Innehållsförteckning för January 2022 från Street Machine

DURING daylight hours, Los Angeles local Steve (Hamlin) wrenches on Porsches. But when the sun goes down, so does the gas pedal, as he races around the winding hills of Mulholland Drive in his hotted-up Porsche Speedster (actually a replica; it seems that cutting up a genuine 356 was taboo even in 1981). You see, Steve wants to be the king of the mountain and will stop at nothing to earn that title. He does, however, get mildly sidetracked when he meets Tina (Van Valkenburgh), an up-and-coming recording artist. Tina is being produced by Steve’s good friend, housemate and former Mulholland racer Roger (Cox), and singing tunes written by Buddy (Bottoms), Steve’s other housemate and current Mulholland racer. Your challenge as the viewer, then, is to make sense of dual…

IF Street Machine is the bible of our sport, then Summernats must be Christmas, Bathurst and the Olympics rolled into one. There are stacks of other great events on offer around the country these days, but the Street Machine Summernats remains the biggest, wildest and most diverse of them all. If you want to immerse yourself in the full gamut of Australian custom car culture over four days, there’s nothing else like it. The bloke we have to thank for it is Anthony Robert ‘Chic’ Henry. Chic founded the Summernats in 1988 and drove it like Brocky until 2009, when it was sold to new owners Andy Lopez, Dom McCormack and Andrew Bee. Now 75, Chic has remained involved with the event ever since, crowning each new Grand Champion and…

WHILE Victorians twiddled their thumbs through yet another lockdown in September, the Bright Rod Run was officially called off. The disappointment from prospective participants was palpable, especially in the wake of 2020’s non-running. But as the state emerged from its shackles in late October, the Rod Run faithful were making their own plans. There would be no show ’n’ shine or prizes at the unofficial 2021 Bright Rod Run, just hundreds of enthusiasts with an eye to get their cruise on. Despite predictions of nasty weather, from the first Friday of November cars started rolling into the booked-out tourist town in north-eastern Victoria. By the next day, Bright’s main street was packed in a stunning display of quality metal. Datsuns and rotary Mazdas mingled with traditional rods, American barges, iconic…

WE TRULY live in a golden age for our hobby. Making big power has never been cheaper, and having one-off parts fabricated is easier than ever thanks to computers. But there still is a deep-seated love among street machiners for the scene of 30-40 years ago, when petrol was cents in the dollar and street cars had attitude for days. Fred De Fazio grew up during this period, and it stamped a BFG tread pattern all over his DNA, as evidenced by this LX Torana he’s just completed. “From the age of 16, my brothers and I were always interested in street muscle cars, with many Friday nights spent watching or drag racing at Calder Park,” Fred explains. “I saw many Aussie muscle cars in our driveway over the years,…

SUMMERNATS 3 ROB Beauchamp nailed Top Street Machine Overall for the third straight year, but he had to contend with an incredible newcomer in the form of Ron Barclay’s HQ Holden. The mild but incredibly detailed ute offered an intriguing alternative to the pro street formula.…

SUMMERNATS 6 DESPITE being held in the middle of a recession, Summernats 6 was healthy-as, with 1900 entrants and 90,000 punters through the gates! On the downside, some ratbag behaviour during the Supercruise saw that most excellent part of the ’Nats canned – only to return many years later as the daytime-only City Cruise. This was also the year that pyrotechnics guru Steve Courtney blew up a Volvo on New Year’s Eve to the delight of the crowd – some of whom were inspired to vandalise more Swedish Taxis outside the event!…

SUMMERNATS 9 SUMMERNATS 9 was a quiet year in terms of Elite debuts – something that would bounce back in a big way for ’Nats 10 – with John Portelli’s ’32 and John Riskas’s ’55 Chev being the big two new cars on the scene. The Grand Champion driving events were a sight to behold, with heavy hitters like Howard Astill in the Pioneer XA coupe, Darryl McBeth in his FJ and Mark Sanders’s HK all having a red-hot shot at the sword. But Peter Fitzpatrick won the day with his FC Holden, aided by a superb third outright performance in the motorkhana.…

MARY Lee’s automotive affliction eventually led to a gig as Street Machine’s Digital Content Manager, overseeing our website output. That day job supports her habit of piloting a bunch of neat rides. For the past two decades, she’s spent most weekends fanging a 1984 Alfa GTV6 (pictured below) around twisty tracks throughout Victoria. And while her enviable, Tuxedo Black VC Brock Commodore is a more recent purchase, her love of the early Brockies has been a long-term affair. Tell us about the VC Brock that got away. I always loved early Brock Commodores, and I nearly bought a white VC Brock as a daily 20 years ago, but at the time it was too much money for what it was. If only I knew what would happen to their prices!…

TROY LAWRENCE EH HOLDEN “MY 1964 EH Special, affectionately known as ‘The General’, has had a full tear-down resto and is dedicated to my late pop, Wesley Thomas Moore. He was the backbone of my love for classic cars, as I spent most of my childhood in his shed restoring old army Jeeps and Ariel motorcycles with him. I became inspired to restore my own vehicle since his passing in 2001, so it brings me great pride to present my car, which has taken me close to nine years to restore. It runs a Ricky Steffens 192ci Holden red six-cylinder with a 470 Holley Avenger carb, backed by a Trimatic gearbox and 2200rpm stall converter. A VS diff has been cut and shortened to fit. It originally had a sunroof,…

ONE of the biggest drawcards at Street Machine Summernats is the Elite Hall unveilings, where the public gets to lay eyes on incredible new creations for the first time. And the line-up of Elite-level debutants at Summernats 34 is set to be one for the books. “This year’s Great Meguiar’s Uncover is by far the biggest unveiling of brand-new cars we’ve ever had, anywhere in Australia,” says ’Nats chief steward Owen Webb. “There’ll be over 20 cars on the Friday night, and it’s so big that we’re having to bump everyone in over the preceding two nights. Even though we have so many cars, we still want to make it really special, because it’s such a big deal for these people. We’ve been working really hard on that behind the…

I’VE ALWAYS BUILT RACE CARS, BUT I ALWAYS KNEW I COULD BUILD A SHOW CAR. THAT’S WHY I BUILT A SHOW CAR THAT COULD RUN SEVENS! IF CARS could talk, Jason Mansweto’s 1969 Falcon would have an epic tale to tell. Those of you unfamiliar with 2ENIL8’s history may want to cast a quick eye over the sidebar on page 41. But if you’re already across this XW’s backstory and thinking that what you see here is just the old 2ENIL8 freshened up, you’re in for a few surprises! Jason’s XW is now a mix of concours contender, Elite showstopper, jaw-dropping pro streeter and insane seven-second strip terror. “If Ford Australia ever offered a drag pack, that’s what I wanted it to look like,” Jason says. Let’s start with the…

I LOVE THE 80S PRO STREET LOOK. I’M A FAN OF STOCK COLOURS ON CARS, TUBBED REAR ENDS WITH BIG REAR TYRES, AND SKINNY FRONTS THERE has been plenty of doom and gloom in the mass media of late, with predictions that petrol-powered cars are done and soon we’ll all be forced to drink tofu lattes in our electric vehicles on the way to jazzercise appointments. But don’t despair, because rad cats like Justin Hunt are out there dutifully turning out righteously stout streeters like this ’68 HK Premier. Supercharged and super-clean, the car was put together based on solid old-school principles. “I love the 80s pro street look,” Justin says. “I’m a fan of stock colours on cars, tubbed rear ends with big rear tyres, and skinny fronts.” As…

FROM an early age, Jamie Skews was steered towards an appreciation for Aussie muscle by his parents. “I was born into it,” he says. “My old man had a bit of everything: an HT Monaro; an XW GT; hatchback Toranas. I’ve had Commodores, XYs, HXs and Monaros, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Falcon hardtops; they’ve got a nice big arse you can fit fat tyres under.” Too right! This particular XA has been living in Jamie’s shed for about eight years, but it hasn’t always looked quite so magnificent. “I was at a job in western Brisbane and saw the hardtop sitting in a backyard,” he says. “I knocked on the door and asked about it, but old mate said he was going to do it up.…

BACKYARD cricket, lunch down the RSL, a stubby cooler gift and someone – usually Dad – having one too many. Not all Father’s Days have to be this way. Instead, Queenslanders can head to Lakeside Park, north of Brisbane, for a packed day of cruising, eighth-mile drags and spectacular metal on show at the All Aussie Father’s Day, the track’s largest themed day of the year. The one main rule is that every car involved must be Australian-manufactured. Sure enough, at the 2021 event it was True Blue as far as the eye could see, with willing dads and their offspring arriving in an eclectic mix of motorised Australiana. Organiser Dan Sharp said the event attracted around 2500 spectators, helped along by it being one of the most family-friendly gatherings…

SUMMERNATS 1 WHAT a way to start. Over 2000 entrants, a brand-new burnout pad and 50,000 punters. The results list saw Rex Webster’s FJ and the Queensland pro street Commodores of Rob Beauchamp and Greg Carlson fighting it out for the top gongs.…

SUMMERNATS 7 A REAL test for Summernats: for 1994, the Supercruise on Northbourne was no more, instead relocated inside Exhibition Park to run around the trotting track. There were those who thought the top cars wouldn’t want to cruise on a dusty dirt surface and that the magic of the event would be lost. That, combined with a reduction in entrant numbers (thought to be a knock-on effect of a recent BYO booze ban), gave Chic some headaches, but the revamped Supercruise proved popular and entrant numbers soon recovered.…

THE July-August 1987 issue of Street Machine was an absolute cracker. Mark Sgaravizzi’s infamous 88NATS XD Falcon was bursting off the cover, while inside was Andrew Reader’s sensational EH, the Castrol Collection Phase III, and a full overview of an all-new, upcoming event called Summernats! Then, on page 114, Australia’s street machine community got its first introduction to a legend of our sport, Andrew Ash – or more correctly, his red FX Holden ute. Between then and now, Andrew has amassed an incredibly impressive CV. Since opening AA Panel Craft, firstly from his home around 2000, followed by a full-blown shop in 2004, he’s had a hand in more than 10 Street Machine feature cars, other cars of historical significance, and a few concours winners (see sidebar, page 116). Back…

WHEN your dad is Terry Seng of Paramount Performance fame, thrashing on cars ain’t no big thing. Whether it’s the Drag Challenge Weekend-winning HDT275 VC Commodore or the new HDT315 VH, Jaidyn Seng is well accustomed to seeing spanners fly as cars are prepped for deadlines. But his true baptism of fire came only recently, when the 17-year-old decided to get his ’72 HQ sedan running in time for his high-school formal. Where did you find the HQ? My uncle bought it from its original owner, sold off the motor and ’box, and then it sat for a while. My dad ended up with it and it sat for another 10 years or so before he sold it to one of his best friend’s sons. He cleaned it up a…

GAG OF THE MONTH ARMED ROBBERY A LAWYER defending a man accused of burglary tried a creative defence. “Your honour,” he said, “my client’s arm was merely inserted through the window and a few trifling articles were then removed. I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offence committed by his limb.” “Very well, we’ll use your logic,” the judge replied. “I sentence the defendant’s arm to one year’s imprisonment. He can choose to accompany it, or not.” The defendant smiled, and with his lawyer’s assistance, he detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench, and walked out. Gil T Lim, email TASK FAILED AN OLD man goes to his doctor for a sperm check. The doctor gives him a sealed jar for him…

A NEW feature-length documentary celebrating the huge, internationally spanning influence of Mad Max is about to hit Aussie screens. Beyond the Wasteland explores the lives and stories of superfans of the film franchise, who remain engrossed more than 40 years after the original flick’s release. Filmed over six months in Australia, the US, Italy, France, Germany and Japan, the doco captures a number of fan events, including America’s Wasteland Weekend and the Search For Max 40th-anniversary event in Clunes, Victoria. Central to the documentary is the experience of the late Bertrand Cadart, who worked on Mad Max bike designs and played Toecutter Gang member Clunk. We caught up with Beyond the Wasteland director and producer Eddie Beyrouthy to learn more about the project. How did the documentary come to be?…

PART two of our look into the hot-car history of Garry Johnstone (see SM, Dec ’21 for part one) offers a veritable who’s-who of iconic Aussie models. While many of the rides you see here are long gone, a couple of Garry’s favourites were sold only to find their way back home again – some of them more than once! 01: GARRY recalls the moment in 1981 when his family quite suddenly found themselves in need of a new car. “We were travelling home from Cairns to Dysart when a piece of the bullbar fell off our XW wagon and took out its exhaust system,” he says. “This was the final nail in the coffin for this otherwise trusty old girl and a new car was in order. We arrived…

SOME cars take years to build, but the sinister black HZ sedan you see here took decades to make it to the Summernats Top 60 – and even then, it wasn’t finished. Twenty years earlier, the 1978 Holden was a clean, neat streeter running a mild 308 before owner Dave Cuell added a bit more punch beneath the bonnet with a 355 stroker. It then happily rolled on in that guise until Dave started toying with the idea of some fresh paint and improvements – but he wasn’t in a rush. “To force myself to commit, we pulled the engine out and put it in my mate’s HK wagon, which made the Summernats Top 60,” Dave says. With the 355 stroker gone and the HZ in pieces, bodywork could be…

LOUIS Younis is one of the millions of car nuts to have been smitten by the iconic jet-age styling of the 1957 Chevrolet. “For me they’re the pick of the tri-fives,” says the serial SM feature-car builder. “I’d been dreaming about owning one since I was a kid, but after searching for years I couldn’t find one. I found a ’55 that ticked all my boxes, so I bought that instead. It had all the suspension and chassis work done; it just needed paint and bodywork.” But a fateful flick through eBay late one night changed everything. “I came across a beautiful, black, pillarless ’57,” Louis says. “Initially I thought it was a US-based car that someone was trying to sell here in Australia, until I saw the guy’s Australian…

THE Adelaide Auto Expo is not usually a biannual event, but these are unusual times and promoter Geof Tartoosie is an unusually motivated man. When Geof announced at the time of the previous expo in January 2021 that the next one was planned for November, just 10 months later, it seemed ambitious at best. Was he a visionary, a dreamer, or a masochist? The amount of effort and organisation required to make two premier car shows happen in one year made it a daunting task, which was not made easier by the ever-looming threat of COVID-related lockdowns and fluctuating state border restrictions. But Geof got it done, and November’s encore performance at Adelaide Showground in Wayville went off without any major hitches, with a cavalcade of incredible metal on show.…

VJ VALIANT IT’S a brave man that takes on the restoration of a Valiant hardtop. They were rare when they were brand new, with only a few thousand built, and without the level of aftermarket support that Holdens and Fords enjoy, you either need to buy a pretty decent car to start with or have a sizeable network of contacts so you can track down parts. As it turned out, Mario Girbin had neither. Relatively new to the Mopar scene, Mario hadn’t yet established those vital contacts when he picked up a VJ hardtop that initially seemed a lot more solid than it would prove to be. Mario had played with cars in his native New Zealand, but they were mainly K-series Corollas. They’re cheap to buy and cheap to…

SUMMERNATS 5 HOWARD Astill did it again in ’92, debuting a ’64 Compact Fairlane that was built in nine months as a Street Machine project car. Howard strolled away with Top Street Machine Overall, while Ron Barclay’s evergreen HQ ute took out its second Top Judged award. Once the Fairlane’s show career was done, we gave it away to a lucky Street Machine reader, Patrick Smithers.…

SUMMERNATS 8 ENTRANT numbers were back up for ’Nats 8, and the quality at the sharp end of the showcar field was through the roof. Taking on Grand Champion Dennis Laing’s Galaxie was a who’s-who of street machining royalty, including Mark Sanders in his new, oh-so-tasteful HK Monaro, Paul Bennett in his insane ’68 Camaro, Howard Astill’s ‘Race Rock’ XC coupe, and a trio of killer FJ Holdens thanks to Colin Townsend, Darryl McBeth and Russell Tronc.…

EVERY time the covers are whipped off a new billet engine block design, car fans hit the limiter like a P-plater in Dad’s company car, frothing at the 3000+hp potential of these aftermarket platforms. But what are billet blocks actually designed for? As high-end racers in drag racing, Time Attack and other forms of motorsport chase the seemingly opposing goals of reliability and ever-climbing power outputs, specially machined engine packages have become the hot new go-to. This is where the billet block comes into its own. Traditional engine blocks are made through a casting process, where liquid-hot aluminium or iron is poured into a mould and allowed to cool. Perfect for mass-production runs! A billet block, however, is machined from a single solid piece of super-high-quality metal called a billet.…

IF YOU’RE a seasoned street machiner or you’ve been around the scene for a while, this slammed HR Premier might look familiar. Dubbed ‘Premi-air’, (’cos, y’know, it’s ’bagged), this was the first full street machine build undertaken by one of Australia’s greatest fabricators, the late Laurie Starling of The Chop Shop, after he decided to hang up the mini-truck hat. Following a ground-up build – including a custom chassis, killer fab work and airbag suspension – it was presented in bare metal at MotorEx 2011, before its then-owner took it home to complete. Build progress proved to be slow and the car was sold off a couple of times before coming to the attention of Laurie’s parents, Rob and Julia Starling, in late 2020. With advice from the likes of…

WEAPONS GRADE WAYNE TURNER HX PANEL VAN “AFTER three years and $80,000, my dream car, WEAPAN, is nearing completion. It’s a 1976 HX panel van, which I built in my double garage, with the car spending the first nine months of the build on a rotisserie. For power, it’s running a blown small-block Chev. A 4L80E transmission and a nine-inch diff get the power to the ground. Inside it has a GTS dash modified with Auto Meter gauges, and the top of the dash has been welded up to fit Vintage Air defrost vents. Outside, the rear bar has been shaved by 50mm for a 5mm-gap fit; there’s no external bar on the front because there’ll be a customised dual grille fitted. It also has Kindig It shaved door handles.…