Innehållsförteckning för No 170 July 2019 från NZV8

Homologation is one hell of a rule; it’s birthed some of the world’s favourite models. After Ford captured the 1967 Trans-Am manufacturers’ championship, only to be dominated by Chevrolet with its Camaro the following year, 1969 saw the debut of an all-new version of the Mustang. However, the automaker needed a platform to carry the Hemi-headed 429ci V8 that it had developed specifically for Nascar. The resulting homologation-special Boss 429 Mustangs went on to become performance legends and sought-after collectables. Come 30 August to 1 September, the Boss Reunion 2019, at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in the US, will honour these and other limited-production Boss models. You can find out what makes these cars so special elsewhere in this issue, or, if interested, find out about the event at bossreunion.com.…

This year’s Hibiscus Rodders Beach Festival raised a record-breaking $60K for the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust. That’s a whopping $15K more than last year’s donations made from the proceeds of the three-day festival. Held on Auckland Anniversary weekend at Orewa, the event attracted hundreds of classic cars and hot rods from throughout the North Island, with thousands of spectators in attendance. Hibiscus Rodders club president Shane Bennett was thrilled with the result of the festival, which is now in its tenth year. “It just gets bigger and better each year,” he said. “Other clubs wanted to know how to get their events to [this] level — but they don’t have our ‘Pink Sharon’ [show coordinator Sharon Morris, who drives a pink ’59 Cadillac], her dedicated executive committee, and all the…

As we’ve reported in previous issues, the Teng Tools Grand National Rod and Custom Show is returning for 2019 at the CRC Speedshow, 20–21 July, at ASB Showgrounds, Auckland. Although the application process to enter your own vehicle has now closed — you’ve got to be quick! — you still have the opportunity to experience one of the best hot rod and custom car shows on the calendar. The event’s naming rights sponsor, Teng Tools, will be showcasing its latest in tool storage, tool tray systems, and much more, so that you can “Get Organised” when it comes to the shed at home — a concept that has been embraced by our own Emirates Team New Zealand. If that isn’t enough to tickle your fancy, Hot Rod Hall of Famer…

Last time we saw you, we were featuring your VZ Clubsport R8, back in Issue No. 145. We didn’t think you’d ever sell that car — what happened? Neither did I, but all good things must come to an end at some point. Unfortunately, it became a great dust collector — I took it a tad too far for a family car. It was a hard decision to sell it, but I had a huge hunger to head back into the boosted world and into something with a manual transmission. The GTS looks great, though. Knowing you, we’re guessing that it’s not stock under the hood either? It’s common to murder out black cars completely, so I decided to do the opposite; subtle hints of chrome and yellow work really…

Something special is slowly morphing in Jeff and Alvena Helm’s Invercargill garage. The ‘55 Chev was sourced from Washington state in the US 10 years ago, arriving as a teal blue project. Since then, Jeff has employed his metalworking skills, and the assistance of mate Daryl Wilson, to shave the handles. Under the almost pond-deep, wine metallic colour that gently merges to a deeper burgundy on the lower level, extended sills help to lower the vehicle’s profile. The eye-catching colour scheme was sprayed on by Dave Henry, who had already proved his talent on the Helms’ daily runner: their equally standout metallic gold ’66 Chevrolet Impala. “Dave put a dye coat over the top of it, and we love it. He called the colour ‘Hot Lips’, but, with the dye…

Steve and Rebecca Allan seem to have this custom car thing pretty well sorted. First up for the Canterbury-based couple came a Chev Sedan delivery, that, as you’d expect because they run a hot rod shop, was made to look better than new. Soon, however, they wanted something with more power, and they found exactly that in a blown ’32 Ford coupe. Things really couldn’t get much better from there — or so they thought, until their first child was born. We all know that three into two (seats) don’t go, and the coupe simply didn’t have enough room. Steve, thinking wisely, figured a solution that didn’t involve selling the coupe. He purchased an awesome Chev cab-over-engine (COE) ramp truck that the coupe could simply sit on the back of.…

Eight weeks. Yep, that’s right … eight whole weeks. Now, have a quick look at the pics on the next few pages and then say that again: “Eight short weeks.” Yes … Now, those of you who have completed an automotive project will know that that’s an achievement, while those of you haven’t, will quite possibly roll the old “Foose can do it in a week, I’ve seen it on TV” statement. Don’t panic, guys, we all know reality TV is an honest appraisal, so don’t feel bad while the rest of us collectively chuckle into our greasy, weld-splattered sleeves. Let me remind the naysayers: first, this is New Zealand; even in the most urgent of emergencies, we’re still three days away from the US when ordering necessities — and…

We mentioned last issue that hot off the back of running the quickest nitrous-assisted passes Australasia had ever seen, Barry Plumpton and crew were heading back to Australia right around the time of we were going to print. With his 959ci nitrous-assisted Camaro sitting trackside ready and waiting for him, those in the know were wondering how long it would take before Barry clocked a five-second pass. As it turns out, the answer was not long at all. Preparing to compete in the Pro Extreme class at Sydney Dragway’s Nitro Thunder event, the team dropped not one but two five-second passes, a 5.96 and a mind-blowing 5.88 at 240mph. The car’s now back in the shipping container that the team are working out of, and will be sent to Willowbank…

It’s equal parts ironic and fitting that Capital Rodders hosts its annual Horsepower Display and Swap Meet at a horse-racing track. Although, we think it’s fair to say that the event brings out a whole lot more horsepower than when the ponies are present. For the past few years, General Metal Recyclers (GMC) has come on board as the major sponsor for the event, and that, too, is fitting, with the amount of old metal changing hands (being recycled) throughout the day. The event’s location, Trentham Racecourse, is one of those places that’s awesome on a good day, and the definition of cold and horrible on one that’s not. The Capital Rodders team have struggled with their fair share of cold and horrible over the years, but, this time around,…

It just so happens that we do have a dream project hiding in the background,” states this month’s cover car owner, Steve Allan. What he’s talking about isn’t just your average Mustang or Camaro. Nor is it something a little left field, like his Oldsmobile; it’s something a whole lot rarer again, in the form of a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr. “I purchased a Tudor and a four-door Lincoln for some of the parts, as they have this cool waterfall centre console coming down from the centre of the dash to the floor — as if I would leave it that simple,” Steve laughs — but he’s serious. There’s no way, as the proprietor of Steve Allan Customs, that he would ever leave a car stock. Not even the beloved waterfall…

THE CHEVELLES AND EL CAMINOS The Chevelle and El Camino Owners NZ Facebook page threw the word out that they were looking to have a get together for some photos, so we decided we’d head along too and check it out. The Facebook page was started by Paul Ross, who imported a ’72 Chevelle back in 2011, having spotted one locally and fallen in love with it, despite wanting a Camaro at the time. “At that time, there appeared to be not a great deal of Chevelles visible in New Zealand, and, in reality, all most people talked about were Mustangs and Camaros. Kiwis did not realize the demand and popularity of the Chevelle in US, particularly the ’70 with the LS6 and 454 engines,” recalls Paul. “I can always…

WHAT LIES BENEATH We all know these days that just because a car isn’t wearing slick paint, it doesn’t mean that there’s not clever engineering under the skin. That’s exactly the case with Steve Allan’s Oldsmobile — as seen on the cover of this issue of NZV8. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a bunch of build photos that show the full extent of what’s going on underneath the car, and, while we’ve managed to run a few in print, we’ve thrown the whole lot at themotorhood.com for you to enjoy in all their glory. Search ‘Steve Allan’ to check them out. MIKE GUY … AGAIN We love Mike Guy’s Ford Bonus — it’s a different approach to a pickup and one that’s been built almost entirely…

With the Australian lion, Holden, having been put down, and its designated performance-vehicle partner HSV left without a mainline, it was only a matter of time before a replacement was found within the GM family. That was, of course, the Chev Camaro, and HSV has recently confirmed the maximum power and torque figures for its right-hand-drive New Zealand–bound Camaro ZL1 supercar, as well as how much it will cost you to own one locally. HSV has been given the all-clear to convert the ZL1 range, which will be made up of both automatic- and manual-transmission options. Peak power will be a confirmed 477kW, with torque measuring in at 881Nm. HSV managing director Tim Jackson stated: “As a brand synonymous with higher performance, these numbers are sure to inspire GM, HSV,…

Pay attention, people. This one’s important. The LVVTA has identified via metallurgical testing that Superbell’s one-piece, early Ford-V8-style (1928–1948) replica stub axles/spindles (part No. 1104) are made from ductile cast iron. It has stated: “LVVTA is aware of a number of ductile cast iron spindle failures both in New Zealand and other countries, and due to the high cyclic loadings on these critical components, LVVTA has taken the step of disallowing the LVV Certification of all one-piece ductile cast iron spindles, or other critically-loaded suspension components that are produced from ductile cast iron, irrespective of the manufacturer.” What’s more is that, unfortunately, not everyone will be aware that they’re running these cast-iron spindles, as they have also been mistakenly marketed by major US website Speedway Motors as being manufactured from…

Undoubtedly, the dream for many of us is to treat some of the best roads in the country like our own personal playgrounds, without the risk of harm to the general public and with Johnny Law giving you the thumbs up from the sideline. That’s exactly what Targa is; it’s said to be the ultimate road race, and it’s celebrating 25 years of doing it! Targa is a five-day tarmac road race with a focus on serious driver’s skill. At the head of the pack are full-competition, highly modified rally cars piloted by driver and co-driver teams, racing against the clock and offering no quarter to the competition. The second category is the Targa Tour. These cars are generally unmodified, high-performance road cars, and MotorSport New Zealand (MSNZ) safety rules…

When Mark Jarmey purchased his 1986 low-kilometre VK Commodore, there was no chance that it was going to keep its straight-six engine. The original plan was that Mark and son Ryan, an experienced VK builder, would give it a quick tidy-up and install a 304 and T5, which the pair already owned. However, over the months, the plans changed considerably, and the pair purchased a low-mileage LSA and six-speed auto 6L90E trans from a Cadillac CTS-V to install instead. While the 6.2-litre supercharged LSA motor is certainly no slouch in factory form, offering 557hp and torque to match, the guys already have a cam upgrade and a few other tweaks planned to bump the power figure into the stratosphere. To fuel the new combo, a fuel cell has been added…

▸ 9 JUNE 2019 WINTER DRAG WARS MEREMERE DRAGWAY, MEREMERE Featuring some of New Zealand’s quickest street-legal machines, the Winter Drag Wars series is one of the few events in the country in which drivers — with a current licence, warrant, and rego — can compete in anything from their high-powered street car to their nana’s old Corolla. The event is split into the full range of classes, and you must have a helmet and a minimum of a restricted licence to drive. All classes, except King of the Street, must run Department of Transport–approved street-legal drag tyres only — race slicks are strictly prohibited. Priced at $45 a pop to race, with spectators paying $15. Gates will open at 10am, with racing to kick off at 11am. Visit meremeredragway.co.nz…

Tauranga’s Mike Guy is one of those blokes who always seems to have a car on the go, and, over the years, he has owned — and usually built — a mind-blowing number of cool ones, starting with a ’41 Ford pickup at just 17 years of age. The pickup was followed by a plethora of vehicles, with the usual V8 Holdens plus some Pommie stuff: a couple of V8 Vauxhall Victors, a V8 Capri, and a scratch-built V8-powered A40 pickup with the tunnel-rammed 327 from one of his Mk3 Z-cars. Mike’s pretty fond of Chevs too, having owned a ’65 Impala, a ’79 Camaro Z28, and ’55 and ’57 Bel Airs, along with the ’56 Chev 150 he still owns. There have also been a few US Fords, including…

What did everyone get up to this Easter? We’re guessing that at least some part of your weekend would have included overindulging in some chocolate-covered treats. But if you were staying or living in the Canterbury region over the long weekend, you would have hopefully taken in one of the three national shows held in Christchurch over the Easter break. That’s right, the Garden City played host to not only the Qualitat VW Nationals and the Zephyr and Zodiac International Convention but also to the NZHRA Street Rod Nationals. Riccarton Racecourse was the venue for the 2019 Classic Cover Insurance NZHRA Street Rod Nationals. Made up of 14 clubs, Zone Nine (Canterbury) members played host for the event, with many activities arranged throughout the weekend. In the past 30 years,…

Janelle Lawson was just seven years old when she got her first drag car. Her dad came home with a junior dragster and asked her if she’d like to race — despite her not knowing what it was. Following a few test runs in a commercial area, where she learnt the basics, Janelle hit the track. With a 125cc Loncin engine, the car was only capable of a 17-second eighth-mile pass, but Janelle’s first pass was far from being that successful. “I ran 27 seconds over the eighth-mile, hit the bank trying to turn, and got to see the inside of the ambulance for a scraped knee,” she laughs. Now aged 20, Janelle recalls that she was happy to jump straight back in. Her desire to go quicker was met…

Benj Wilkinson is late, almost an hour late. The rest of his mates — a group of eight — have been milling around waiting for him at the brand-new Colin Dale Park, located near Auckland Airport. This is the home of New Zealand’s all-new Superthriller Jetsprint, a unique adrenaline speed-buzz with a twist: you turn up with your mates and get behind the wheel. There are other purpose-built lake courses for jet-sprint boats in New Zealand, but they have always been strictly for competitive racing teams with their own high-powered boats. Superthriller changes all that, letting almost anyone 13 years or older take control of one of Superthriller’s jet-sprint boats — 100hp of aquatic power — and experience thrashing it around its purpose-built lake course. Just like the pros, there…

Perfect autumn weather brought a large range of cars and people to one of the biggest ever Hot Rod and Classic Car Festival events, hosted by the Marineland Street Rod and Kustom Klub. The autumn weather provided a great backdrop for taking in the beauty of hundreds of cars. Kiwi speed component pioneers Dave Chung and Graham Berry were special guests for the event, and a book on the cars that they had worked on over the years saw plenty of bids when auctioned for charity. The big gate take also saw charitable causes gain some much-needed support through the club’s generosity, and, while the swap meet was a similar size to previous years, the Sandy Road venue was bursting with hot rods and muscle cars. Bikes and vintage cars,…

Trying to create a calendar of events for the coming season is no small task for the club, with a number of high-profile meetings that the class could attend as well as a number of smaller club-type meetings on the cards. Add to that the desire to space rounds a few weeks apart to give drivers and crews the time they need, as well as trying to race at as many different tracks as possible, and things get tricky. The 2018–2019 season ticked all those boxes, though, so that format has become the template for the coming season. However, exactly which events that means that the class will race at remains up in the air, with event dates still being set. What has been confirmed is that the club will…

Low-production special editions have been exciting the car world since day dot, and, back in the early ’80s, a small team of Ford engineers and designers set about reinventing the Mustang, with a focus on handling, as opposed to straight-line speed. The result was a European-influenced sports coupe powered by a turbocharged-and-intercooled 2.3-litre, four-cylinder engine known as the ‘Mustang SVO’. Nearly 40 years later, Ford is calling on that experience to launch a whole new line of current-generation Mustangs. While there is already a 2.3-litre EcoBoost-powered Mustang that’s good for 310hp and 351lb·ft of torque — we took a closer look at it back in 2016 — the upcoming SVO-inspired iteration will be powered by a unique variant built by Ford Performance in Valencia, Spain. It was previously fitted to…

Some social-media users may have seen the rather confusing and concerning ‘message’ below, relating to collector vehicles and modified vehicles: “Blind implementation of percentage of electric cars to be on the roads in the next 7 years to replace ‘ older fuel burning vehicles’ The leader of the Green Party (coalition partner) mandating removal of older cars from NZ roads that dont meet CURRENT vehicle safety standards, Sub Section 4a of the proposed GCT that catergorically states ‘Collector Cars’ will be taxable on profit generated. Transport Minister Twyfords statement at the 2018 RTF [Road Transport Forum] Conference that “modified vehicles have no place in NZ” … and thats just the start.” I was made aware of this message by a number of people within the car community in New Zealand…

TENG TOOLS MUSCLE GARAGE SEASON FOUR Episode 3 — Sunday, 2 JuneEpisode 4 — Sunday, 9 JuneEpisode 5 — Sunday, 16 JuneEpisode 6 — Sunday, 23 JuneEpisode 7 — Sunday, 30 JuneEpisode 8 — Sunday, 7 JulyEpisode 9 — Sunday, 14 JulyEpisode 10 — Sunday, 21 July Our smash-hit TV show, Teng Tools Muscle Garage, is back for a fourth season! It will already have started by the time you read this, but you can catch episode four on Sunday, 9 June on Three’s CRC Motorsport. That’s 10 sweet, sweet episodes of New Zealand’s coolest V8-powered cars, events, sheds, and workshops, airing every Sunday. Don’t sweat it if you miss an episode, because we will upload the full episodes to The Motorhood once they’ve aired, so you can catch up…

The trip wasn’t purely for pleasure, though, with the main goal being to meet up with Mike and Jim Ring at Ringbrothers and run through the build plans for Murph’s 1969 Dodge Charger. That’s right, the very same car we featured back in Issue No. 73 is now being completed by none other than the legendary Ringbrothers! The plan to ship the car to Ringbrothers’ Wisconsin facility came about after Murph laid eyes on the ‘Recoil’ Chevelle (NZV8 Issue No. 118) that Ringbrothers was responsible for. “That’s one of my favourite cars of all time, along with the ‘Defector’ Charger,” Murph explains. Defector is a 1969 Charger, also built by Ringbrothers, but, rather than the wild styling of Recoil, Defector’s huge list of modifications has been performed to look almost…

The name ‘The Krysler Shop’ may make you think that the business specializes in Chrysler vehicles, but that’s not the case. In fact, the company is a differential specialist, but the Krysler team also build turnkey cars and provide a huge range of fabrication services. Recently, they’ve whipped up this awesome Ford F1 chassis for a customer. It uses the original C-channel rails but incorporates some clever custom cross members and a Jaguar front end. A custom four-bar set-up has been slid under the rear, where you’ll now find a Currie Street Rod diff housing with 31-spline large-bearing axles and Ford Explorer disc brakes. The ride height, which indicates how it’ll be once completed, is care of a Slam Specialties airbag set-up. As nice as the engineering is, don’t expect…

In the history of the world, 1969 was a big year. On 20 July we heard the famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, indicating a momentous achievement in the space race. However, back when Nasa was still in the planning stages of the Apollo 11 mission, Detroit’s big three, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, were equally frantic, planning things of their own. Let’s not forget that this was all before the computer age, and manufacturers were always working a few years ahead of the market. Each manufacturer would also have been keeping a close eye on the opposition, to try and predict what it would come up with next — and perhaps it was due to this that there are similarities among the…

Fishing out of Bluff, Rex McIntosh reckons that he’s had it pretty lucky. He’s recently retired from a tough industry, with its challenges graphically portrayed in the recent television series Million Dollar Catch, in which he was one of seven Bluff captains whose exploits were covered. However, he’s now sold the boat and gets to spend more time on dry ground. Rex and wife Debbie moved into a new home in Invercargill a few years ago, and, once that was done, there was a need for a garage for their Ford Galaxie and Ford Falcon — along with room to rebuild and modify them, of course. “I guess it’s always pretty good having a missus who plays with cars,” Rex says with a grin. Their Invercargill home sometimes experiences blustery…

There’s something about the look of a lead sled built right that just oozes cool. Whether it’s a Mercury, a Hudson, or something similar, a well-proportioned lead sled is hard to beat as a street cruiser. That cool look doesn’t come easily though; builders have to have some serious-sized kahunas to slice and dice the bodywork of their chosen vehicle to get the lines bang on. The cars conjure up a vision of tattooed, leather-jacket-wearing greasers, but this 1949 Mercury sedan came from someone a touch different. Current owner Richard Spencer let slip that it actually belonged to an 80-year-old by the name of Bill Dean, who lived in Sacramento, California, when Richard took ownership. Part of the appeal of the car was that, despite all its body modifications —…

Looking back now, Brent and Sam Early’s Camaro was almost ahead of its time — or, at least, at the pointy end of builds of its style. The car was the result of a successful father-and-son bonding project, with both having input into it. The plan was to build the second-gen Camaro with the effort that people were putting into first-generation cars. The pair did that and a whole lot more. With flushed windscreens, 10-inch-wide rear wheels, and flawless paint, the car looked the business, and it went just as well. A GM ZZ502 crate motor was slotted under the hood, backed by a 700R4 transmission, and sat on the ground thanks to airbag suspension. After having it on the road for a couple of years, the lads sold it…

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