Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Street Machine

DANIEL ‘Pazzo’ Nunziante has once again made history by becoming the quickest guy in the country on radial tyres. At the APSA Grand Finals at Sydney Dragway in late November, Pazzo went 6.58@221mph in his twin-turbo big-block Cortina, beating his previous best of 6.77@228mph. Why the lower mph? “I’ve been pulling the ’chutes early recently just so I can stop in time,” Pazzo explained. “I’ve ended up in the nets at the end of the track a few times and it’s not ideal. It probably could go 6.40s or maybe 6.30s, but stopping such a heavy car at those high speeds is a bit of a problem.” What makes Pazzo’s new Aussie radial record even more impressive is that his car isn’t a crazy full-chassis build, or even a three-quarter…

LITTLE RED CORVETTE HI GUYS, l was wondering if you can help me. In the 80s when I was a teen I used to read Street Machine all the time, and in one particular issue was a car you guys called Mario’s Speedwagon. It was a burgundy Corvette Stingray. This was what turned my life around, as I swore one day I would get one – and it has now happened. Can you find out what issue it was? Neil Pimlett, email HEY mate, that was Mario Rillotta’s ’73 Corvette, from the February/ March ’82 issue! WRECKS IN EFFECT? MY FINAL say on The Major’s ‘wrecked a classic’ article (Blowin’ Gaskets, SM, Nov ’16)? Well, technically I agree, but does chopping up a classic logically extendto Street Machine magazines,orjustthestreetcars? See,…

CRAIG’S HQ WAS AT THE TIME ESSENTIALLY A DRAG CAR. “I COULDN’T REALLY JUST GET IN AND DRIVE IT. I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY IT WITH THE FAMILY, BE MORE OF A CRUISER” TO HEAR Craig Dixon tell it, it’s all the fault of Allan ‘Bundy’ El-Bayeh and Danny Makdessi. “I went down to [Danny’s business] Custom Bodyworks one night to help Bundy put FAT LC together for MotorEx, and I decided then and there that this is the quality I wanted for my own car,” he recalls. Craig’s Monaro, TUFHQ, was at the time essentially a drag car and Powercruiser that had run a best of 11.0@126mph thanks to a tough 383 Chev that he and his father had screwed together. “I couldn’t really just get in…

TAKE AN FB HOLDEN, FLIP IT AROUND, PUT A LATE-MODEL SPORTS CAR ROOF ON IT AND TURN IT INTO A TWO-DOOR COUPE. PIECE OF PISS, REALLY BORN from a conceptual rendering by Linda Vesperman (the artist formerly known as Steve) way back in the Jan-Feb ’94 issue of Street Machine, this incredible back-to-front FB Holden – dubbed Tailspin – was given life by a couple of young street machiners who could barely read when that issue of the mag came out. Adam and Kylie Perry, from Kambah in the ACT, are in their late 20s, and when they came across Vespo’s two-decade-old concept they thought it looked like the perfect candidate for their first full-custom build. They were about to tackle a job that many people with a lifetime of…

VANS AND HOLDENS ARE PART OF MY DNA; I STILL HAVE THE SUMMERTIME BLACK VINYL AND METAL SEATBELT BURNS AS PROOF! WE ALL know that person who spends an eternity tinkering with one specific car. You know the deal, the decade-long build that never seems to get finished, or the one jinxed with dramas once it hits the road. Well spare a thought for these poor Johnny Solos and their one-car Field Of Dreams; they’ll have a coronary casting their eyes over these pages! Vanning stalwarts Susan and Grant Kelley are the polar opposite of this scenario with their fleet of 13 – yes, 13 – Holden panel vans. They crank out fresh projects with tireless enthusiasm, and are masters at planning a build to the nth degree then executing…

60,000 INTERNATIONAL BUYERS AND 150,000 TRADE PUNTERS FLOODED THROUGH THE DOORS AND CAR PARKS EACH DAY THE 2016 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show was a massive beast of an event, sprawled over more acres of prime Las Vegas real estate than ever before, as 60,000 international buyers and 150,000 trade punters flooded through the doors and car parks each day. This year SEMA filled not only the colossal Las Vegas Convention Center’s five halls, but also a huge marquee, two outdoor corridors and three car parks that included separate areas for drifting and driving demonstrations. I walked over 50km at SEMA this year, but still only saw about 70 per cent of it. The huge scale of SEMA demonstrates that the aftermarket industry is in good health at the…

THE much-misquoted line from the 1989 Kevin Costner flick Field Of Dreams – “If you build it, he will come” – pretty much sums up how the Street Machine team approached creating Drag Challenge back in 2014. We called a couple dozen potential racers, hired a few tracks and crossed our fingers. That first year was a trial run, organised on the down-low in fairly quick fashion. Just 18 racers turned up, but it proved Hot Rod’s Drag Week concept could work on Australian asphalt. We upped the ante for 2015, stepping up to a five-day, five-track deal, starting and finishing at Calder Park. This time we attracted 50 racers, all of whom had a ball and promptly went out and spread the gospel. As a result, we had over…

SOME OF THE HEAVY-HITTERS DIDN’T GET TO MILDURA UNTIL LATE, MOST NOTABLY HARRY HAIG AND BUBBA MEDLYN HARRY HAIG HAD BARELY TWO HOURS TO REPLACE THE BUSTED LIFTER AND GET THE HQ BACK ON TRACK THIS year, Mildura’s Sunset Strip was our only eighth-mile strip. We were treated to another cracker of a day and the early birds were rewarded with the best track conditions. As the racing wore on, some of the big guns struggled to get the power to the ground as the heat of the day soaked into the track. Some of the heavy-hitters didn’t get to Mildura until late, most notably Harry Haig in the Shonky SS and the twin-turbo Commodore of Bubba Medlyn. Harry’s turbo big-block HQ had spat a roller lifter, while Bubba’s…

HSV VT CLUBSPORT Class: Haltech Radial Blown SPECS Engine: 440ci LS Turbos: Twin Turbonetics 75mm Transmission: Powerglide Converter: TCE 3400rpm Diff: 3.25:1 Power: 1500rwhp Previous PB: 7.99@171mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 8.06@176mph AFTER winning his class and finishing third overall in Drag Challenge last year, we asked MPW’s Adam Rogash if he was happy going one better with the NOSHOW ClubSport this year. “To be honest I was just happy to make it through to the end and just compete, and also look after our customers. We had nine cars in the field and four of them finished in the Top 10,” Adam said. “But I was happy to take out the Quickest LS-Powered trophy because that’s our specialty. We were stoked about how everything turned out.” Adam bought the…

FORD CAPRI Class: Earl’s Performance Products Radial Aspirated SPECS Engine: 450ci+ Windsor Induction: Custom BG intake, 1275cfm Dominator Transmission: C4 & Gear Vendors Converter: TCE 5500rpm Diff: 4.33:1 Power: 900hp+ Previous PB: 8.80@157mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 9.15@150mph ALON Vella is a little bit secretive when it comes to his Capri’s engine capacity. “It’s somewhere over 450 cubes,” he said. But when the conversation switches to horsepower, he’s a little more talkative. “It makes over 900hp with the single carby, which is how we did Drag Challenge, but with the twin carbs it makes over 1000hp.” Unfortunately the freshly built twin-carby combo didn’t want to play when they took it out to Sydney Dragway for some testing, so the guys elected to run the single 1275 Dominator and see how…

FORD XD FALCON Class: Haltech Radial Blown SPECS Engine: DOHC 4.0-litre Turbo: Garrett GT47 Transmission: Turbo 400 Converter: 3200rpm Diff: 3.25:1 Power: 1072rwhp Previous PB: N/A (new car) Best Drag Challenge Run: 9.04@151mph WITH its bowling-club beige paint and a nasty crease in the passenger door, most of us would’ve walked straight past Jason Ghiller’s XD Falcon in a Coles or Bunnings car park. But Jason runs Tunnel Vision Turbocharging, and under that wellpatina’d bonnet is a Ford Barra twin-cam six transplant with a massive GT47 Garrett turbo punching out over 1000 horses! The engine bay is presented to an almost Summernats standard, while the engine itself has been beautifully detailed in silver and satin-black paint. It’s a work of art under the bonnet, but there’s been plenty done underneath…

HOLDEN VB COMMODORE Class: Tuff Mounts DYO SPECS Engine: Holden Ecotec V6 Turbo: Holset HX55 Transmission: Powerglide Converter: Allfast 3800rpm Diff: VL Turbo BorgWarner Power: Around 450rwhp Previous PB: 11.7@111mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 10.46@128mph DRAG Challenge doesn’t get much more grassroots than this: Josh Grant drove his self-built Ecotec 3.8-litre V6 turbo VB Commodore all the way from Kalgoorlie in WA for this year’s event, with his dad Tim along for the ride! “It was a holiday road trip,” said the Tassie lad, who’s been working away from home in WA, and before that, Queensland. “We had a cruisy drive, staying in caravan parks and having a few relaxing beers each evening.” Like several other cars at Drag Challenge, Josh’s Commodore was built on a budget. “I bought the…

VK COMMODORE Class: Tuff Mounts DYO SPECS Engine: 6.2-litre LS3 Induction: Holley 750 Transmission: TH400 Converter: Dominator 4600rpm Diff: 3.7:1 Power: 400rwhp Previous PB: 10.57@127mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 10.60@127mph WEST Australian Blake Jeffreys followed along on Drag Challenge last year as a spectator with his brother Jay. Like many, they both realised they had to bring their own race car next time around, so they started wrenching on Blake’s LS3-powered VK Commodore. The car runs a mild Holley 750 carby-fed LS3 with a cam and set of extractors, and behind that is a Turbo 400 and nine-inch diff. The combo is good for around 400hp at the treads and mid-10s down the quarter. For Drag Challenge, the boys made a few changes to hopefully make the street driving a…

JESSE BOOTHROYD UP, UP AND AWAY! PATINA is one thing, but most people would be asking for a tetanus injection before setting foot in Jesse Boothroyd’s HZ Kingswood. And once you’ve seen what’s lurking under the rust-and-crud bonnet, you’ll probably reckon a check-up from the neck up might be Jesse’s next medical appointment. This thing is insane. The LS3 has been stroked out to 408ci, and hanging off the side of it is a turbocharger that wouldn’t look out of place on a B-double. It’s a Garrett GTX4508R, and, aside from blowing about 18psi down the LS’s gullet, it’s about the only shiny thing on the car. An 8.98@148mph on Day Four was a new PB for the car, but problems developed on Day Five. “We had a fuel pump…

WITH the Ford Falcon officially finished production, we thought it was only appropriate to take the two quickest Ford Falcons ever made (as opposed to those built by FPV) out for one last blast. What could be better than fanging the XR8 Sprint and XR6 Sprint during Drag Challenge? The XR8 Sprint features a supercharged five-litre Miami V8 punching out 345kW and 575Nm, while its turbo six-pot brother, the XR6 Sprint, makes 325kW and 576Nm. So it would be six versus eight and turbo versus supercharger – and young buck versus the old bear, as it turns out. Now every review that has compared the two Sprints has put the XR6 ahead of the XR8 when it comes to outright acceleration. Everyone agrees that the XR8 sounds awesome, but they…

DRAG CHALLENGE WAS LIKE NOTHING I’VE EVER DONE.IT WAS A TOUGH WEEK, BUT I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME MAX EDWARDS > 18, CANBERRA, ACT MAX Edwards, son of Summernats legend and horsepower guru Jake, is our youngest-ever Drag Challenge competitor. As you’d expect, Max has grown up around fast cars, and he learnt to drive in a supercharged late-model Falcon. His daily driver is a slammed old-school Mercedes 300E, and his fun fast car is this Toyota Corona wagon. Yep, Max and Jake rocked up with a $700 Gumtree-special ’84 Corona for Drag Challenge, with Max on driving duties. “We drove up one afternoon just before the last Summernats to collect it,” said Max, who wagged school to be at Drag Challenge. The unloved baby-blue wagon had a popped…

> GAG OF THE MONTH POWERFUL FRIENDS DAVE was bragging to his boss one day. “I know everyone there is to know,” he said. “Just name someone, anyone, and I know them.” Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff. “Okay Dave, how about Tom Cruise?” “No dramas boss,” Dave replied. “Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it.” So Dave and his boss flew out to Hollywood and knocked on Tom Cruise’s door. “Dave! What’s happening?” Cruise yelled on opening the door. “Great to see you! Come on in for a beer!” Although impressed, Dave’s boss was still sceptical. After they left Cruise’s house, he told Dave that him knowing Cruise was just lucky. “Well, name someone else,” Dave said. “Prime Minister Turnbull,” his boss…

FOR the past decade, Geof Tartoosie and his team of dedicated helpers have put together the Adelaide Auto Expo & Hot Rod Show. It’s SA’s only indoor auto event, and this year featured over 1000 cars over the Friday and Saturday at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Inside the main pavilion, the pristine rides are arranged in several classes from Elite to Street, including a Meguiar’s Superstars round. Stepping into the pavilion, you were hit front and centre with the 2016 Street Machine Of The Year winner, Chris and Colleen Bitmead’s XBOSS Falcon. It was the first time Adelaidians had the chance to view the trophy-hoovering coupe up close, and it’s fair to say it was extremely well received. While Chris Bitmead was still on cloud nine after taking out Australia’s most…

WHEN it comes to holding an open day, the folks at Castlemaine Rod Shop sure know how to put on a spread. Held on Saturday 12 November, this year’s free annual event featured hourly burnout displays, a show ’n’ shine, workshop tours, as well as live music with a bar and barbeque. Inside there were guided workshop tours throughout the day, with CRS staff on hand to explain all the latest innovations and workshop services, as well as offer advice on the huge array of components on display. These included the range of Ultimate Control custom front-end kits, chassis and engine conversion kits, complete nine-inch diff conversions, custom bellhousings, Wilwood brakes and HQ-WB bolt-in rack-and-pinion power-steering kits, just to name a few. There’s nothing quite like seeing the components in…

THE modern-day ‘wrecked a classic’ crowd are certainly vocal in their distaste for builds that do not retain a stock appearance, but in doing so they disrespect some of the most iconic modified cars ever built. To underline this fact, last month we looked at a bunch of wonderfully ‘wrecked’ classics that rocked the scene 30-plus years ago; here are some more. The defence rests. 01: MARK Plummer’s radical FJ sedan featured a healthy roof chop, full-steel tilt front and pumped guards, and amassed a significant number of trophies during its 80s show run. Originally powered a by a Hemi 265 six-cylinder, the Hermitage Red humpy was later rebuilt with a full chassis and blown small-block Chev engine, and featured a red velvet interior with HZ seats and a Torana…

IF I’D KNOWN HOW FAR WE’D TAKE THINGS, I WOULD HAVE STARTED WITH A SHELL. I PAID GOOD DOLLARS FOR THE CAR AND ALL WE USED WAS THE DIFF HOUSING AND THE INTERIOR FLICKING through the pages of Street Machine, you’ll find proof aplenty that great cars come from good plans, without which heartache and dissatisfaction invariably arise. Well, XYGT-93 is one streeter that well and truly bucks that accepted wisdom. “I didn’t really know what I wanted, and things got out of control,” says Jamie Hale, the owner of this breathtaking XY Falcon. “I blame my business partner Craig Harris – he’s a very bad influence.” Jamie bought the car sight-unseen out of Perth, and decided the paintwork on his new acquisition needed redoing. Into a local Bendigo panel…

I BOUGHT IT SIGHT-UNSEEN, AND WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT USUALLY TURNS OUT MOST of us have some particularly fruity swear words in our vocabulary, but when you’re talking horsepower there’s one four-letter word guaranteed to drop jaws: Hemi. Yep, it’s that monster of the street and strip, which commands respect regardless of your brand allegiance. Not only is the Hemi’s track record the stuff of legend, but these donks have a physical presence that will guarantee ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, thanks in part to those whopping tappet covers with the only plug-lead placement in history that makes me happy in the pants. We all know that power-to-weight is key when it comes to an overall performance package, so how do you best tackle that with a heavier car – an…

WE WERE STOKED WITH THE VARIETY – BIG-BLOCKS OF ALL KINDS, HEAPS OF DIFFERENT SIX-CYLINDERS AND EVEN A ROTARY! TWO-TIME CHAMP QUENTIN FEAST WAS UNABLE TO RACE, BUT HE COULDN’T KEEP AWAY AND JOINED IN AS A CREW MEMBER OUR biggest worry in the lead-up to Drag Challenge 2016 was the weather. Some parts of Victoria had really copped some rain, so much so that our plan to return to Portland’s South Coast Raceway for the second time was nixed – the pits were just too wet. Luckily, the brand-new Swan Hill quarter-mile was ready and available, so we slotted it in, giving us a Calder/Heathcote/Mildura/Swan Hill/Calder schedule. And while the registration day was overcast, Day One at Calder Park dawned bright and blue. We had a total of…

WITH 598 CUBES AND MASSIVE TURBOS, JARROD CAN PRETTY MUCH DIAL IN AS MUCH HORSEPOWER AS HE LIKES AT THE END OF DAY THREE JARROD WAS TENTH OVERALL, BUT AFTER DAY FOUR HE’D JUMPED UP TO FIFTH DAY Four of Street Machine Drag Challenge saw us visiting the brand-new quarter-mile at Swan Hill in northern Victoria. Our original plan was to race at Portland’s South Coast Raceway, but weeks of rain had left the pits sodden. Swan Hill had its own inaugural meeting rained out a couple of weeks previously, so the Drag Challenge entrants had the honour of being the first racers to hold a meeting on the new track. And what a great track it is. The Swan Hill Drag Racing Club doesn’t yet have much in…

1> BENNY PHILLIPS Benny Phillips took out the Tuff Mounts DYO class win in his ultra-consistent HK Holden wagon. The car runs a 434-cube small-block Dart Little M motor making 638hp. It ran 10.6 earlier this year, but at Drag Challenge it was 10.96-second timeslips all week. 2> ALYSHA TEALE Alysha was our DYO class winner last year with her small block-powered HQ sedan and she made the most out of her entry with plenty of passes at every track. By the end of the week the difference between her fastest and slowest time was just 0.0101. 3> JOHN KERR John Kerr and his 364-cube Mercury Comet are Drag Challenge veterans, having been at all three events now, as well as tackling multiple trips interstate, so he’s got the street…

HOLDEN LH TORANA Class: Haltech Radial Blown SPECS Engine: 427ci LS Turbos: Twin BorgWarner S300SX Transmission: Powerglide Converter: 3500rpm Diff: 3.4:1 Power: 1300rwhp Previous PB: 8.22@172mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 8.29@167mph MARK Drew put together a brand-spankin’- new combo for his Crusty LH Torana ahead of Street Machine Drag Challenge this year. After sticking a boosted LS unit in his wife Raelene’s HR sedan and seeing it run eights, he made the switch from a screamin’ naturally aspirated small-block Chev in his own Torana to a more powerful twin-turbo set-up. Opting for a 427-cube combo, using a Dart block with Dart heads, Mark added a pair of BorgWarner S300SX turbochargers under the front guards for a clean and stealthy look. The combo is good for around 1300rwhp on E85. “This…

HOLDEN HK WAGON Class: Tuff Mounts DYO SPECS Engine: 434ci small-block Chev Induction: Quick Fuel 950cfm Transmission: Powerglide Converter: 4000rpm Diff: 4.11:1 Power: 638hp Previous PB: 10.6 seconds Best Drag Challenge Run: 10.968@120mph WHILE the seven- and eight-second cars tend to hog the headlines at Drag Challenge, the guys and girls at the pointy end of the Tuff Mounts Dial Your Own handicap class have to work just as hard. This year’s event had some formidable competition, including last year’s DYO winner Alysha Teale in her HQ Holden, John Kerr in his Mercury Comet and Carl Taylor in his ’62 Chev bubbletop. But the man who finished on top was Benny Phillips in his green HK wagon. Ben is no drag racing noob; this year he took out the 2016…

CHEVROLET EL CAMINO Class: Tuff Mounts DYO SPECS Engine: 406ci Chev Transmission: TH400 Converter: TCE 5200 Diff: 4.56:1 Power: 472rwhp Previous PB: 11.02@118mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 10.9@123mph SCOTTY Levy had a big week at Drag Challenge with his mates – a real big week. The Victorian hadn’t raced his 1972 Chev El Camino since Drag Challenge last year, so he was dead-keen to bring the 406-cube, 472rwhp classic ute – er, pick-up – out for another play. The week began well, with Scott posting a 10.9@123mph best at Calder Park. The car fuelled up at Drag Challenge’s second day at Heathcote, knocking a second from that result, before Scotty – and his mate Rob Colombani in his black Camaro – packed up their tools and began the 400km drive…

NOEL INMAN WHEELS-UP IN A T-MODEL HOT ROD NOEL Inman isn’t shy. He loves hot rodding and drag racing and if you’ve got a couple of hours he’ll tell you why. His 1922 centre-door T-model is an ultra-rare fibreglass body that he’s been racing for years. Name a track and Noel has probably raced there at some time or other; so it’s no surprise that he loves Drag Challenge. Where else do you get to race at five tracks in five days? The Model T runs a 302 Windsor that proved reliable until Drag Challenge 2015 when the motor let go on the first day. Noel built an even stronger 302 that runs nearly as quick naturally aspirated as the old one did with nitrous. He still uses the nitrous…

JASON DAVIDSON BARN-FIND TONNER BECOMES RACE CAR EIGHT weeks before Drag Challenge, Jason Davidson dragged this HQ one-tonner out of a chook shed in rural New South Wales. It was covered in shit (literally) and crawling with bugs, with rust in everything from the floors to the roof. “I remember picking some parts out of it about three years ago, then eight weeks prior to Drag Challenge I called the guys and bought it for $125,” Jason said. The motor and Powerglide trans came from another project Jason had on the go. “It’s an LS1 with an Edelbrock manifold, Lunati cam and 800cfm Quick Fuel carb,” Jason said. “It makes around 370rwhp on 98.” At Drag Challenge Jason was in the Tuff Mounts DYO class, and ran low 13s pretty…

01 WE HAVE IGNITION MSD has just released an updated and improved version of the popular 6LS box, a fully adaptable plug-and-play ignition system for LS-series engines. New features include high-speed data acquisition, an optional coolant temperature sensor input, idle timing control and individual cylinder timing. Plus it comes with all the awesome existing features like programmable step retard, launch retard and rev limiters. It fits most LS engines and is compatible with all MSD, Accel and GM LS coils. For more info call Automotive Performance Distributors on (08) 8363 5566. 02 ABSOLUTELY FLOORED TRANSFORM the look of your garage with Muscle Car Flooring, an innovative self-draining product that enables you to show off your pride and joy! With a vast variety of patterns, designs and colours to choose from,…

CHRIS GAUCI 1969 FORD FALCON XW GT “THIS is my pride and joy! My XW GT took about two years to build, all carried out in my two-car garage, including the bodywork, paint and assembly. Blood, sweat and tears are part of every build, but with this one I lost a half a finger! The car now has a solid heartbeat thanks to a 393 Cleveland with a hydraulic-roller cam, CHI 2V heads and a TFC intake. It pushes out around 620hp through a fully manualised C10 and nine-inch. Wheels are Center Line Auto Drags all ’round – 5.5-inch fronts and 8.5-inch rears with a 255 tyre. The suspension is relatively standard with the exception of Lovells shocks, while brakes are Ford XE discs up front and EL discs on…

239CI FORD FLATHEAD > GEOFF OPPY, SYDNEY FEAST your eyes on some hot-rodding porn –it’s 239 cubes of injected flathead fury heading for a cool 1935 Ford Cabriolet belonging to Sydney hot-rodder Geoff Oppy. “When I built my rod I knew it had to have a flathead,” Geoff says. “I went to the States and looked at a lot of hot rods; none of them had a motor like this.” The engine itself was built around 12 years ago, but was never fired up until recently. So Geoff had flathead guru Eric Worner pull the engine down and give it a tidy-up before it was re-assembled and fired up. While the engine may have been built over a decade ago, some of the parts have been kicking around Geoff’s shed…

26 DEC, KWINANA BEACH, WA Night Of Fire, Perth Motorplex. Visit www.motorplex.com.au. 28-31 DEC, MANSFIELD, VIC FX-FJ Holden National Titles, Highett Street. Visit www.fxfjnats.com.au. 05-08 JAN, CANBERRA, ACT Street Machine Summernats 30, Exhibition Park. Visit www.summernats.com.au. 07 JAN, KWINANA BEACH, WA Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars, Perth Motorplex. Visit www.outlawnitrofunnycars.com.au. 07-08 JAN, DRYSDALE, VIC Classic Car & Bike Show, Drysdale Reserve. Contact 0439 282 964. 06-08 JAN, COWES, VIC Kustom Nationals, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Visit www.kustoms.com.au. 15 JAN, BALLINA, NSW North Coast Street Machines Show ’n’ Shine, Ballina Rugby Grounds. Visit www.northcoaststreetmachines.com.au. 17 JAN, CASTLE HILL, NSW All American Day, Castle Towers Shopping Centre. Visit www.mustang.org.au. 18 JAN, WANDIN, VIC Wandin Custom Car & Bike Show, Wandin East Recreation Reserve. Contact (03) 5964 7366. 20 JAN, MELBOURNE, VIC…

NO LONGER JUST A HOT ROD RUN, OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS BRIGHT HAS BECOME A CHROME BUMPER EVENT OPEN TO ANY PRE-’77 CAR THE LAIDBACK ATMOSPHERE AND CHARM THAT HAS DISTINGUISHED THE EVENT’S FIRST QUARTER-CENTURY REMAINS PULL OUT A DECKCHAIR, FIRE UP THE PORTABLE BARBECUE AND DRINK COLD CANS FROM YOUR ESKY WHILE WATCHING FORMER MAGAZINE COVER CARS GO PAST A GT40 TRIBUTE CRUISED ALONGSIDE EIGHT-SECOND PRO STREETERS, CUNNING SLEEPERS, COOL CUSTOMS AND PLENTY OF MUSCLE CARS HELD in the Victorian Alpine tourist town of Bright on the first weekend in November, the annual Bright Rod Run has been happily cruising along for 26 years now. It was founded by Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs Street Rods Club, who ran it until 2013, but these days the…

AMAZDA had never won Summernats Grand Champion or Top Judged – that was until John Saad’s incredible 1972 RX-3 came along. Add to this being judged the 2015 MotorEx Grand Master, and you know it’s got serious form. I can almost hear dyed-in-the-wool V8 fans snickering from here. But hang on a minute – any genuinely street-driven machine capable of taking out Australia’s absolute biggest awards definitely warrants closer inspection. Check the detail, check the engineering, comprehend the planning and forethought that has gone into this diminutive screamer, and you’ll quickly understand why FATRX3 has been such a giant-slayer. This isn’t John’s first award-winning Mazda, either. His previous effort, RXXX3, was good enough to take out gold for Street Elite paint at MotorEx 10. But as good as that car…

EVERYWHERE YOU GO IT’S JUST LS ENGINES NOW. I STUCK WITH THE HOLDEN V8 JUST TO PISS EVERYBODY OFF WHILE the rest of the world is busy swapping LS engines into everything from old 60s pick-ups to Ford Falcons and Mopar muscle cars, Brenden ‘Bubba’ Medlyn is sticking with the good old Holden V8. That faith in the Aussie bent-eight was rewarded with the overall win at the toughest street-and-strip event in the country: Street Machine Drag Challenge. “I was in disbelief until it was officially announced,” Bubba says. “People were congratulating me before the presentations, but I wasn’t sure I’d done enough with guys like Terry Seng and Jarrod Wood running sevens on the last day.” So here it is, Australia’s Quickest Street Car for 2016, powered by Aussie…

AS USUAL, THE VETERAN VICTORIAN STREET RACERS HAD SOMETHING OF A HOME-TRACK ADVANTAGE AT HEATHCOTE THOSE THAT HAD TO STOP FOUND THEMSELVES BEING DINNER FOR SOME SERIOUSLY AGGRESSIVE MOSQUITOES HEATHCOTE Park Raceway is just over 100km up the road from Calder Park, but we weren’t going to make it that easy for our Drag Challenge competitors. We sent them on a detour to Nagambie to get a shot of their cars with the statue of Black Caviar before heading to the track. That made it more of a 200km trip, taking in some fairly average roads. With limited accommodation in Heathcote, most racers opted to bunk down in nearby Bendigo, though a handful camped at the track. The weather was warm and as usual, the veteran Victorian street racers…

THE DAY GOT OFF TO A HAIRY START, WITH TODD FOLEY’S STORMING VH DROPPING ITS GUTS IN THE DEEP END TERRY SENG PEDALLED TO A 7.76@177MPH – WHO KNOWS WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF HE’D BEEN ABLE TO STAY ON IT THE fact that we ran Drag Challenge throughout the working week meant that crowds were small at most tracks, so we opted to hold back racing at Calder on the Friday until 4pm to give the locals a chance to knock off work and come down to see the event come to a climax. We also opted to allow a handful of APSA cars onto the track for some testing as well, so there was a great bunch of cars for the spectators to check out. The…

HOLDEN VH COMMODORE Class: Turbosmart Outlaw Blown SPECS Engine: 370ci Holden V8 Turbos: Twin Garrett 67mm Transmission: Powerglide Converter: Neal Chance 3000rpm Diff: 3.7:1 Power: 1352rwhp Previous PB: 8.50@165mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 8.01@176mph IN THE lead-up to Drag Challenge 2016 there were a lot of names being bandied about as possible victors, but nobody was talking about the eventual winner, Brenden ‘Bubba’ Medlyn. “I was surprised as anyone,” Bubba said. “I didn’t think it was a possibility. I was like a fat kid in a candy store at Drag Challenge because I didn’t know where to look; there were all these amazing cars. I was in disbelief until it was officially announced, because guys were running sevens on Days Four and Five and I wasn’t sure I’d had enough…

HOLDEN HQ ONE-TONNER Class: Mothers Outlaw Aspirated SPECS Engine: 632ci big-block Chev Induction: Pro-Filer Sniper II, 1350 Dominator Transmission: Turbo 400 Converter: 4000rpm Diff: 3.5:1 Power: 970hp Previous PB: 9.30@145mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 9.42@144mph CUBIC inches rule when it comes to making power without a blower, turbos or nitrous, and with 632 cubes, Steve Micallef has plenty in his Holden HQ one-tonner. “To be honest the tonner was supposed to be a burnout car,” he said. “But after I did Drag Challenge with Alon Vella last year I thought: ‘Screw that!’ I rang my engine builder from Calder on the last day and said: ‘Stop what you’re doing; it’s all changing!’” After doing the trip last year, Steve had a fair idea of what he needed to chew up…

HOLDEN ONE-TONNER Class: Turbosmart Outlaw Blown SPECS Engine: 598ci big-block Chev Turbos: Twin Pro Mod 88mm Transmission: Two-speed Turbo 400 Converter: 5500rpm Diff: 3.4:1 Power: Unsure Previous PB: 8.3sec Best Drag Challenge Run: 7.71@184mph ONE of the most highly anticipated cars of Drag Challenge this year was the Holden tonner of Jarrod Wood, and it didn’t disappoint. With 598 cubic inches of Dandy Engines big-block Chev and a pair of Pro Mod-spec 88mm turbos, the car had power to burn, but getting that power to the ground was always going to be the test. “We built the car for Drag Challenge,” Jarrod said. “We started building the car in March, doing the four-link. I welded it all in and then we sent it to Andy at Specialised Power Porting.” With…

HSV MALOO Class: Tuff Mounts DYO SPECS Engine: 6.2-Litre LS3 Blower: GM LSA Transmission: Six-speed manual Diff: Standard IRS Power: 536rwhp Previous PB: 12.35@115mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 11.97@118mph QUICKEST chick! Quickest stick! Those are the two well-deserved accolades that Kim Smith went home with after campaigning her supercharged manual 6.2-litre E3 HSV Maloo all week at Drag Challenge 2016. Kim’s father was involved in speedway when she was growing up, but she’s only strapped on a helmet herself fairly recently. “I grew up on the periphery of motorsport,” she said. “I think Dad wanted my twin sister and me to be ‘ladies’, but I was often helping out on the car.” As for Drag Challenge, she had some personal motivation for attending. She lost her P-plater son Matt in…

HQ HOLDEN SEDAN Class: Turbosmart Outlaw Blown SPECS Engine: 510ci big-block Chev Turbo: Pro Mod 98mm Transmission: Powerglide Converter: AllFast 3500rpm Diff: 3.5:1 Power: 1650hp Previous PB: 8.20@174mph Best Drag Challenge Run: 8.63@163mph VICTORIAN Harry Haig has had a huge year, and all the time spent planning and preparing for his Hot Rod Drag Week assault in the infamous SS Chevelle meant that his eight-second HQ missed out on some love in the lead-up to Drag Challenge. “Basically I dragged it out of the shed,” Harry said. “Since last Drag Challenge all I’ve done is given it a freshen-up before Powercruise Sydney, but doing powerskids up the straight at 8900rpm wasn’t kind to it. I think it might have tweaked a valve.” Of course they didn’t know that before Drag…

ROHAN HUTSON SWIFT CHEV THAT DOUBLES AS A FAMILY TRUCKSTER YOU get the feeling Rohan Hutson has a bit of a thing for shoebox Chevys in general, and ’55s in particular. In fact, he has six of the things, including a drop-dead-gorgeous station wagon. Oh, and this car – a wicked black four-door that looked way too tidy to be getting thrashed down a drag strip. Still, when you’ve got six of ’em, maybe you can be a bit daring. Up front there’s a nitrous-assisted 383 Chev with a 170hp shot. “It’s a fast family car; it does mid-10s with air con and the baby seats bolted in,” Rohan said. “I love it; the ’55s are just cool – all steel, no plastic, old-school carby motor.” Up until Day Four,…

ADAM STYLES COULD HAVE BEEN A CONTENDER IN THE lead-up to Drag Challenge there were a few names being bandied about as contenders for outright honours, and Adam Styles was among that group with his twin-turbo LC Torana. With a string of low eight-second timeslips to his name, Adam arrived at his first Drag Challenge this year with high expectations. But the Torana had other plans. “We had a shudder through the car,” Adam explained. “We had three runs, and we discovered the trans fluid had metal all through it, so we knew pretty early that it wasn’t something that we could fix at the track.” So he put the car back in the trailer and headed back to Albury, and while the rest of the field were racing at…

JUST as the lion is king of the jungle, Holden’s V8 was king of the Aussie streets back in the 80s and 90s. Even into the early 2000s some of the highest-horsepower street cars in Australia were Holden-powered. Remember the heyday of the Summernats Horsepower Heroes competition? Eddy Tassone, Brett Waine and Rob Vickery all made over 1000hp at the treads using factory Holden blocks. Unfortunately, since the introduction of the all-alloy LS1 and the veritable parade of Gen III/IV engines that followed, the demand for the locally made V8 has waned. It’s not totally out of the picture just yet however, and if guys like Bubba Medlyn, Glenn Wells and Craig Bennett have anything to do with it, we’ll be seeing kick-arse Holden V8s for a few more years…

DID YOU SEE THE WATER IN THE FRONT INDICATOR? WE’VE KEPT IT AS ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE! DUSTY BENSON VC COMMODORE > WODONGA, VICTORIA ONE of the stealthier sleepers at Street Machine Drag Challenge this year was Dusty Benson’s white VC Commodore sedan. “I bought it to build into a fun car for Performance Car Mania at Winton [in Victoria],” said the Wodonga local. “Then when I heard about Drag Challenge, it was a natural for that, too.” A disgustingly cool 1980s Aunger louvre takes pride of place on the rear window of the Commodore, a remnant of its mundane past before Dusty bought it for $700 three years ago. “It already had the louvre and the roof racks, but we fitted the front sun visor,” Dusty laughed. “Did you see…

Street Machine Summernats turns 30! What are you guys cooking up to make sure the party lives up to the anticipation? There’s so much good stuff going for our big 30th. There’s great all-Aussie music line-up with Airbourne, Thirsty Merc, Drapht and Spit Syndicate. We’ve got a few new mates from overseas crashing the party as well; Farmtruck and AZN from Street Outlaws and legendary paint guru Charley Hutton are all making the trip. The Burnout Masters and Meguiar’s Uncovers are both going to be mind-blowing. But the best thing is what’s been cooked up in garages and workshops all over Australia – an overwhelming number of awesome cars heading our way. We hear there are over 2000 cars entered already – are they all going to fit in the…