Innehållsförteckning för No 188 January 2021 från NZV8

Whenever I’m socializing outside of the shed and electric vehicles (EVs) come up in conversation, people more often than not wrongly assume that I would be against the idea; you know, being a petrolhead and all. But in reality, I’m all for some EVs, especially in retrofits for daily drivers. Now, don’t go setting a match to the bottom of this magazine just yet — just hear me out. My dream daily is a late ’70s K5 Blazer. I’d own and be driving one right now if I could just find the right example (call me). Yes, I know it’s not the most practical daily, but I really don’t care! I don’t need it to be fast, I just want it to tow stuff and get me to and from…

The Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival is on again in January and organizers are pushing to make it as big as ever In the past 26 years, the event has grown from its humble beginnings as a small National Street Rod Association show of only 40 cars and about 300 visitor cars, occupying a small area of the Kumeu Showgrounds, to becoming so big it almost swallows the neighbouring Kumeu township. The 26th running of the festival, to be held on 16–17 January 2021, will be no different, with an expected 3500 cars and 100 bikes bringing around 25,000 people to the show, which now occupies the entire 16-hectare showgrounds site to capacity. More than 350 swap sites, 120 trade stands, and more than 25 food and drink…

While you could call it a comeback, that would really be underselling the extent of the work that’s gone into Matt Elliott’s jaw-dropping ’79 C10 since it last graced these pages. Sure, it’s still the same vehicle that wowed people a decade ago, but in reality there’s very little left of it in the guise in which it graced the cover of NZV8 back in 2010. While Matt never intended the rebuild to take as long as it did, plenty of good has come of the situation. If he’d given it a quick couple of changes as he’d intended, it probably wouldn’t have been long before he’d have done a few more, and then a few more, and it would have taken longer and no doubt cost more. In the…

As expected, jaws hit the floor when Roger and Tania Binnema unloaded their new bullet from the trailer at the Masterton Motorplex Test and Tune on 10 October. The 2018 Camaro — built by Larry Jeffers Race Cars — is undoubtedly one of the finest race cars ever to hit New Zealand soil, and as such there was much scrutiny from onlookers. The crew weren’t phased by the attention, being well prepared and knowing they weren’t there to set the world alight but rather to get a baseline of the vehicle’s performance and shake down any issues. The small block–powered car didn’t fail to impress, running four passes over the weekend, with the slowest 60-foot time still being an impressive 1.11 seconds. Happy with the half-track performance, they made one…

Blowers sitting miles high out the bonnet are nothing new here in New Zealand; we rarely go an issue without at least one featuring in these pages. However, seeing one bolted to the top of an LS-powered Commodore is rare — in fact, at the time this project was started it was the first in New Zealand. The 2003 SV8 is owned by Kane Rako who, after a few years of ownership, decided he wanted to go blown and enlisted the help of his Uncle Shane and local blower specialist Al Shadwick of Als Blower Drives to undertake the project. A billet 6-71 now sits atop the LS1 with a pair of Quick Fuel carbs and filters completing that old-school look. It might not have been an easy conversion, but…

Rodney Heads, of Heads Racing Supplies fame, has been the man behind many impressive Torana builds, and has played crew chief for just as many. That’s set to change this season, though, as Rodney has done a deal that has seen him take possession of the iconic John Rae–built A9X that he’s set to drive himself. The car was built way back in 1996 in a no-expense-spared fashion, based around a factory race shell. While it’s not been on track for a while, the 355ci Holden motor is still good for somewhere in the vicinity of 600hp. While that’s less than some of the competition, being a factory-based engine does give the car a 100kg weight break, meaning that with Rodney in the hot seat it’s tipping the scales at…

LITTLE DID HE KNOW OF THE JOURNEY HE WAS STARTING AND OF THE DRAMAS THAT WERE ABOUT TO ENSUE Like many car builds here, the first step was taken via a local online auction site. From what he saw, Stuart Pankhurst thought he’d found the perfect muscle car. The big Aussie coupe was just what he was looking for, from the ‘sawn-off’ front to the curved and voluptuous rear flanks, it ticked all the right boxes for the Christchurch local. A bid was made and soon after the ’76 XB Falcon Hardtop was his. Little did he know of the journey he was starting and of the dramas that were about to ensue during a build that took way longer than it should have! Transport was arranged to ship the…

As a kid Jason recalls playing in the FJ while his father and Terry Paterson chopped it up and installed a 12-point roll cage, 355 SBC / TH350, Falcon eight-inch, and some very wild mods, including a two-door conversion, extensive roof chop, and a body shortened by six inches. Street legal at the time, it was sold to Paul Cathro in ’89. Paul campaigned it for a season before undertaking a huge rebuild. This included a one-piece front end and tube frame chassis but it was never completed. The car had sat dormant since ’91 and Jason wanted it back in the family. “I’ve always dreamt of buying the FJ back as it really means the world to me. I asked if he’d sell it a few times but he…

On the back of his third Supercars Championship, Scotty Mac has released his very own signature Mustang, teaming up with Herrod Performance in Australia, which build special editions for Ford Australia, and it looks as if it was actually his dad who in a very Kiwi/Aussie way got the whole deal off the ground with Herrod while they were ‘hanging out’ at the race track. The SM17 special edition is more than just a Mustang GT with some fancy decals and black wheels — it’s track-tuned, having completed hundreds of laps in testing, and features adjustable sway bars and reconfigured coilovers as well as Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres in 275/35 and 305/30, sitting on 20x9.5s and 20x11s. The thing makes bonkers power too, with 775hp and 598lb·ft on tap…

One of the wildest show rods built here in New Zealand in recent years has been offered up for sale locally before being listed in the US. Drawing inspiration from the likes of what Ed Roth and George Barras were doing with custom bubble tops in the ’60s, ‘Little Menace’ is a one-of-a-kind custom T, built by talented local young gun Luke Ennion. The car was featured on the cover of our 2014 Hot Rod Special, and is currently on show in the Hamilton Classics Museum. With a growing business and no room to store his own projects, it’s hoped that it will sell here in New Zealand rather than be shipped off to the US. “It’s one of those things. I don’t really want to see it leave the…

While there have been plenty of questions surrounding the future of the BNT V8s category for some time, they have now all been answered. The new format is set to welcome one and all onto the grid this season as long as the vehicle is powered by a naturally aspirated V8 and has a bodyshell that is post 2000. Both coupe and saloon body styles are eligible, with SuperTourer, TLX, Mitchell Xtreme, TTV8-TA2e, BMW Open V8s, and Howe GTs all listed, although anything that meets the very loose rules can front up — with the exception of GT-type sports cars. It’s an open book for such things as gearbox, suspension, chassis, brakes, and aero, so potentially we could see some very fast local ‘hot rods’ enter the mix. One of…

This profession — automotive media, that is — is always full of surprises. Sometimes they’re good surprises and other times, well, it can be a bit of a shitshow. You might get an assignment to shoot a car or event, then when you turn up, before you’ve even pulled out the camera gear, you realize that it’s going to be a complete bust. You were sold on the promise of a fine single-malt scotch, and you end up being handed a shopping bag full of dinged-up Billy Mavericks from one those two-dollar loose-cans bins at Liquorland. However, for those few rare disappointments in this business, things can also swing the other way and you find yourself standing in front of a car that has you saying, “Well, shit — would…

If you’re an Aucklander then you’ll likely have visited The Strand in Takapuna, a prime piece of beachfront that even on a weekday is a hustle and bustle of beachgoers, shoppers, families, and business workers going about their day. In 2019, the area was transported back to the ’60s and ’70s for one day with a retro show. The second Repco Takapuna Rocks, in 2020, had the odds stacked against it; with the ongoing restrictions of Covid-19, it was touch and go for quite some time, but thankfully the stars aligned and the show was able to go ahead — in perfect conditions, we might add. It was a real taste of summer to kick off the local show season, and all in the name of charity — again supporting…

Starting off the season with a non-points round was a stark departure from how Napa Auto Parts Central Muscle Cars (CMC) usually works. But in this Covid-affected year, we should all know to expect the unexpected! The non-points round, which took place at Hampton Downs over the weekend of 30 October–1 November, and saw a decent field front up, despite the less-than-race-friendly weather forecast. The event was also a great way to meet and greet with key personnel from new class sponsor Napa and show the company exactly what makes CMC so impressive. Friday of the event saw three successful and dry test sessions take place, where Hugh Gardiner, Angus Fogg, and Shane Holland all showed they will be ones to contend with. Saturday started off with a long morning’s…

What becomes abundantly clear the moment you look at Matt’s C10 on the cover is that the dude clearly knows how to execute a plan right down to the smallest details. It’s more than just the big-ticket items; it’s all those finer details that can elevate any project to the elite level. However, this is not all that surprising considering Matt lives and breathes this level of vehicle via his social media fap-feast we all know as ‘Low Fast Famous’. When you’re soaking in builds day and night, your brain is a noise of dream projects, so the worst thing that could happen is if someone like NZV8 asks to pick just one. Matt was quick to point out that “This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do”,…

When hunting for something as desirable as a ’68 Charger it can be a painful process finding the right shell, as Invercargill’s Sam Allen found out. After viewing multiple uncompiled rust buckets, he eventually settled on an uncompiled rust bucket from Christchurch — although the true extent of the project was not revealed until he got it home to Invercargill. Long before Gavin Harris had imported it to New Zealand to use as a parts car for another project, it was actually raced as a Nascar and still wore a few hallmarks of this, including the tube frame front end and a few aero improvements such as the Coronet grille and filled-in rear windscreen recess. Sam, who runs Biff’s Mechanical and Restoration, has replaced almost the entire car from about…

Special vehicle builder Hennessy is already planning to build the ultimate Broncos — even before the model has hit the showrooms. Only 30 Velociraptor V8 Broncos are planned to be built. They will be based on the same premise Hennessy has found success with with the Raptor. The Velociraptor Bronco will use the same 750hp supercharged 305ci Coyote package they developed for the Raptors, as well as custom body styling, an off-road suspension package, and with very little left the way it was when departing the Ford production line, which explains the price tag of US$225K. Of the 30 being built, it seems one is already earmarked: “Over the past two years, we have built over 70 Gen 2 Ford Raptors for our customers by removing the EcoBoost V6 and…

In case you missed it, Repco Muscle Garage has returned to the air on Three’s CRC Motorsport, airing every Sunday afternoon. Shed raids, car features, and event coverage, the show brings New Zealand’s best in V8-related goodness to the small screen right when you’re kicking back on the couch on a Sunday afternoon. In coming episodes, we’ll also have some extensive Beach Hop coverage if you can’t make it. Repco Muscle Garage could not happen without the support of Repco New Zealand, Meguiar’s, Rislone, and Mount Shop Ltd. EPISODE EIGHT: SUNDAY, 6 DECEMBER EPISODE NINE: SUNDAY, 13 DECEMBER EPISODE 10: SUNDAY, 20 DECEMBER…

Finally we have an answer on what will replace the Commodore in Supercars, with Triple Eight Racing currently undertaking development work on the Chev Camaro ZL1s bodywork under license for Supercars. GM is backing the move, with GM president Mark Reuss stating, “We at GM are thrilled to continue an involvement in Supercars in Australia and New Zealand.” He continued by saying, “Chevy Camaro will be an exciting addition to the track, and we have every confidence Triple Eight will ensure the race-going version will be a faithful representation of the road-going Camaro ZL1’s DNA.” This will slot over the new Gen 3 chassis, which is also currently under development, with this news now making sense of some of the changes that were made to the Gen 3 roll-cage main…

Around this time each year the automotive industry casts its eyes toward the bright lights of Vegas and over 100,000 industry folk venture there in search of the next best thing. If you’re a brand you want to make a splash, this is the place. If you’re a car builder wanting to make a name, this is the biggest platform in which to showcase. To put into perspective just how big the SEMA Show is, the space it commands every November inside the Las Vegas Convention Center would fill our biggest venue — the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland — not once, not five or even 10 times, but 17 times! So what happens to all that when a certain pandemic shuts borders and puts restrictions on events? For SEMA, organizers…

Among the newcomers to the class this season is a car that stands out from the rest, not because of what it’s running, but what it isn’t. That car is Paul Burnet’s 1972 Holden Torana GTR XU-1. ‘Pinky’, as it’s known, has been in Paul’s possession since 2006, when it was purchased as a road car minus engine. Following an 18-month build, its first race was at Eastern Creek in Sydney back in 2007. Rather than transplant a V8 into it, he stuck with what the XU1s were known for: straight-six power. The worked 212ci six runs a full-forged rotating assembly along with the expected triple carbs and is backed with an M21 Pfitzner dogbox. Coilovers all round with custom roll bars and a Watt’s linkage help to make the…

US television shows have long been the staple diet of the impressionable youth of the world. I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s on a diet of The Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, and The A-Team, to name a few. Many of these programmes drew on the ‘American dream’ of money, good guys, bad guys, and the trappings of an American lifestyle. It was only natural for cars to make up a big part of many of these programmes, whether it be excessive driving, police car chases, or car smashes, epitomized in the classic film The Blues Brothers and, of course, The Dukes. Product placement was in its infancy, but producers were quick to grab hold of some corporate cash and incentives for famous brands to make their way…

Dean’s clearly a man who likes to keep busy, handling nearly all aspects of his projects himself; it’s always a juggling act as to which one to focus his limited spare time on, but the end is close. He has owned the ’37 coupe since the age of 19, and undertook the first rebuild soon after purchasing, when it was tunnel rammed and repainted. That was enough to nab it third in the People’s Choice award at the third Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Show. It stayed in that guise for a decade before rust bubbles prompted another rebuild. That was 12 years ago, and since that time almost everything has been changed — Dean admits things got carried away. Bodywise everything that could be shaved has, the doors…