven! There’s also a look around one of the best hot rod sheds we’ve ever laid eyes on, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of Marlborough Classic and Custom Restorations. If you’re still feeling blue after missing an episode or two, we’ve got you covered by uploading every episode onto…

New Zealand’s largest automotive distributor, Nichibo, has confirmed its continued support of the North Island Endurance Series into the 2017–’18 season under its Eneos oil brand. The brand, which is the largest in Japan, has a strong heritage in Super GT and World Superbike racing in the homeland, so is the perfect brand to be associated with the popular series here. The Mahindra North Island Endurance Series, as it was previously known, has been a massive success since its inception in 2013, and, in conjunction with the Carter’s Tyres South Island Endurance Series and MotorSport New Zealand, the top 20 cars from both series will go head to head for winner-take-all New Zealand Championship titles at Christchurch’s Mike Pero Motorsport Park on March 18, 2017. The joint agreement sees the…

New Zealand’s undisputed king of drift, ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett, has launched a new event, and it’s one that’s set to impress even the most casual of drift fans. Mad Mike’s Summer Bash, as it’s called, will take place on February 18, with Hampton Downs, Mazda, and Mad Mike joining forces for what’s being touted as the biggest drift event of 2017. The 16-strong field of New Zealand’s best drifters will include former New Zealand champion ‘Fanga Dan’ Woolhouse in his 800hp Vortechsupercharged VF Commodore, as well as many other V8-powered machines. We’ve pulled together some of our favourites on this page. Setting Mad Mike’s Summer Bash apart from every other drift event is the amount of track time each driver will get, the aim being to let the crowd see…

When Trevor Kitney’s not busy slinging parts at Greenlane Speed Shop (GSS), the very talented fabricator can usually be found, welder in hand, working on his ’38 Ford Model Y. The car features nothing from the factory apart from the body, with the rest being completely fabricated by the man himself. A 5.4-litre quad-cam Falcon motor has somehow been squeezed between the custom chassis rails and will soon be joined by a pair of turbos and a blow-through carb. While the ’38 might be quicker down the drag strip with an auto, Trevor’s opted for a Getrag sixspeed manual gearbox for the added fun factor. With a tiny wheelbase and big power up front, we’re sure the fun factor is something that won’t be missing when this wild creation hits…

MARCH 4 AND 5 FRANKTON THUNDER Frankton Thunder is set to return for 2017 — bigger and better than ever. Organizing team member Grant Hilton said plenty had been learned from the first event last year and a number of changes made to improve the experience for participants and visitors alike. The most obvious new feature is the Thunder Cruize, which will assemble from 8.30am at the Cambridge Raceway on the Saturday and make use of the new Waikato Expressway. This should take about half an hour and make a great spectacle for the public, as hundreds of custom machines thunder along the road. It also makes the event a destination and gives people bringing vehicles to show an opportunity to get out and drive. Based in Frankton, Hamilton, Frankton…

Shea Peterson loves Mk2 Ford Escorts — really loves Mk2 Ford Escorts. Despite being only 31 years old, he’s managed to own no fewer than 13 of them — 14 if you include his much-loved Mk1 RS2000 clone. But as much as Shea’s grown up tinkering with the iconic blue oval machines, when the muscle car bug bit, he just couldn’t bring himself to purchase his iconic muscle car from the same company. “I wanted a muscle car, but wasn’t keen on a Mustang; there were just too many of them around, [and] they’re too boring now,” he states. While that could have been just the motivation Shea needed to build a Mustang unlike any other, he took a different approach instead. “I started looking at Cudas and did a…

Buckets are controversial; some love them, some hate them, and others just plain don’t get them. Dunedin’s Kerry Stewart couldn’t really care less what people think of his 1923 Chrysler bucket, as he built it solely with one purpose in mind, and that was to go from a standstill to a point a quarter of a mile away in as little time as possible. Of course, to add a level of difficulty to that seemingly simple task, the catch was that the car must be 100-per-cent street legal — not 99-per-cent, not 99.5-per-cent, but bangon, no bullshit, testing-station-WOF legal. While you certainly wouldn’t put Kerry in a box labelled ‘bucket owners only’, he has had a couple over the years, among other tough cars. The most notable of those previously…

Well-known and well-liked Manawatu racer Kathryn McDonald has ticked a major goal off her bucket list — to become the first female driver on the NZ’s Quickest Streeters list. Having come tantalizingly close last season with a 499ci big block in her ’69 Chrysler Valiant, it was only going to be a matter of time, once that engine was pulled out in favour of a 572ci Hemi, before she achieved her goal. The engine was originally destined for Kathryn’s husband’s next project, but, for now, it’s fair to say that she’s giving it a good home. After a few teething issues with the car at Meremere Dragway late last year, Kathryn managed to drop into the nines on her first pass at Masterton Motorplex’s Dragstalgia Meet on January 7, with…

You’d think that, after having owned a ’48 Ford sedan, ’35 Ford Tudor, ’37 Ford Tudor, ’38 Ford Tudor, ’34 Ford pickup, and a whole bunch of Mustangs, Ken Brown would have ticked every dream car off his list. You’d be wrong, though — or, at least, you would have been wrong around six years ago when he decided that a ’37 coupe would be the ideal stablemate for his ’37 flat-back sedan. All it took was one mention of this thought to fellow hot rodder and friend Barry Moyle for the plan to snowball. Before long, the old boys hot rodding network was in full swing, on the hunt for a suitable car. Another lifelong hot rodder, Neil Roper, knew where the perfect car was, but, as is often…

Now in its third year, Cruise Martinborough provides an alternative car festival for those perhaps not wanting to drive too far north from the South Island or lower half of the North Island. Event organizer Damien Pivac, a Wairarapa native, had the idea and started talking about it to all who would listen. In 2014, he showed up in town with a bunch of hot rods, and it all became a reality. Since then, the event has gone from strength to strength as Damien put his money where his mouth was and took on this steep learning curve. “My inexperience told me it would be easy to run my own event — little did I know the effort that goes into these things,” he states. Those familiar with the area…

Not many shed owners can pinpoint exactly what item started their collection, but Andrew Dyer can. It was a solitary fuel bowser he bought and restored that is responsible for what you see here today. As the owner of a fully functioning workshop — Ellis St Auto Repairs Ltd — Andrew thought the bowser would look great out the front of the shop. However, on its restoration, it was deemed to be too good to sit outside — and so it began. The building itself, formerly an engineering workshop, was a mechanics business for many years prior to Andrew and wife Maree establishing their business there some 14 years ago. As Andrew had always been into old things, it didn’t take long for the collection to grow, with the focus…

The popularity of Enzed Central Muscle Cars (CMC) continues to boom, with the club receiving many enquiries from both experienced, well-known drivers and those new to the circuitracing scene. One of the newcomers to the class who’s proven himself, not only with a good vehicle but also by showing talent behind the wheel, is Manawatu’s Ian Easton. Ian comes from a comprehensive speedway racing background and has excelled in his first series with CMC, where he’s currently sitting at fifth place in Group 1 behind stalwarts of the class. As mentioned last month, with an influx of new cars on the cards, the committee has tightened any loopholes within the rules to ensure that all vehicles are up to scratch, with all current vehicles also inspected.…

THE NEW VINTAGE Update your hot rod’s old steering column with the SEMA-awardwinning Ididit 40 Ford straight steering column. Honoured for its vintage style and modern convenience, this example features a brushed stainless-steel finish, vintage-style brass shift indicator, a cutting-edge locking detent, self-cancelling turn signals, four-way flashers, and accepts most aftermarket steering wheels with a ’69–’94 GM adaptor. The steering column is available in two lengths, and you can get your own from New Zealand’s only Ididit dealer — rodsbyreid.co.nz. QUICK AND EASY These may be the ‘sunny’ months, but we all know that that can often be far from the case. Don’t get caught out in sudden burst of rain without a clear windscreen — use Luxxio’s Speedy Coating to add a hydrophobic layer that forces fluid as well…

For that stretch of time over Christmas and New Year, I’d subconsciously planned not to go to any automotive events. It’s not that I don’t enjoy car shows and the like — far from it. But when work requires you to go to a pretty chocka calendar’s worth of them over the year, it gets pretty hard to find a weekend free to enjoy non-car things. But there are always exceptions, and when Ricky and Jenn Ireland gave me the opportunity to attend Street Machine Summernats 30, there was no way in hell I’d be turning that down. It was the best automotive event — probably the best event — I’ve been to, and, while I’m sure events like it aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, it all just clicked for…

In late January, Ford chose ex-wrestler/ actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to unveil the 2018 Ford Mustang, a car the company is calling the most advanced Mustang ever. The facelift sees a host of improvements, including new technology and design changes that give owners multiple ways to customize the cars to suit their own preferences, such as adjustable suspension and more colour options, as well as no fewer than 12 wheel combinations. The 2.3-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engines gain more torque, thanks to Ford’s transient overboost technology, while the 5.0-litre V8 engine has been reworked for more power, due in part to the addition of high-pressure direct injection. The drivelines have also been updated, the V8 manual receiving a twin-plate clutch and dual-mass flywheel to increase torque capability, while the automatics…

Hi there, First of all: great magazine and enjoy reading about all the great cars and stories. However, upon reading the latest edition at Xmas, I noticed that there was no mention (not even a little snip) of SVG [Shane van Gisbergen] winning the 2016 Supercars title. Being that Jim Richards was the last Kiwi to do it, [in] around ’91 or ’92, it would have been nice to have him mentioned, considering [that] he drives a V8 Holden (which is the best, of course). Thanks, and keep up the good work. Simon Hi Simon, Good point, as we were all cheering SVG on, so it would have made sense for us, as you say, at least to make a mention of it. There’s no real excuse — just that…

Sky Zhao is one of the big names in the local drift scene, with one of the most immaculately presented cars out there. The Nissan he campaigns used to be a 370Z until he decided it needed a bit more ‘motorvation’ a few years ago — and there’s no replacement for displacement. The solution was found in a GM LS7, sourced from a Nissan Silvia belonging to US Formula D drifter, Matt Powers, and leading Sky to rename his car the ‘700Z’. The big LS makes a bit of a racket, and, backed by a G-Force GSR four-speed dogbox, endows the 700Z with some serious sideways potential — then again, with a man like Mr Zhao behind the wheel, sideways is the only way.…

IF YOU HAVE A COOL DAILY-DRIVER AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT APPEAR IN DAILY GRIND, EMAIL EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ That’s a great-looking Falcon, Jo; how long have you owned it? I got it when I was 16 years old, so I’ve had it for a couple of years — ha ha, but seriously, I’ve owned it for 27 years. Was it your first car? No, actually. My first car was a Mk3 Cortina, but a priest ran a red light and wrote it off, so that’s why I decided to go for the bigger car — so no one could hurt me. Was it always a V8? When I first bought it, it came with its original sixcylinder engine and column-change box. I took it to Wellington, when I was 17,…

winner Hayter Precision Metalworks in Taupo may be best known for its T-bucket work but it currently has something very different under construction. The 1963 International AB110 pickup originally belonged to the client’s father, who used it as a daily-driver on the family farm. It’s now been fitted with a new chassis that incorporates the original main rails and front cross member as well as Jaguar independent suspension at both ends. A pair of 18-inch Ridler wheels will tuck up high under the ’58 Chev stepside rear tray and no doubt struggle for traction thanks to a 496ci big block with Holley electronic fuel injection (EFI) that’s being fitted up front. We’ll bring you more as the build progresses, as this is one ugly duckling that’s turning into something seriously…

It is easy to see why Cromwell is known as the gateway to Central Otago, with roads leading off in all directions, connecting with Wanaka, Queenstown, Alexandra, and Tarras. Cromwell has a rich history, with its beginnings in 1862 when two bearded miners found 86 pounds (39kg) of gold. That started the Otago gold rush, with thousands braving the freezing winters to strike their fortunes. Of course, Cromwell is now better known as a great holiday destination, with its extensive summer fruit and wine industries and the famous Highlands Motorsport Park. Of all of Cromwell’s attractions, we think one that has made its mark on the town is an event — the Cromwell Classic Car and Hot Rod Show, to be precise. Held on January 21 this year, and with…

We all love making horsepower and generally don’t mind spending money to get it, but shelling out your hard-earned cash on the parts to back it up is always a different story. You could say that paying for driveline upgrades is generally a grudge transaction, but, thankfully, there are businesses around that can make those purchases a whole lot simpler — businesses such as The Gearbox Factory. Keith Lane, owner of The Gearbox Factory, gets regular calls from customers asking for gearbox upgrades to handle increased horsepower, and that’s exactly how this FPV ute came to be in his workshop. The car’s previous owner had replaced the stock engine with a later-model FG-sourced engine. Then, all in the name of sustained loss of traction, that motor had had a serious…

Robbie Ward’s name is one that commands respect among petrolheads. It doesn’t matter whether they’re young bucks taking their Japanese skid missiles to late-night drag trains or Double Brown–drinking bogans who swear by carburettors, Tridents, and Eagers — when Robbie Ward builds something, people take notice. But to get to the story of the wild machine you see here, you’re going to have to sit tight through a short run-down of Robbie’s Nissan-oriented achievements. Robbie’s been working on Nissans for most of his life, but it wasn’t until the late 2000s that his Rotorua Import Pro Shop (R.I.P.S) burst violently into international recognition, with a 240Z that eventually ran sevens, and the ‘MGAWOT’ Nissan Stagea — a street-legal four-wheel-drive tank of a station wagon — running a nine-second quartermile on…

Race four of round four, held at the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing (you’ll find coverage of the meeting earlier in this issue) was somewhat controversial. As the drivers sat on the dummy grid, it poured with rain. Therefore, the meeting was declared wet. Most, but not all, of the cars raced back to the pits to fit wet tyres. However, not everyone was notified or heard the announcement. The rain stopped just before the vehicles were released, but they went onto the track without the officials checking them. Consequently, some cars went out on slicks, which was the better choice, as the sun was now out. After two laps, drivers on wets were searching for water; after eight laps, the wet tyres were destroyed and the drivers on…

Three rounds into his first full season of the BNT NZ Touring Car Championship, Pukekohe driver Nick Farrier is pleased with his progress so far, having already notched up a handful of podium race finishes in class two of the championship. “I’m really pleased with how quickly I’ve come to grips with it all. Being out of the seat for a couple of years didn’t help, but, every round, we’re just setting ourselves modest goals, and, one by one, we’re ticking them off,” said Farrier. Farrier currently sits fifth in the class-two championship in his Mount Shop Ford Falcon, with 323 points — just 65 points behind Chelsea Herbert in fourth, and 85 points behind Jamie Conroy, who sits in third. With limited experience on many of the tracks that…

BUY THIS ISSUE ONLINE AT MAGSTORE.NZ When we drove Mike Black’s nine-second street-legal Commodore through the centre of Auckland’s CBD during our photoshoot, there wasn’t a single face that didn’t turn for a look. That’s fair enough, too, as the sound the car made was anything but subtle, especially when echoing off all the surrounding buildings. At the time, the Commodore, which Mike had already owned for an impressive 11 years, had run a best of 9.98 at 140mph. This was thanks to a Vortech-supercharged 355ci Holden engine, which produced an impressive 808hp at the treads. Fast forward a decade, and the car is still, as it was then, the fastest Commodore street car in the country, with the PB having improved to 9.69 at 144mph. Although Mike’s goal at…

Down but Not Out We’d never done it before, and may never do it again, but our article on the Chev coupe belonging to Phil Grimmer is one that many people remember to this very day. What made it so different was that, just weeks before we pointed our cameras at the car, it had been involved in a high-speed crash at Meremere Dragway, getting seriously damaged in the process. While Phil swore at the time he would fix the coupe, which he’d owned for only seven months, a few years later he purchased a full tubeframed version to campaign instead. The New Guy Yep, it was in this issue, one decade ago now, that a new, fresh, baby-faced editor took over the reins from founding editor Sean Craig. That…

The annual Hibiscus Rodders Beach Festival, held at Orewa, just north of Auckland, has grown from a small one-day event to a massive long-weekend affair over the past few years, and it’s cementing itself as a must-attend. The real way to enjoy the event is to book yourself some accommodation and spend three days taking in the cars, people, events, and all that the cool beachside town has to offer. Sadly, this year, we couldn’t dedicate a whole weekend to being there, but, having being invited to head along and judge the inaugural What’s Under Your Hood competition, there was no way we’d miss out on that component of the event. As it was the first of its type, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but, as a steady…