Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Street Machine

MOTOREX is Australia’s biggest indoor modified-car show, alternating each year between Sydney and Melbourne. In 2018 it is Melbourne’s turn, 26-27 May at Melbourne Showgrounds. This will be the first event held under the auspices of the show’s new owners, Out There Productions – the same guys who have a big hand in Street Machine Summernats. While that doesn’t mean we’ll see a burnout comp at MotorEx any time soon, it does mean that the whole event is going to get a massive shot in the arm in terms of entertainment for your hard-earned – including drift displays, FMX, and a renewed focus on the Real Street component. We’ve also jumped on board with a massive Street Machine display to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our Street Machine Of The…

WHEN poor-little-rich-girl Paula Powers (Morgan) breaks the news that she’s marrying regular joe Sam Freeman (Howard), her parents forbid their courtship and insist she marry the well-heeled, polo-playing dipshit Collins Hedgeworth (Linke). See, Paula’s dad Bigby (Cahill) is running for governor and has a ‘reputation’ to uphold, so his need for social status and building powerful relationships trumps any thoughts of his daughter’s happiness. Bigby confiscates Paula’s car keys and sends her to her room in an attempt to stifle her feisty, rebellious ways. But within minutes she is out the window and commandeering Bigby’s classic Rolls for a whirlwind road-trip to Vegas, where she plans to marry Sam on her own terms. As word breaks of the mad dash to lock down the nuptials, Collins assures himself that Paula’s…

PETER Bobecki debuted his LS1-powered MkII Escort at Street Machine Summernats 31, and we were so enamoured with the crazy little burnout beastie that we did a little write-up on it for our website. Little did we know the furore it would create on Facebook! James Borrie – What...has...he...done...to it? My dad has one of these and if he saw this he’d be as angry as I am! Amazing finish and great craftsmanship but he has completely ruined it, that’s for sure. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s one of the most dreadful things I have ever seen in Street Machine. And it isn’t even a Ford engine! Arrrrrrgh! Si Cleveland – Ford plus Chev = no thanks. Keep to one or none. Phan Tom – Tail-lights look like…

WAR-BIRD’S 1600-PLUS NEDDIES HAVE EVERY TYRE WITHIN A 10-BLOCK RADIUS QUAKING IN ITS TREADS AT A glance, it may appear that brothers Heath and Marc Waddington from the Rod Shop in Castlemaine, Victoria, are slugging it out to see who can outdo the other. Heath fired the first shot with his gobsmacking bare-metal REAL DEAL Torana (SM, Jun ’17). Marc returned fire with WAR-BIRD – this incredibly striking XP. But it’s actually not sibling rivalry that was the catalyst behind this outrageous Falcon. “I bought it to revamp all of the Rod Shop’s XM/XP engine and chassis kits,” Marc says. “It was stripped, fully sandblasted and primered with no running gear – a perfect test bed.” After dropping it onto the Rod Shop’s chassis table and pulling the right-hand rear…

IT’S MY FIRST EFI CAR AND MY FIRST TURBO CAR – I’LL BE HONEST; I’M HOOKED! TOUGH cars are an addiction, and it’s one the Younis family is heavily afflicted with. Tony Younis is a grandfather these days, so he’s probably old enough to know better, but his stable includes a ProCharged small-block LX hatchback and a wild eight-second Anglia, both of which are as black as the ace of spades. Tony’s youngest son Danny is busily forging a reputation as one of the rising stars of the skid scene in his FUKYEA Capri (SM, Dec ’14), and his eldest son Louis also has an impressive toy collection, including a blown and tubbed red six-powered LC GTR (SM, Apr ’12), an eight-second small-block LJ coupe, and – until recently –…

I NOW KNOW WHY THE PREVIOUS BLOKE THOUGHT IT WAS TOO FAR GONE. STILL, I THOUGHT I’D GIVE IT A TACKLE AND LEARN ON MY JOURNEY AS WE walk the dusty driveway to his property, an hour south of Perth, Peter Woolven tells me how it all began. “I had the vision that if they had me as a design engineer at Holden in 1962, putting together a Maloo...” He pauses as he throws open the door to his sizeable shed: “...this would be my version.” The theatrics are warranted; Peter’s EK ute sits spotless and gunbarrel-straight amongst the tractors and dirt bikes, Polynesian Green metallic paint glimmering beneath a shard of vibrant afternoon sun. Nose toward us, bonnet up, chrome grille throwing sparks of light to every corner of…

WE JUST WANTED TO GET THE CAR DONE TO SHOW PEOPLE YOU CAN DO UP A LANDAU WITHOUT BEING A GRANDPA WITH A CARDIGAN FIRST sold in August 1973, the Ford Landau hit Australian showrooms with a split personality. Based on the XA Falcon coupe, it shared its front end and interior with the luxurious Ford LTD four-door, while the tough driveline was lifted directly from the GT. The rear of the Landau also featured a different tail-light panel, with a single strip of lights. The look was certainly more American than Australian. The Landau’s Cleveland V8 was mated with a three-speed FMX auto, and the car had disc brakes at all four corners – the first Australian-built road car (along with the LTD) with this feature. The lavish interior…

RON HAS RETAINED AIR-COOLED VOLKSWAGEN POWER, INSTALLING TWO PUMPED-UP VW MOTORS LINKED TOGETHER WITH a squillion of the things sold around the planet during the 50s, 60s and 70s, the Volkswagen Beetle would have been plenty of people’s first car. Arizona’s Ron Howe was one of them: Now 55, he bombed around in a ’66 Beetle when he first grabbed his licence as a kid. The allure of the little round, rear-engined, cheap-as-chips commuter car must have been strong though, because in the time since he’s owned several more dak-daks scattered amongst a lifetime of bread-and-butter US stuff. And now this! As well as Beetles, VW made a model called the Type 3. Available as a two-door sedan, fastback and squareback wagon, these bigger-than-Bug vehicles shared plenty of parts with…

“THE TURBO TAXI WAS A BIG HIT AT SUMMERNATS, WITH PEOPLE JOKINGLY TRYING TO HAIL IT ALL WEEKEND” WELCOME to the first instalment of our new Street Machine Drag Challenge column. We’ll keep you up to date with news on upcoming events and we’ll have gossip on the coolest cars being readied for battle. First up, let’s have a look at the members of the Drag Challenge family who attended Street Machine Summernats 31, starting with our own LPGpowered weapon. CAB RANKS HIGHLY DEPUTY editor Scott Taylor spent most of his Christmas holidays fixing our crashed Turbo Taxi (above). After finding most of the panels at the wreckers, he replaced everything else forward of the engine, with the 2010 FG Falcon receiving thermo fans, radiator, condenser, radiator support and bumper…

BRETT FORWARD FC HOLDEN “I PURCHASED my FC as a shell in 2006 for $2500. The car originated in Queensland, where it was owned by an old lady, but the rego was cancelled in 1988 and it ended up in Victoria in 1989. I purchased it from Carrum Downs and set about bare-metalling it and installing a full chassis, VS Commodore rear end with trailing arms, Commodore fuel tank, a modified LH Torana front end with VE Commodore brakes, 308 motor with Trimatic gearbox, column-shift, mini-tubs and colour-coded 19-inch Simmons FR1 wheels. The front wheelarches were raised approximately two inches to allow the larger wheels to turn. All panels, including the floors, are original, as the car had no rust. The floor was not modified to fit the V8 and…

THESE fandangled new LS engines are all the rage, and now that every man and his dog are hanging turbos off them, it’s a lot easier to make 700hp than it used to be. But turbocharged LS donks are not everyone’s cup of tea, and some blokes – like Queenslander Mark Roberts – prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. Mark has had this 424ci, naturally aspirated small-block Chev put together by Horsepower Engineering for his VH Commodore street-and-strip car. It runs a Dart SHP block with a forged Scat crankshaft, six-inch Callies rods, and custom CP pistons. The Crane solid-roller camshaft was ground specifically for this combo, and has north of .700in valve lift and somewhere in the neighbourhood of 260 degrees of duration. The heads are hand-ported 23-degree…

IT’S SUCH A LAIDBACK SHOW AFTER THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF SUMMERNATS; IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO GET UP HERE AND RELAX WITH YOUR MATES WE’VE got a real soft spot for the Kandos Street Machine & Hot Rod Show. Enjoying a cold can with your mates at the bar on the hill while dozens upon dozens of burnout competitors bang tyres and engines (not to mention the occasional guard rail) is a great way to put the ‘Australia’ in your Australia Day long weekend. The weather at Kandos in January is almost invariably as hot as buggery, but this year it transitioned from swelteringly hot and sunny to sopping wet in the blink of an eye – twice! Yep, afternoon storms blew in at 3:30pm on the dot both days,…

23-24 FEB, BALLARAT, VIC Ballarat Swap Meet, Ballarat Airport. Visit ballaratswapmeet.com.au. 24 FEB, MOUNT ARCHER, QLD Go Nuts With Salubrious, Archer Falls Airfield. Contact Scott on 0417 427 016. 25 FEB, BIRDWOOD, SA Small Ford Show, National Motor Museum. Visit rsownersclubsa.net. 25 FEB, CRAIGIEBURN, VIC Craigieburn’s 4th Annual Car, Truck & Bike Show, 340 Craigieburn Rd. Visit ‘Craigieburn Car, Truck and Bike Show’ on Facebook. 25 FEB, CLOVELLY PARK, SA All Chrysler Day 2018, Tonsley Innovation District. Visit cccsa.net.au. 25 FEB, TOORA, VIC South Coast Show ’n’ Shine, Toora Recreational Reserve. Contact Joe on 0431 020 881. 25 FEB, MOONEE PONDS, VIC Showcars Melbourne, Moonee Valley Racing Club. Visit showcarsmelbourne.com.au. 25 FEB, BERWICK, VIC Berwick Ute Show & Muster, Akoonah Park Reserve. Contact Neetz on 0433 077 362. 25 FEB,…

LAST issue we gave you eight solid reasons for Casey Johnson’s love of both Fords and fun-based motorsports. These influences have shaped his interests in the car scene, and many of his recent builds mix his automotive passions with a creative streak you’d expect from someone who’s a graphic designer by day. Sure, he leans towards the best of Henry’s products, but Casey is the first to admit he loves cars of all makes, models and build styles. It’s the core story and concept behind people’s builds that get his juices flowing, irrespective of the brand. 01: CASEY has been an F-truck fan ever since he saw the ‘Bigfoot’ monster truck as a kid. “My 1983 F100 was one of the last years of the bullnose model and ran a…

IT’S AMAZING HOW MANY ONE-LINERS FROM THIS FILM ARE INGRAINED INTO AUSSIE CAR LOVERS’ VOCABULARY CRACK out your rad 80s threads, tease your hair, hang a garter belt from your rearview and polish your tramp rods, because the NSW outback town of Cobar is set to host the Running On Empty Festival 2018 on 26-28 October, a weekend-long tribute to one of the most iconic Australian car movies ever. We had a chat with event co-organiser and car freak Ben Hewlett to learn more about the inspiration for the weekend and what they have in store. Hewlett? What type of name’s that? It’s a Polish name [laughs]. Oh man, it’s started already! It’s amazing how many one-liners from this film are just ingrained into Aussie car lovers’ vocabulary. Those that…

THIS IS THE FIRST CAR WE’VE EVER MODIFIED. IT STARTED OFF AS A CAR FOR COLIN, THEN GOT OUT OF CONTROL THE Meguiar’s Judging Pavilion was packed on the Saturday afternoon of Summernats 31 for the Elite awards. As the name of the winner of Top Judged Elite was read, screams erupted from Grahame and Colin Barker’s family and friends, who’d come along to support them and their 1951 Holden ute, SPCLFX. After 20 years in the build, the quietly spoken Barkers had taken out the top gong for Elite-level show cars at Australia’s biggest modified car show. What made this even more of a stunning achievement is that the pro touring FX is their first crack at building a street machine! “This is the first car we’ve ever modified,”…

I WAS ORIGINALLY INTERESTED IN THE RAY BARTON 528-CUBE COMBINATION, BUT THEY HAD A SPECIAL GOING ON THE 572; IT WAS A NO-BRAINER PERTH-based Chrysler stalwart Dino Donatelli fell in love at an early age. “My late father, Beniamino, owned a Dodge D5N pick-up when I was a kid, and that, along with his VG Safari wagon, were the two cars that instilled my love of Chryslers,” he says. “The passion is definitely in the blood.” Like any Mopar devotee, Dino is well-versed in the history of the Hemi engine, and he’s equally knowledgeable and passionate about Aussie-built Chryslers. So when it was time for a new project, Dino decided to go for a mix of local and American Mopar gear. “About 10 years ago, I’d finished my VG Mexicana…

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT WHEN DAD PICKED ME UP FROM SCHOOL IN THE XD IN ’83; I WAS 10 YEARS OLD THE impetus for Michael Ceyhan Jr refurbishing his ’81 XD Fairmont is simple yet 100 per cent heartfelt. “I built it in memory of my dad, and to show my sons different life experiences – not just automotive but also how to be patient.” The XD’s story goes well beyond this recent three-year project. “It was love at first sight when Dad picked me up from school in it in ’83; I was 10 years old,” Michael remembers. “Dad used it as a daily for our family of six. Later he upgraded to a newer car and parked up the XD. When I was 18 years old…

IF YOU had to guess what car Scott Marshall was going to build next, a stretched 2003 Ferrari 360 Modena limo probably isn’t what you’d come up with. Best known for his absolutely mental WB ute, MADNES (SM, Dec ’99), and more recently his wild, blown twin-plug Hemi pro street Willys coupe (cover car for SM Hot Rod #18), a Ferrari is a departure from his usual style, to put it mildly. This is no VW with a Ferrari bodykit on it, either. “She’s a genuine Ferrari 360 that we imported from England,” Scott says. “I drove it for a couple of weeks and then took it down to Dreamtech Conversions in Dandenong and cut the bastard in half. We stripped out the interior, which didn’t take long because there’s…

“LOOK, I DON’T WANT TO ALARM ANYBODY, BUT DO PEOPLE REALISE THAT A MODIFIED CAR IS, IN FACT, MODIFIED?” ALONG-HELD belief is that bureaucracy will eventually spell the end of the modified car scene as we know it. People in our scene are quick to blame politicians, police, relevant transport authorities, the EPA, greenies, Tracy Grimshaw, and whoever else is flavour of the month for our hot-car dramas. But recently my personal thoughts on this have changed dramatically: I believe the true issue is staring us smack-bang in the face. It’s us. Over the past 12 months I have witnessed our beloved car scene stand on its own balls, inundated with bitching, negativity and hatred towards each other’s prized possessions. It makes me sick in the guts. We’ve allowed this…

GAG OF THE MONTH SUCCESS STORY ONE day the triangle player of an orchestra gets very sick and has to go to hospital. While there, he practices the orchestra’s latest piece, despite sneezing and sniffling the whole time. The next day he goes home to find his house surrounded by police cars. He asks a police officer: “What happened?” The officer replies: “Your conductor came by your house to talk to you while you were at the hospital. He was angry that you missed rehearsal. When he got home and found that you weren’t there he killed your entire family in anger.” The triangle player, stunned, looks deeply into the police officer’s eyes, with a single tear running down his face. “The conductor wanted to talk to me?” E Notistmee,…

FOUNDED by the late custom car guru John Katsanis, the Kustom Nationals at Phillip Island has been a fixture on the calendar since 2003. While it usually falls on the same weekend as Street Machine Summernats, we have a soft spot for the Kustom Nats event, which is run by John’s sons Luke and Dean. Being able to cruise around one of Australia’s most epic race tracks in your custom, hot rod or street machine is pretty special! So we were bummed when we heard that 2019 will be the last Kustom Nats – ever! But don’t worry, the boys aren’t going too far away – in fact, they are running a new Vintage Drags event at Bairnsdale Raceway, with the first event kicking off this Easter. It’s for period-style,…

HEALING THROUGH RESTORATION I’M A long-time fan of Street Machine, and I’m interested to see if you’re aware of how powerful your product is. I’m a serving member of the Australian Defence Force; I’ve deployed to a number of war zones in my 17 years and I’ve built some great friendships with like-minded domestic and international grease-heads. I point them all to your website and share magazines that my family send me while I’m deployed. I don’t know if you guys are aware how powerful and lifesaving muscle cars, motorcycles and street machines have become. In the past 10 years or so, I’ve been impressed with how chrome, grease, smoke, engineering, and craftsmanship have become the focus point for many of my friends. In this same period, I’ve lost friends…

MOTORVATION has long been one of Western Australia’s premier street machining events, but last year’s instalment was a stripped back, one-day deal that was nothing like the Motorvation of old. Pleasingly, this year saw a return to the tried and tested three-day format, and the West Aussie modified car community responded in kind. Entrants, clubs and punters returned in droves, and competition for the coveted Grand Champion gong was among the fiercest in the history of the event. Proceedings commenced on the Friday of the Australia Day long weekend, which was a day for competitors to set up and get acquainted with the venue. The guts of the show were jammed into Saturday, but Sunday was definitely worth a look, with the new eighth-mile drag racing proving to be a…

EVEN WITH THE POLICE PERMITS IN PLACE, THERE’S SOMETHING DELICIOUSLY NAUGHTY ABOUT RACING ON A NORMAL ROAD THEY first closed this section of road, just outside the little town of Casterton in western Victoria, in 1992. Apparently it was the idea of an obviously good bloke named Owen Stevens, who was the head honcho of the local Apex Club back in the day. He figured that letting the revved-up locals race their cars along the straight stretch of bitumen known as Sandford Flat would be a good way for them to have some fun and let off a bit of steam. With that simple idea, the Casterton Street Drags were born. “Owen really pushed to get the event happening,” says Glenn Knight, local Casterton mechanic, member of the Casterton &…

IT’S LESS OF AN EVENT AND MORE A BUNCH OF MATES GETTING TOGETHER THE day after Christmas in the centre of a suburban Adelaide car park, Andrew ‘Jaf’ Staples holds court amongst the sweet aroma of avgas. He’s here for Jaf’s Last Cruise (of the Year), and as he leans against the green metalflake flame job adorning his white Hudson sedan, he waxes philosophical about the cruise that bears his name. “It’s less of an event and more a bunch of mates getting together,” he says. “Well, thousands of mates getting together! We do liaise with the cops, but this thing almost can’t be stopped.” Tugging his lengthy goatee, he concludes: “So it’s better I do it. Otherwise a different mob might try and it all ends up on Today…

The twin-turbo Toyota Land Cruiser ute of Queenslanders Luke, Scott and Garth French from GSL Fabrications was out for a blat at Willowbank recently. The guys sell aftermarket bits for V8 diesel Toyotas, and got this ex-mine mule to develop some new products. So far it’s run a cracking 10.15@133mph with a near-stock engine! The 1VDJ diesel cranks out a massive 720rwhp and has copped as much as 65lb of boost through a compound turbo set-up. From 2007 to 2016 Toyota has run the same V8 diesel, so it’s been a great motor for the French boys to develop. At $12K brand new, they’re pretty affordable, too. The only internal change the boys have made has been upgrading the valve springs. The intake plenum has been replaced with a fabricated…

HAVING HAD TORANAS AND V8 HKS, I WAS AFTER SOMETHING A BIT SMALLER, BUT STILL WITH A V8 NEALE White’s ’66 Chevy II Nova is a ripper sleeper, as you’d scarcely believe such an original-looking body is hiding a cammed 5.7-litre LS1, six-speed manual and 12-bolt. Having owned a few Aussie V8s, Neale turned his attention to what many consider the smallest, lightest Chevy to cop a bent-eight. “A ’64-model Chevy II was the first Nova I saw and, having had Toranas and V8 HKs, I was after something a bit smaller, but still with a V8,” says Neale. “The LS craze was happening around this time and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to mix the old and new, and I knew I wanted the…

I’D ROCK UP TO CAR EVENTS AND FIND THAT A LOT OF THE WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS WERE AT HOME AND WEREN’T EVEN ASKED TO COME ALONG MELBOURNE’S Paula Scarso is a passionate revhead who’s keen to up the number of women in the car scene. To make it happen, she’s created the Northern Gal Facebook page to bring together her local car community and offer monthly cruises for their chrome-bumpered and classic rides. What’s the Northern Gal story? I’d rock up to car events and find that a lot of the wives and girlfriends were at home – some weren’t even asked to come along! So now I encourage women with cars, or get them interested in cars. It’s amazing how many more females are now in the scene and…

Send your photos of fun with cars to: Sunday Too Far Away, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166, or email high-resolution images (1mb+) to: sundaytoofaraway@bauer-media.com.au . Please send copies of prints as we are unable to return your photos. WIN!  WIN one of three Mothers packages, including glass cleaner, carnauba cleaner wax, car wash, polishing pads, a pack of microfibre towels and more! See www.mothers.com for details.…