Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Street Machine

GENERAL Motors will invest US$854 million (AU$1.2 billion) to develop a new sixth-generation small-block V8. It will likely replace the current range of LT V8s that debuted in 2013. GM has apparently already begun retooling its Flint Engine Operations factory for the new V8, stating that “work at the facility will begin immediately”. However, the auto maker has remained quiet as to the specifics of the new engine or when it will be released, stating that “product details, timing, performance and features related to GM’s next-gen V8 engine are not being released at this time”. The investment in the new small-block forms the largest chunk of a total US$918 million (AU$1.3 billion) being pumped into four of GM’s manufacturing sites, with the remaining US$64 million (AU$91 million) marked for the…

COOL FLICK FACT: Much of the dialogue for Kiedis and Flea’s characters (below) was improvised to allow the pair maximum creative freedom. BREAKDOWN VEHICLES: 1993 BMW 325i Coupe, 1987 Ford Bronco, 1987 Chevrolet Caprice, 1991 Chevrolet Caprice, 1976 Chevrolet Step-Van, 1989 Volkswagen Rabbit cabriolet, 1986 Dodge Diplomat, 1983 Chevrolet Chevyvan, 1989 Peterbilt 200, 1986 Peterbilt 359 STARS: Charlie Sheen, Kristy Swanson, Henry Rollins, Josh Mostel, Ray Wise, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Wayne Grace, Claudia Christian DIRECTOR: Adam Rifkin ACTION: A lengthy high-speed car chase with jumps, slides and roll-overs using all manner of cars, trucks and vans PLOT: An innocent prison escapee making a break for the Mexican border takes a woman hostage as a means of evading capture, setting off a freeway car chase AVAILABLE: DVD, Blu-ray, streaming AFTER being…

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THE FIRST CHANGE I MADE WAS TO GET THE T56 MAGNUM. I DIDN’T WANT A DRAG CAR, AND THAT’S WHAT IT FELT LIKE WITH THE TH400 TREADING a different path is not easy when you’re building one of America’s most popular street machines, but Queensland’s Ashley Laurence has done just that with his ’72 Camaro. Featuring modern styling and pro touring suspension, this Camaro also has something a little more interesting in the engine bay than a dime-a-dozen LS, in the form of a 502ci big-block with a side-mount blower. Choosing the road less travelled has been a theme of Ashley’s life with cars from the beginning. “When I was growing up, my father got us into cars,” he recalls. “I was born and raised in Castlemaine, so we used…

THIS XM Falcon coupe wasn’t what Jack from Melbourne’s Johnny Z’s Hot Rod & Custom Shop was waiting for. Its owner, Lynda Rowe, had an XY Falcon lined up for Jack and the team to start a full custom build on, but things changed. “Lynda told me that she’d got her dad’s XY ute,” Jack begins. “It’d been in storage for the past 25-30 years, and she said she’d like to rebuild that. That was a Friday, and on a Monday morning I get a call at about 7:30. Lynda says, ‘There’s a bit of a change of plan – I bought an XM on the weekend, and it’s on the way to your workshop as we speak.’ And as I’m on the phone, this XM rocks up at the…

Girls — wanna be famous? Send pics, car details and contact details to: Iron Maiden, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166. Or email: streetmachine@wheelsmedia.com.au. LORELLA Burns has a growing assortment of sweet chrome-bumper rides, including the patina-clad ’69 XW wagon before you. However, she’s obliged to share her shed space with hubby Anthony Burns (SM, Jan ’23), who has been campaigning strong Drag Challenge contenders since 2015. We chatted to Lorella to find out more. Are you a long-term revhead, Lorella? Yup! Dad always had cool cars, and then I met Anthony when I was 15 years old and we got along well, as we both love cars. I had a V8-powered XE Fairmont Ghia as my daily driver but sold it 15 years ago after having our…

TIM WAGSTAFF NISSAN SILVIA “THIS is my 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 from Perth, WA. I have owned it for about 10 years with the goal of building it for street, show and track. The car still retains its SR20DET four-cylinder engine but with all the fruit to make it one nasty little rocket, including a custom HKS turbo backed up with a shot of nitrous to get it cranking from 2200rpm through to 7500rpm. It runs E85 fuel and Haltech gear to make a reliable 435hp. Behind the little SR20DET is a fully built driveline featuring a TTI sequential gearbox, making it super fun to drive with the custom flat-shift (clutchless) upshifting. It also has custom bodywork, interior, boot installation and colour scheme. We plan to take it to more…

HARRY Haig is now a back-to-back Street Machine Drag Challenge winner after successfully defending his 2019 title at Drag Challenge 2022-23. We’d been waiting to run a full-fat DC for three years thanks to COVID delays and a bout of floods, so it was great to see 139 cars front up for the five-day drag-and-drive torture test at Heathcote Park Raceway on Monday 30 January. They stashed their tow cars away and hit the Heathcote strip on Tuesday for Day One’s racing. Long-time DC veteran Luke Foley set the pace on the first day with a stonking 7.87@179mph in his VH Commodore, followed closely by Dan Szabolics, who piloted his proven six-second HQ Monaro to a 7.94@181mph. Day Two at Portland’s South Coast Raceway saw Harry Haig’s ‘Big Dawg’ HQ…

Write to: Your Stuff, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 or email streetmachine@wheelsmedia.com.au. Make sure you include your address (not necessarily for publication). Keep it short and sweet! LETTER OF THE MONTH PURE MAYHEM I SAW your review of the Aussie flick Suburban Mayhem (Fanging Flick, SM, Jan ’23). I own the VJ Valiant Charger (below) that’s featured in this movie! It still has the number plates, but it is no longer a 265. It now has a 410 small-block backed by a five-speed manual, and it makes about 550hp. Jim Clews, email BEAUT UTE HEY guys, I’m wondering if you can help me. I’m looking for pictures of Bruno Mancini’s pro street VG Commodore ute; I think it might have been featured in the December 1992 issue of…

NICK Novak, owner of this weapons-grade ’65 Mustang, subscribes to the theory that if some is good, more must be better. “After I bought it in 2019, [I found] the 347ci small-block the car had just wasn’t cutting it,” Nick begins. “So a mate of mine, Morris, introduced me to [engine builder] Jason Mansweto.” Nick and Jason initially looked at amping up the 347 with a tunnel ram and other goodies. However, their plans soon morphed into an all-new 438ci small-block, set to kill. By the time Jason downed tools, the big-cube small-block spun the dyno all the way ’round to 782hp. Combined with a toughened C4, it was a mighty stout set-up in the lightweight Mustang. Both Nick and Jason agree that whoever originally built the car did a…

FATHER-son projects can either be an amazing bonding experience or a one-way ticket to frustration and frayed tempers. For Leo Mortakis and his dad Steve, this ’76 LX Torana fortunately proved to be the former. “We got the car in 2013, when I was 21,” says Leo. “I was looking for a project, but I didn’t have enough money at the time to buy something of my own, so Dad bought the car to do a restoration together and have a bit of fun with.” As the bossman at Muscle Car Restorations in Campbelltown and the owner of an epic big-block VF Valiant coupe (SM, Sep ’21), Leo isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty. Just as well, as this Torana was definitely no glamour model to start with. “It…

GREG Angus reckons he’s got a pretty bad case of OCD – Obsessive Car Disorder. “I’ve got a lot of cars. What can I say? I love ’em,” he says. “I’ve got an HK Prem in bare metal in my shed, which will get a blown Holden six. Over at my mate’s place, I’ve got a 427 ’66 Corvette convertible that’s just about finished, and I’ve got an HT wagon on the go as well.” There’s also a tubbed ’57 Chevy Bel Air with a blown big-block, and an HQ Monaro coupe with a blown 376ci small-block that he races in Supercharged Outlaws. Yeah, Greg’s got a problem, all right – one we’d all like to have! You might think a bloke with that many cars just opens up his…

AN ICONIC example of the golden era of Aussie car-mag covers, the February-March 1989 issue of Performance Street Car featured Rob Cain’s 10-second, Cleveland-powered Ford Capri front and centre – and it wasn’t just because it looked good. After all, running 10s in full street-car trim was a pretty major achievement back then, and Rob had done just that in 1986 when he cracked a 10.71@127mph pass at Calder Park. When Rob bought the Capri, it was a rough example with a tired 302 and C10 already bolted in, but he sensed the potential. “I liked the look of Capris; there’s more front than back and the weight distribution seemed right,” he told Performance Street Car in that ’89 feature. He soon replaced the 302 with the 330hp, Mick Webb-built…

CHEVY Barnes-Librio was one of the Drag Challenge faithful years before actually taking part in the event as an entrant. Prior to his debut at Drag Challenge Weekend 2022, the P-plater had followed along in his XB ute ever since DC 2018, even stopping at each photo checkpoint with his dad Paul to get as close to the action as possible. Now he’s just wrapped up his second DC campaign, taking part in our 2022-23 five-day event. Chevy picked up the XB around five years ago, before he was even on L-plates. “It was a one-owner car that was used to cart wood,” he recounts. He and dad Paul soon got to work tidying up the 250-powered stocker, leaving the original paint intact but sorting out the mangled rear tubs.…

GAG OF THE MONTH TASTE TEST A MAN walked into a bar and ordered a 10-year-old whisky. After receiving his drink, he tasted it and flagged down the bartender, saying, “I asked for 10-year old whisky; this is clearly a five-year old.” “I’m sorry, sir, we seem to be out of the 10,” said the bartender. “Did you have another drink in mind?” “I’ll try the 15-year-old bourbon,” the man said. The bartender prepared the drink and gave it to the man. He tasted the new drink and frowned. “I said 15-year-old bourbon!” he thundered, his anger rising. “This is clearly a 12-year-old! How dare you!” By this time, the bartender had had enough. He went behind the bar for several minutes before presenting the man with a new drink,…

FOR our third and final Snap Shots instalment on Victorian David Dann, we’ve focused on photos that tug at David’s heartstrings, full of memories of great mates, great times and the poignancy of change. “I’ve had a terrific life,” he says. “I’ve met some amazing people, had so many great times and tried to make the most of every opportunity. Melbourne and I are on very good terms, with so many of my life experiences and fond recollections firmly rooted in my hometown.” And whether it be cars or bikes, these pics prove that David has always stuck to his own guns: “I’ve always liked what I like and never given a second thought to the complications of any of it.” Amen to that! 01: DAVID reckons he and his mates…

WHEN Holden Special Vehicles’ VL SS Group A Walkinshaw was launched to a stunned public in May 1988, many race fans wondered how 27 pieces of fibreglass stuck to a VL Commodore (rumoured to have added 65kg to the base model’s weight) was ever going to be competitive in the Australian Touring Car Championship. However, HSV rose to the challenge by powering the Walky with a fuel-injected, twin-throttlebody Holden V8 that made a claimed 180kW (241hp). Fast-forward over 30 years and people still argue over the Walky’s styling. What they can probably agree on, though, is that 241hp is chicken feed these days, which I guess is why Trent Blainey saw fit to stuff 1800rwhp worth of twin-turbo LS into his Walkinshaw replica. “I’ve always had fast street cars but…

ROLLING into Chopped 2022 on the opening Friday was like coming home for Christmas for me. All my favourite sights, sounds, smells and people greeted me after a COVID-inflicted two-year layoff. As we pulled in to find a car park in Carisbrook Raceway, we could see burnout smoke rising from the startline of the asphalt drags, as well as the line of gassers, hot rods and choppers waiting for their chance to fly down a usually public road with impunity. Heading through the campsite towards the bar, we were greeted by a cornucopia of iconic rides parked amongst the barbecues and tents. These included Andy Colalillo’s ’34 roadster, Michael Ahrens’s Pontiac-powered ’31 tudor, Aaron Bray’s two-door FB and Sean Hammond’s chopped and channelled A coupe. Sydney nostalgia racer Joe Kurtovic…

THE EVENT’S OBJECTIVE IS TO FIND THE FASTEST AND MOST CAPABLE GENUINE STREET CAR IN AUSTRALIA BACK in 2007, American Jimi Day and a few mates wanted to create a new kind of event. “We were at SEMA and there were all these people talking about how fast and amazing their cars were, but they couldn’t prove it,” Jimi says. “We decided to create a platform that would allow people and companies to show off their creations, to show how good they are instead of just saying it.” With that goal in mind – and spurred on by the rapid growth of the pro touring movement in the US and the availability of extremely capable modern muscle – the Ultimate Street Car Association (USCA) was born, a sanctioning body that…

IF THE shape of Charlie Allen’s 1965 Plymouth Barracuda caused you to do a double-take, you’re certainly not alone. While the front of the Plymouth shares much the same styling as its Australian AP6 cousin, the unusual fastback-style back end, complete with wraparound rear window, means the coupe cuts a striking figure rarely seen on Aussie roads. “I was getting ready to retire and wanted a project; originally I was looking for a coupe version of the AP6 from the States, as I had an Aussie AP6 sedan when I was younger and thought the coupe would be a nice project,” Charlie says. “In my search, I ended up finding this ’65 Plymouth with the sloped back instead, and after getting it checked out and given the all-clear, I had…

QUEENSLAND’S Christopher ‘Stof’ Pilkington has spent over a decade around fast cars, including nitro funny cars, but he took a sharp left turn with his HQ Belmont build. “I’m a small-block nitrous guy, but I went to Powercruise in a mate’s VE SS with an 850hp turbo LS, and that was it,” Stof laughs. “I’ve copped so much shit off my mates about the LS!” Despite his mates’ ribbing, the appeal of an LS was all too obvious for Stof. “The LS engines are impressive for what they are,” he says. “They’re so streetable and useable, but you can still take them to events like Powercruise and thrash them. People who complain about them haven’t had a good one, because for a good, reliable street car, you just can’t beat…

JACOB VELLA XF FALCON UTE “WHEN I was 13 years old, I bought this 1985 XF S-Pack ute from Canberra for $2000. It was pretty original; it still had the 250 crossflow and the paint was faded pretty badly, but it had no rust. When I got it home, I gave her a good buff and got her ready for historic rego so that my dad and I could cruise around in it. It stayed like that for about a year before I started to get bored of it and thought, why not do a Barra swap? So I pulled the crossflow out, repainted the engine bay and bought a BF green-top Barra for the conversion. Before it went in, I decided to give the engine some goodies like Stage…

To have your product featured here, call Joseph Lenthall on (02) 8114 9421 or email joseph.lenthall@wheelsmedia.com.au. 01 CATCH THE VIBE CATCH cans are an important part of any decent car build, which is why the champions at Vibrant Performance are always looking at new ways to make theirs even better. The latest addition to their range is the third-generation catch can, which can be had in just about any size and configuration you need. Sizes range from 0.75 litres to two litres, and they’re available either with two-or four-port set-ups. The two-port version features an integrated stainless-steel vent to eliminate the need for an external breather, while the four-port version can recirculate the filtered air. The new range also allows you to spec a custom dual-can assembly that doubles capacity…