11 minute read
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS The first Hot Rod & Harley Expo
Lifting the big bonnet reveals a crate 350 Chev engine that would have looked way out of place if it had kept the Chevy Orange colouring. Instead, Adam stripped the external parts of the engine before detailing it to keep the theme flowing into the engine bay, especially now that Kyle has added more graphic artwork to the smoothed out inner guards. The rocker covers, air cleaner and upper control arms feature lots of painstaking engraving. And just to show it all off a little more, the underside of the bonnet now features mirrors to reflect the hours put into the detailed small block. It should come as no surprise that Adam has also taken on the task of detailing the complete underside in a mix of chrome (both engraved and plain), body colour and more.
Adam enjoys jumping behind the wheel and cruising the Impala every chance he gets.
The factory styled interior is an already cool place to hang out, and Adam knew that Chev got it right way back in 1960, so why mess with something that is already impresses? There are some subtle changes though, like the Dakota digital gauges, and the chromed and engraved from windscreen trims. Other than that, Adam enjoys the practicality of the stylish interior, even more so when the weather allows the roof to come down. The boot area didn’t escape the makeover either with painted and pinstriped panelling added along with chrome pumps and tank mounted to a matching ‘stage’. As you’d expect, the artwork on top of the bootlid is mimicked underneath.
Even with all of this detailing in, on and around the ’60 Convertible, Adam has no problem driving the Impala around, whether it’s up the coast to events like the Lowrider Sunday or down the coast for a cruise, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what owning a cool, in-yourface Lowrider is all about?
TUFF DAY OUT!
It may have had a few false starts, but when it did happen, the Tuff Day Out certainly delivered the goods, with plenty of muscle on offer.
Brad Gordon had the Tuff Day Out concept in his head for quite some time before it actually happened. Yep, Covid, and other setbacks struck, forcing back his plans to bring a bunch of high-powered cars and bikes to the home of the Summernats for a one-day, horsepower-fuelled fiesta, all the while raising money and awareness for Men’s Mental Health Charities.
Brad managed to get a wide variety of cars and bikes to Canberra for the event, many coming from interstate, showing their support for a great cause. If, like me, you’re a fan of all makes, models and styles of cool cars and bikes, the Tuff Day Out was motoring heaven. No matter where you looked, there was something on show that bought a smile to your face. Drag cars, street cars, Showcars, trucks, Speedway cars, exotic Euro’s, restored muscle cars and more filled not just the two pavilions, but also the forecourt of each.
Luckily there was plenty to see in front of the main building – the one where the Summernats Top 60 show is held each year, as the line up to get inside the building weaved its way through some amazing machinery parked outside under the brilliant Canberra sunshine! The Moreau Racing team set up camp in the parking lot, showcasing their stunning ’37 Ford Coupe Drag Car, that was pulled apart to let people get up close and personal with a purpose-built quarter-mile blaster. The team shared the space with plenty of tough street cars that kept the waiting crowd well entertained.
Once inside, the quality of entrants continued. One of the first cars to get your attention was Simon Waugh’s wild, blown injected XA Falcon Coupe. With its orange paint glowing and its mountain motor on show, it was hard to battle the crowds to get a pic - a trend that continued through both buildings as thousands of people flowed through the venue. Equally as impressive was the ONIT Torana. Even though the car could easily do the show circuit, this one is all about destroying tyres, not that the candy green paint showed many battle scars! Wild Commodores were plentiful, many having been subjected to a high-horsepower makeover – just how we like them!
Walking through both buildings revealed more and more cool cars and bikes, many that I hadn’t seen before; and I spend my life at car events! Brad did an amazing job gathering together such a diverse range of cars and bikes and I reckon that if Brad does decide to go ahead with the Tuff Day Out in 2023, there will plenty of people heading back to Canberra to get a big horsepower fix!
KILLERRides Rides ON THE SONNY FREEMAN 1965 Chevelle Words - Paul Beck WEB
Built By Mike Goldman Customs
Named REFLECTION, as a tribute to his former drag raced El Camino, Sonny Freeman bought this Chevelle in Las Vegas with the intention of having a nicely constructed car capable of holding its own at shows. But, when he decided to get the team at Mike Goldman Customs, the Chevelle was destined to be more than that…
Once the Chevelle arrived at the workshop, the team gave the coupe a once-over to establish what they were actually starting with. But, the more they looked into it, the more issues they found. Right there, things changed. Eric Brockmeyer was brought in to do a concept drawing of what the Chevelle was going to look like completed and with everyone in agreeance, work started on the new look Chevelle. The body has scored some major changes, even though they may not be so obvious. Check out the roof! Those not familiar with the Chevelle, would never have picked that the roof has been grafted from a 1967 Malibu. Nor would you have picked that the boot opening has been reworked to line up with the new, custom rear window openings – which, by the way, has the glass installed from the inside for a much cleaner look. The ‘A’ pillars have been lowered and laid back and once again, the windscreen mounts from the inside. Chevelle fans would have noticed the door openings have been played with as well.
The rear bumper assembly has been custom made along with the rolled pan that never existed on the factory spec model. Even the taillight assembly is a one-off, created on paper by Brockmeyer and handformed by the talented crew at Mike Goldman Customs. There’s a billet alloy grille, custom door handles and custom mirrors. Once the body was sorted 100%, the body was covered in a tweaked version of Marina Blue. Dark Shadow Grey complements the body colour and is used on the under bonnet and interior components. That reworked, shiny-as-hell body now sits on an Art Morrison chassis fitted with Ride Tech shocks, rack and pinion steering, chrome-plated upper and lower tubular control arms, C6 Corvette style hubs with Wilwood discs hidden behind the 18x8-inch and 20x10-inch Brockmeyer designed, Mike Curtis machined custom wheels. The bespoke chromed billet four-link locates the smoothed Strange 9-inch diff with 4.11-gears and those large Wilwood discs. Providing ample power is a 427-cube LS7 built by Mast Motorsports and externally polished. Making in excess of 900hp, the engine is topped with a Whipple supercharger and features custom billet rocker covers, also from Mike Curtis. The engine sits in a hand-formed sheet alloy engine bay, making the blown small block the main focus! Internally the engine features only the finest gear on the market. Backing the engine is a Bowler T56 Magnum box that’s sends the power to the aforementioned 9-inch diff.
Inside, the interior is much like the body – full of custom work, but as subtle as they come. Paul Atkins hand crafted the interior, forming the custom dash in steel, filling it with a custom gauge cluster. The interior also features a fabricated four-bucket seating set-up, Ididit tilt-steering column, and a custom console that provides a place for the power window switches and sound system. To offset the body colour, Paul covered the interior in Slate and Dark Shadow leather, the theme carrying through to the boot area.
The collaboration between Mike Goldman Customs and the owner resulted in a oneoff 1965 Chevelle that has been taken to the highest level possible. It’s so good in fact, that at the 2019 Detroit Autorama, Reflection made its debut and scored a place in the prestigious Great 8 which made it a contender for the Ridler Award. Since then, the Chevelle has won many awards at NSRA and Goodguys events and many other events, testament to the quality of the build…
