WHATS HAPPENING News, views and things of interest

Got something to say? Send it to paul@pscmag.com.au or message us from the Performance Street Car Facebook page. ELECTRIC VEHICLES THE FUTURE? NOT FOR ME

Hi Paul, With the push towards Electric vehicles coming from all sides at the moment, where is that going to leave modified cars? Can you imagine a world where the Summernats is a very quiet place? I’m sure the neighbours would love it! I’m hoping that the whole electric car thing is an option and not a necessity, I couldn’t see myself driving something as boring as an electric Corolla. Trevour F Via Messenger G’day Paul, As much as I was looking forward to being a part of the first Performance Street Car Road Trip, the massive increase in fuel costs has put us out this time unfortunately. Trying to conserve fuel in a big block Camaro for six-days isn’t a possibility and the extra cost of running the car has us sitting out the 2022 cruise. Will you be running it again in 2023? If so, we will be there… Regards, Louis T Via Messenger

G’day Louis, You’re not the first to enquire about whether the Road Trip is still on. I completely understand where the concerns are, as it wasn’t going to be a cheap venture regardless, but with the higher fuel costs and the interest rate increases of late, who knows just how wide reaching these will be? So, with that in mind, I’ve decided to make the first Road Trip a three-day version. The details are listed in this issue and on the website. Hope this makes it easier for you guys to attend. Paul.

KILLER T-SHIRTS

Hi Paul, Love the Killer Rides T-Shirts. I’ve placed an order today and look forward to it arriving. Will you be doing any different designs? If so, count me in for whatever you have coming up. You can never have too many cool car t-shirts in the collection. Thanks, Lucas M Via Email.

G’day Trevour, There’s been a lot of misinformation being posted on social media lately saying that the newly elected Government plans to eradicate fuel-powered vehicles in favour of electric vehicles. Whilst they do have plans to increase the sale of new electric cars, there are no plans to make everyone ditch their cars for an electric version. Let’s face it, if they made them redundant, they are worth nothing, so there would be millions of petrol and diesel cars littering the country and then those people have to then find the money to buy a new electric car without the chance to trade in their old car. It’s just not realistic and I very much doubt it will ever happen. G’day Lucas, Thanks for the order of the shirt. Hopefully by now, you’re proudly wearing it. Yes, there are more designs coming in the near future and as soon as they are ready to be released, they will be advertised in the magazine and website.

Hi Paul, What the hell is going on with a heap of cars being called in to present for a rego inspection? Has it been started from anything in particular and will this be an ongoing problem for all car enthusiasts? At the moment, I really don’t want to take my Monaro out for fear of being issued a letter about the rego. This is going to be a big problem in the Sydney scene if it continues. I have struggled to get any answers. Name Withheld

Hi Mate, The recent rego blitz has certainly had a huge effect on the scene, with many owners refusing to take their cars to any events. I’ve even struggled to get some photo shoots done as well. I have heard though that it’s not going to be a regular thing and the focus is mainly on modified cars running on Historic rego plates. I guess at the end of the day, if you’re driving an obviously illegal car, you’re taking a chance of not getting caught in the first place. My advice is to make your car as legal as possible and get it engineered as soon as you can. From there, you’ll have minimal worries… You may have noticed that I have been blanking out owners number plates too from the coverage we put online from our monthly Mid-Week Meet-Ups just to put the owners minds at ease.

Usually overlooked in favour of the ’55 or ’57 Chev, the ’56 can still be a stunning car when the right people are put on the job!

SOUTHERN

SOUTHERN ROD & CUSTOM 1956 CHEV BELAIR COUPE WORDS – PAUL BECK PICS - SOUTHERN ROD & CUSTOM

STAR

Usually, builds like this start off with a car that has seen much better days, something that was destined for scrap metal if someone couldn’t save it. But that wasn’t the case here. This ’56 Belair Coupe was virtually driven into the Southern Rod & Custom workshop. Sure, the factory aqua and white paint wouldn’t have won any paint awards at shows and the interior was showing signs of years use, but it wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture. Still, a nice car for some, just doesn’t cut it. A Southern Rod & Custom built car though, well that’s a different matter.

632CI BIG BLOCK CHEV PLAZMAMAN INTAKE TURBO 400 AUTO RESHAPED FIREWALL & INNER GUARDS

CHASSISWORKS CHASSIS FOUR-LINK - COIL-OVERS 9-INCH DIFF - STRANGE FLOATERS 22X12 BILLET SPECIALTIES RIMS WILWOOD DISCS & 6-SPOT CALIPERS SHAVED BUMPERS CONVERTED TO RHD WILWOOD BRAKES INDEPENDENT FRONT END 20X9 BILLET SPECIALTIES RIMS

Under Shane Rowe’s guidance, his team stripped the ’56 down to its bare bones, preparing to give the Belair an epic makeover. With the body removed from the factory chassis, the guys straightened the panels, shaved the bumpers, converted it from left to right and made sure all the gaps were better throughout the car. There’s lots of subtle changes to, like the custom bonnet hinges, new boot floor, reshaped engine bay, firewall and radiator support panel.

The body now sits on a new Chassisworks-built frame that features an independent front end with tube arms, coil-over shocks, and 14-inch discs with 6-piston Wilwood calipers on each corner. The 9-inch diff features Strange floaters and 35-spline Track Lock centre and is mounted to the chassis via a four-link and coil-overs. The wheels of choice are 20x9 and 22x12 Billet Specialties wrapped in 255/30 and 315/25 tyres.

With the bonnet lifted, the view will be dominated by the oh-so-cool Plazmaman 23billet intake and dual air filter arrangement.

The ‘56’s big engine bay now overflows with performance in the form of a 632-cube big block. With the bonnet lifted, the view will be dominated by the oh-so-cool Plazmaman billet intake and dual air filter arrangement. The boys also fabricated a pair of custom headers to help the mega-cube big-block breathe better. The engine features a host of good gear that will see those big tyres struggling for traction once the go pedal is jumped on. Backing the engine is a Rogers-spec Turbo 400 auto.

With the stance right, the driveline sorted and the body ready for paint, I can’t wait to see this one roll from the showroom and onto the blacktop! As with all cars that come from the Southern Rod & Custom Workshop, this ’56 Belair coupe will be one sweet ride.

On ShowKILLERRides Rides PAUL TINNING

Twin-Turbo V10 Viper XP Falcon Coupe

Pics - Chad Silvey

We first saw this killer XP Coupe in the initial build stage when pics leaked onto Facebook sent the internet into meltdown! The ‘Dare to be Different’ approach adopted by owner/builder Paul Tinning has proved to be a pretty popular one. After a long build period and a massive haul from Darwin, Paul and his team of helpers pulled the covers of the finished Falcon at the recent Meguiar’s MotorEx in Melbourne.

WINNER! Laurie Starling Excellence Award

On ShowKILLERRides Rides PAUL TINNING

Twin-Turbo V10 Viper XP Falcon Coupe

We’ve seen plenty of V8 engine conversions in early Falcon’s over the years that have included small block Windsors, Clevo’s, Coyote’s and even a ‘521-cube BOSS big block, but none have the shock value quite like the Dodge Viper V10 - especially when topped with two big turbochargers! Why? Why the hell not!

Dodge V10 - NRE Symetrical Turbo’s Magnum T56 6-speed - Narrowed 9-inch 4.11-gears

On ShowKILLERRides Rides PAUL TINNING

Twin-Turbo V10 Viper XP Falcon Coupe

With a host of major body mods, the right wheel and tyre combo and a full-tilt one-off interior, its no wonder that the XP was such a hit at its first event. After a successful debut in Melboure, the team headed home to Darwin where the XP will be prepped for a couple of major events in the Top End, including Gazzanats and of course, the Red Centre Nats.