Innehållsförteckning för No 132 May 2016 från NZV8

Whenever the topic of quick street cars comes up, there are always questions about what qualifies as a street car. In theory, it’s a simple question. If it has a registration, WOF, and cert, then it’s a street car, right? Well, kinda … at this level, the line gets a bit blurry. It’s generally only other quick street car drivers or builders who get into the real nitty gritty of the rules, and that’s fair enough, but they sometimes get so tied up in their own agenda that they can’t look at things from a neutral perspective. For the purpose of our NZ’s Quickest Streeters list, which we kicked off in late 2014, we decided the criteria would essentially be that the cars had a WOF, reg, and cert (for…

The Motorhood is the online home of NZV8 and its sister publications NZ Performance Car and New Zealand Classic Car. It’s the hub for all things automotive, from news and reviews to event coverage and more. You can enjoy articles from the magazines on The Motorhood’s home page, themotorhood.com, or, if you want a purely V8-scene experience, just head to our old website address — v8.co.nz — to be redirected straight to NZV8’s part of the new site. KEEPING UP WITH THE CARNALES Not too long ago, the Carnales car club celebrated its fifth anniversary, and we were kindly extended an invitation to the festivities — how could we say no? Having caught up with the Carnales two years ago, we certainly found it interesting to take a closer look…

PETE HOSKIN 1956 FORD F100 Nice looking truck, Pete — could you tell us a bit about it? When I was a young fella, I used to work the school holidays at Craigieburn Station, and there was an old bloke there, Fenton Westenra, who had an F100 he used to drive around the station. He was pretty well known for driving around the place with 14 bales of hay on the back and eight dogs in the front with him. Anyway, I used to see that truck a quite bit, and, as a result, I fancied owning one myself one day. Not many New Zealand–new F100s around, Pete; how did you manage to get hold of this one? Now that’s a bit of a story in itself. I heard through…

You’ll no doubt have heard that story about how Chevrolet’s Nova sold poorly in Latin America because no va essentially translates to ‘doesn’t go’ in Spanish. While the translation part of the story is technically true, the rest is nothing more than a myth — an urban legend that spread like wildfire, becoming accepted as fact in the most remote corners of the globe. Even if there had been a grain of truth in that myth, and the Nova, in fact, hadn’t gone, that would fail to apply to Josh Dalton’s ’67 — a dream of a car that looks great and, believe it or not, goes even better. Josh had played around with a few cars, culminating in a late-model HSV GTS, but he soon tired of it —…

It appears that, in Whanganui, the habit, be it good or bad, of cramming the biggest possible engine into an engine bay is still alive and well — so much so that Raj Patel had to go to the extent of shaving his strut towers so that he could fit 545 supercharged cubes of Henry Ford’s biggest and baddest into his XW! We really don’t know what is in the water over there, but, for some reason, Whanganui pumps out stupidly over-engined street cars with almost monotonous regularity — not that we’re complaining. This big blue Falcon has had a few different heartbeats over the years. The story almost reads like a ‘grandad’s axe’ tale — you know the one: it’s the same axe he’s had for 50 years, but…

Everybody enjoys a good celebration, especially if it’s for a good reason — and running an event for 30 years is certainly a worthwhile reason. For Wanganui Road Rodders, a weekend filled with events both social and vehicular meant a fair bit of planning and tough decisions to be made — one of which was to hold the annual street drags on the Saturday so that those who indulged a bit much at the prize-giving would have time to recover from their celebrations before the organized show and shine on the Sunday. However, holding things on the Saturday rather than the usual Sunday had the potential to hurt spectator numbers, with many locals having to fulfil work commitments and potentially miss out. But, judging by the numbers lining the fences,…

TOE ANGLE The ‘toe angle’ refers to the measurement between the front wheels relative to each other, when viewed from directly above. ‘Toe in’ (or ‘positive toe’) is when the wheels are pointed slightly inwards, with the front of the wheels closer together than the rear. ‘Toe out’ (‘negative toe’) is the opposite, with the front of the wheels farther apart than the rear. Toe angle can have a big impact on tyre wear and plays a large part in determining a vehicle’s handling characteristics. Toe out can cause a vehicle to become twitchy and unstable in a straight line, as the toe angle causes the inner wheel to turn at a tighter radius than the outer wheel. Because of how varied the effects of toe angle are on the…

The ‘diff ratio’ (or ‘final-drive ratio’) is effectively a measure of how many times the pinion gear must turn — thus turning the crown wheel — in order to turn the driven wheels one complete rotation. So, if a diff’s ratio is 3.08:1, we know that the pinion gear must rotate 3.08 times for each full rotation of the crown wheel. The easiest way to get an idea of the diff ratio, when the diff is still in the car, is to mark a line on the pinion and diff housing, and a line on the tyre and a constant surface (such as the guard) or on the hub and a constant surface (such as the brake caliper). With the transmission in neutral, and the rear end securely lifted off…

Kapiti Coast’s Gear Jammers Rod and Muscle Car Club promotes its annual show as being “A great day out to see what American and Australian hot rods and muscle cars have been emerging from enthusiasts’ sheds in the Wellington region over the last 12 months; a perfect way to entertain the children with fire engine rides, rocker-cover racing, and live bands while you absorb the shiny metal eye candy.” It’d be hard to offer a better description. Over the past few years, the event has become a drawcard for petrolheads from around the lower North Island, getting bigger and better every year. For anyone remotely interested in things with four wheels, then Kapiti Primary School in Paraparaumu was definitely the place to be on Sunday, March 20. The club organized…

SEASON FINALE After a season in which all three V8 classes — the former SuperTourers and TLX-type chassis as well as the original TLspec cars — ran on one grid and produced some great racing, the season finale will take place at Pukekohe Park Raceway over the weekend of April 16 and 17. It will be all guns blazing among the V8-powered racers at what many regard as the spiritual home of the national V8 racing category. With no fewer than 10 categories racing and aiming to put on a great motorsport show, it will be the busiest weekend of the 2015–2016 racing calendar. It will all start on the Friday, with members of the public able to attend the open testing and practice absolutely free. BNT Touring Cars, NZ…

DEPUTY EDITOR’S 15 MINUTES OF FAME Last month, we — NZV8’s resident photographer Adam Croy and I — went down to New Plymouth for Americarna. That threw us a problem, in that we sent the magazine to print on the Friday, while we were down at Americarna. Rather than come out with coverage a month later, we figured we’d do what is known as ‘holding a section’ — send the magazine in PDF format to the printer, minus the five pages for an Americarna spread, which would be designed on Sunday and sent to the printer on Monday. As a result, we got our Americarna coverage out nice and early. We’re no stranger to it — we did the same last Americarna, and last Beach Hop, and we’ve done it…

TORQUEBACK, NZV8 MAGAZINE, PO BOX 46,020, HERNE BAY, AUCKLAND 1147; EMAIL TORQUEBACK@V8.CO.NZ NON-STICK NONSENSE That Camaro [NZV8 Issue No. 130] is sick, probably the best car to ever be built in New Zealand, but what the hell was he thinking putting an auto into it? It’s not pro-touring with an auto — not to mention that the LS9s never came out with an auto. Amazing car, but what a waste. Marcus O’Leary You’ve got a valid point there, Marcus, but even with the auto box, it still, as you say, has to be one of the best local builds ever. If you ever get the chance to check it out in the flesh, we’re sure you’ll only like it even more, auto box or not. Cheers, Todd FATHER’S DAY DELIGHT…

EMAIL YOUR BUILDS TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ WE KNOW THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC CARS BEING BUILT OUT THERE, SO DON’T BE SHY — FLICK US AN EMAIL WITH A BIT OF A BLURB AND A FEW HIGH-RESOLUTION PICS OF WHAT YOU’RE UP TO. ONE PROJECT EACH MONTH WILL WIN A $100 VOUCHER FROM RESENE AUTOMOTIVE AND LIGHT INDUSTRIAL! ANOTHER MATAMATA MONSTER Matamata’s Rob Macaree has a Holden HZ ute in the build that could well become a burnout vehicle even wilder than last issue’s cover car. When Rob acquired the ute, it was the rolling body of an old drag car with no tubs, though that’s about to change. With a tube front end and backhalved chassis, it’s being done correctly, and Rob has managed to nail it as far as low…

For many car owners, what they do for a job plays a big part in their vehicle tastes and styling preferences. So, when you learn that Wellingtonian Aaron Beck, the owner of this ’73 Cuda, is a concept artist / designer for major movie productions, the car starts to make sense. Having been employed by Weta Workshop, contributing to productions such as Elysium, Avatar, and Mad Max, there’s no question about Aaron’s ability and vision — although they were never intended to showcase themselves in this form. Like many other car owners, Aaron purchased his car as a way to fulfil a dream — his was to own a muscle car, despite his not being mechanically inclined at the time. The already registered and warranted Cuda was for sale at…

EMAIL YOUR INFO TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ COLLETT RETURNS A week out from the recent IHRA Nationals, the internet was abuzz with photos of the Murray Buckingham / Glen Collett altered. The all-new car is a 50-50 partnership between the two, and, with their combination of fabrication and driving skills, it should be a formidable machine. Built over a period of around six months at Murray’s Buck Engineering in Nelson, the car runs a TFX engine with ex–Mark Vincent heads, a 14-71 high-helix supercharger, and a 44-amp magneto. Backing it up is a Hughes Powerglide and a Strange diff. Murray’s friendship with Top Alcohol stalwarts such as Bert King, Chris ‘CJ’ Johnston, Mark Vincent, and Kevin Gubb has come in handy with various parts of the build, and has seen the car…

From the moment the first Ford Mustangs hit the streets of America back in mid 1964, they were a sales success. Their compact — for the time — size, combined with decent performance right out of the box made them a hit with everyone, from the average Joe through to the high-performance lover. With the cars flowing off the production line by the thousand, it wasn’t long before owners tried to squeeze more performance from the original pony cars. Before long, a chap named Carroll Shelby got his hands on the cars and, direct from the factory, set about modifying them for maximum performance on the street, the drag strip, or the racetrack. Fast forward to 2014, and Ford released the sixthgeneration Mustang. Not only would it be the most…

Like every other person whose shed we’ve featured in NZV8, Ian Lind has been into cars and motorcycles for a decent portion of his life. When life dictated that he couldn’t keep at it with the motorcycles, he got into cars, and that culminated in his ownership of a Porsche 911 — something that earned him so many tickets that it just had to go! That’s where the story of Ian’s enviable collection begins. Around 12 years ago, while on the hunt for a more relaxed sort of vehicle, Ian decided an American classic was the order of the day, and that is when he came across his ’39 Chev coupe. The car is a genuine right-hand drive, assembled in Toronto, Canada — essentially, as close to New Zealand new…

The resort town of Hanmer Springs is an attractive year-round holiday destination for relaxation and self-indulgence. Some 90 minutes’ drive northwest of Christchurch, the small alpine village is known for horse trekking, mountain biking, jet boating, and bungy jumping. Now, it can also claim to be the venue for a great annual one-day car show — the brainchild of John Alexander and Fiona McLachlan. The idea for a car show in Hanmer came to the pair on the way home from Kaikoura a couple of years ago. With help from their car club, the Falcon Fairlane Car Club of Christchurch, which helps to host the event, they held the first show last year, with 218 vehicles. This year’s event was held at Hanmer Springs Domain, under overcast but warm skies.…

There’s a uniting factor among car enthusiasts, and it doesn’t matter what sort — whether you’re a hot rodder, drag racer, or even into Jap imports — it’s passion that keeps us on the same page, regardless of whether we have owned, currently own, or aspire to own our dream car. For a number of decades, Pete Holwerda fell firmly in the ‘aspire’ camp. He’d loved hot rods from an early age, but it was only around seven years ago that he held the keys to his first ‘proper’ car. He and his wife, Kaye, haven’t been messing around since then, though, now owning a selection of genuinely neat cars, of which this hot-rodded ’32 Ford Tudor must surely be the crowning jewel. The Tudor, which represents the realization of…

01 HANDLE WITH HOTCHKIS Hotchkis parts are now available in New Zealand through Eastern Automotive Performance Centre (EAPC). Whether you drive a muscle car, new or old vehicle, race on a circuit, or are after quality European handling upgrades, the US’s leading performance handling–development company will have the product for your ride. For chassis strengthening through to leaf and coil springs, shocks, sway bars, adjusters, and arms, get in touch with EAPC to find out more: ph. 0800 571 572 or visit eapc.co.nz. 02 NO MORE FLAT BATTERIES The future is here! HCB’s Battery-Guard and free Apple or Android app allows you to quickly and easily check your vehicle’s state of battery charge. The Battery-Guard Bluetooth transmitter is easy to install and allows for a real-time voltage reading to be…

CHECK THEMOTORHOOD.COM FOR REGULAR NEWS UPDATES CAMARO ZL1 REVEALED The 2017 Chev Camaro ZL1 was revealed in somewhat unusual fashion recently, but then again, the ZL1 isn’t your usual car. These cars pack a supercharged 6.2-litre LT4 engine cranking out an estimated 640hp, some 60hp more than the 2015 car of the same name. That horsepower is attached to GM’s muchawaited paddle-shifted 10-speed automatic transmission. Of course, if flappy paddles aren’t your thing, the ZL1 will also offer a standard sixspeed manual transmission with rev matching. The cars are much more than just a powerful engine in a Camaro shell, though, as the chassis have been tuned to suit, with Magnetic Ride suspension, an electronic LSD, and performance traction management. The cars roll on 20-inch forged aluminium wheels, which are…

EMAIL YOUR NEWS TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ SHITBOXES MAKE MONEY The first ever Shitbox Rally New Zealand was a huge success, raising an impressive $380K for cancer research. Fortified by cable ties, duct tape, and courage, 75 teams took to the winding roads of the North Island in cars worth less than $1700. The event kicked off by heading to Inglewood via the scenic route, before traversing dusty dirt roads, cascading river gorges, and towering mountain passes alongside Mount Ruapehu on the way to Woodville via Taumarunui and Mangamahu on day two. Air-vent glitter bombs marked the start of day three, with a scenic drive to Hastings via Akitio and Blackhead Beach. Day four saw the emergence of 150 superheroes, as the Shitbox Rally New Zealand left Hastings for winding gravel roads…

EMAIL YOUR INFO TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ APRIL 16–17 POWERCRUISE NO. 61 Powercruise returns to Hampton Downs for Powercruise No. 61, a three-day horsepower extravaganza. Put your street car or track car through its paces on track — whether it’s cruising, drifting, flag-drop drags, power skids, or burnouts, you will be hard-pressed to find an event that gives you more track time. Best of all, you can take passengers for on-track cruising. There’ll also be a whole bunch of off-track entertainment, including a show ’n’ shine and Miss Powercruise. To enter or find out more, visit powercruise.com MAY 8 WAIUKU STEEL ’N’ WHEELS FESTIVAL The ever-popular Steel ’n’ Wheels Festival is returning to Waiuku for 2016, with a line-up to satisfy the whole family, including hot rods, bikes, classic and vintage cars,…

The Beck Kustoms F132 is a bespoke race car concept that blends classic American hot rod and ’90s-era F1, in an agile and aggressive package — it is a potent mixing of worlds. “The F132 would first be designed in CAD, and feature a chromoly space-frame chassis, carbon-fibre body panels, and custom-fabricated suspension and components. A six-speed sequential transaxle would send power to the massive Goodyear race slicks, and the midmounted engine would be a modern Chevrolet Nascar-spec V8, to mirror — and amplify — the Chev small block traditionally found in many ’32 Ford hot rods. “As this thing is pretty small — the roof is about 43 inches high — and because I felt it should be a two seater to suit its hot rod roots, I’ve taken…

The way the recent drag racing season has been going, you’d be forgiven for expecting the PBs of just about every local drag racer to drop by a second-zone — if you were at the 2016 IHRA Nationals at Meremere Dragway, held over the weekend of March 12–13, you’d have seen little to change your mind. This was seen to by the likes of Michael Franklin’s ‘540GTO’ finally cracking into the seven-second zone and happily running there all weekend long — despite the team having struggled all season to get there. Likewise, Steve Milliken finally managed to ease the wild GSS Performance–sponsored Topolino altered into the sevens — a 7.91s at 161.15mph is a convincing indication of the insane machine’s performance potential. But the weekend’s really big news was to…

Before the monthly Concept Corner became a means for the owner of that issue’s cover car to explore the most mechanically outrageous depths of his or her mind, it was an in-house job. I’ve never actually done a Concept Corner, but, since Aaron Beck gave us his awesome concept sketches — which you can see on pages 34-37 — I was given the chance. Here goes! Since I love gassers and have a bit of a soft spot for old Holdens, let’s look into a street-legal Holden EH panel-van gasser. The whole front end could effectively be chopped off to make way for a customfabricated front clip. That would tie into a sixpoint roll cage and would not include any kick-up for the suspension mounting points. There would most certainly…

Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is primarily centred on two hitmen — Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega — tasked with retrieving a mysterious briefcase for underworld boss Marsellus Wallace. Winnfield is (usually) reserved and softly spoken, despite his cold effectiveness as a killer, while Vega is loud, brash, and somewhat obnoxious yet still rather likeable. Where is this all going? We’ll get there in just a second. A diehard rotor-head, Sam Longley has owned his share of big-power rotaries. Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying the enormous punch that rotaries pack when shoehorned into a tiny ’70s Japanese econobox. Sam’s crowning glory was his turbocharged 13B-powered RX-2, which graced the cover of our sister magazine NZ Performance Car for Issue No. 178, performing a tandem burnout alongside…

BATHURST UPDATE The planned trip to compete at the 2016 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is fast becoming a reality, and plenty of progress is being made behind the scenes. The current plan is for 25 Enzed Central Muscle Cars (CMC) vehicles to compete against 25 Enzed Touring Car Masters (TCM) cars. One of the big intentions is to add a little parity to the classes, with CMC cars historically being more powerful, and also to limit the top speed of the faster CMC cars down Bathurst’s legendary Conrod Straight, the aim being to ensure that a proposed 280kph top speed is enforced across the board. The plan currently is to impose an rpm limit, although, understandably, there are complications about how that would be managed. The alternative is to look…

Matamata Panelworks showcased its state of the art facilities and workmanship at its biennial open day on Sunday, March 13. From rather humble beginnings, Panelworks has grown to become one of New Zealand’s leading restorers of all things Mustang. Malcolm Sankey and his talented team also extend their creative expertise to other marques, from high-end customs to concours restorations. They are definitely not afraid to tackle anything when it comes to restoration projects, including exotics such as De Tomaso Panteras and Ferraris, many of which were on display. The open days have become a popular event for many, and a number of car clubs decided to make a club event of it; none left disappointed with what they saw. Panelworks undoubtedly has plenty of impressive projects underway, and many completed…