Preview: NZ Performance Car Issue No. 246

B O O S T E D

A N D

S T R O K E D

350Z

246 ISSUE

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10-SECOND VL TURBO D1NZ TITLE FIGHT / JAMBO / RWB ANZACS

416803 800821

DATSUN 510 RACER

JUN 2017

$9.99 INCL. GST

ES T I S PO P O X-2 R T C E F R -PE H C IN

CONTENTS

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STREETWISE

PERIPHERAL-PORTED SUPERDELUXE COUPE

TWELVE MONTHS IS NOT A LOT OF TIME IN THE CAR-BUILDING WORLD, BUT IT WAS ALL THE TIME SVEN NEEDED TO PULL OFF A PERFECT 10 WITH HIS RX-2 COUPE BUILD

GONE OVERBOARD

RX-2 PERFECTION FROM EVERY ANGLE

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DOUBLE DOSAGE

V 4&ROTARY JAMBO DOUBLES THE FUN

36 MR HERO PRINTS MEET THE KIWI DESIGNER BEHIND HERO PRINTS

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NEVER SAY DIE

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BOOSTED AND STROKED ROCKET BUNNY 350Z

CONTENTS

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REGULARS 008 EDITORIAL 010 ED. TEAM CHATTER 012 NEWS 050 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 084 DEMON BABE 086 CRUISE MODE 092 WEEKEND WARRIOR 094 NEW PRODUCTS 096 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 098 GIG GUIDE 099 DRAG TIMES 100 DAILY DRIVEN 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 WHAT’S COMING NEXT MONTH

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60 RACING THE LEGACY 66 MEET THE NEW CHAMP 72 EASY 9S 78 HUMBLE RUMBLE RICHARD BROWN’S REAL-DEAL DATSUN 510 RACER

CROWNING THE DEMON ENERGY D1NZ CHAMPION

SINGLE-CAM RB VL

UNDERSTANDING THE ART OF THE MUFFLE

88 RWB RED CARPET

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE RWB MOVIE

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TWELVE MONTHS IS NOT A LOT OF TIME IN THE CAR-BUILDING WORLD, BUT IT WAS ALL THE TIME SVEN NEEDED TO PULL OFF A PERFECT 10 WITH HIS RX-2 COUPE BUILD WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

plit it whichever way you want — 12 months, 52 weeks, or 365 days — it still sure sounds like a long time, but, in carbuilding terms, that span can ebb away without so much as spinning a spanner. So, when we learned that that’s all it took for Sven Highman to take a dilapidated left-hook RX-2 coupe and turn it into something truly showstopping, we were floored. Why? Because this was no ‘slap-on-some-paint-and-wheels-and-call-it-a-day’ affair. No sir, this was a complete ‘tear-down-to-a-bare-shell, mount-it-on-a-rotisserie, and media-blast-it’ restoration. While most sane people would have set a realistic goal of a few years to complete such a mammoth project, Sven had other ideas, and pinned a target of 12 months to go from rags to riches.

We suspect this was because he had been out of the game for a few years focusing on other aspects of life, so when it was time to get back amongst it, he didn’t damn well want to waste any time.

BEVAN AYMES ENDED UP BUILDING ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S BEST SHOW CARS ALMOST BY ACCIDENT, AFTER A SPREE ON THE PERSONALISED PLATES WEBSITE FOR ANOTHER CAR: A MATCHING-NUMBERS RX-3. FOUR YEARS ON, AN RX-2 HAS JOINED IT, SO IT’S TIME FOR RETIREMENT WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

evan Aymes grew up following his rally-mad petrolhead dad around the countryside as he threw gravel rooster tails in his various rally cars, and, combined, it was his dad’s competitive exploits, Mazda rotaries, and especially the RX-3s driven by the likes of Rod Millen, that really piqued his interest. Twenty years on, the love hadn’t faded, and as he’d already owned a long list of performance cars — everything from Golfs to Hondas — he decided it was time to finally build a period-perfection Mazda RX-3 sedan. We featured that car way back in Issue No. 190, and today it shares shed space with the RX-2 you see here.

While everyone has a different story about why or how they have ended up owning a certain car, for Bevan, the wheels were set in motion the day he went shopping for personal plates for

the RX-3. After settling on the plate (76 RX3), his curiosity lead him to punch in ‘74 RX2’, and, to his amazement, it was also available, so, naturally, he grabbed that one too. Then all that was needed was an actual RX-2 to wear it.

But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find there was more than just buying a P-plate to persuade him. The truth is, his RX-3 is a matching-numbers machine (right down to the driveline) — something that’s very rare in this day and age. Out of respect for the RX-3’s survival through the treacherous ’90s and 2000s and its emergence without too much hacking having taken place, Bevan decided he wanted to keep it that way. Buying an already modified RX-2 meant that he could have no qualms about chopping, changing, and modifying it further to build his ultimate vision of the perfect streeter.

He may not have claimed the burnout title, as the throttle jammed in the go position during the final, but local boy Smugs easily threw down the most consistently hearty skids in his 13B bridgey turbo KE25. It’s also looking a fair sight tidier than last year’s incarnation, after he decided that it was due for a birthday and traded in the rugged multi-colour panels for a clean white and green Prowear theme

Elysse Milne took home the award for Best Graphics in the Tough Street class with her wide-bodied Itasha-themed RX-7.

Quickly becoming a staple at these events, Vick Bhatti’s R35 GT-R arrived packing 135kW of extra power courtesy of a few trick pieces — including 1000cc injectors, new fuel pumps, and a bit of clever intake and exhaust fab — thanks to the lads at ST Hi-Tec. That’s an impressive gain, as it remains on stock internals and turbos

2006 NISSAN 350Z (Z33)

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BRAD SMITH’S 350Z IS ONE OF THE MORE UNUSUAL CARS ON THE DEMON ENERGY D1NZ GRID. IT’S TESTED HIS PATIENCE TO THE EXTREMES AT TIMES, BUT THE RESULT IS ONE SERIOUS PIECE OF KIT WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: RICHARD OPIE

hen drifting burst onto the scene here in New Zealand, the sport was new the world over: it was cheap; attainable; and, most important, that sh*t was exciting. It was a young man’s sport that proudly pointed the middle finger at traditional motorsport aficionados, and then rubbed their faces in it as crowd numbers swelled and sponsors flocked to get on the drift bandwagon.

For many young Kiwis, drifting was an opportunity not to be turned down, and with training classes held regularly, the sport exploded here.

Brad Smith was among the converted youth who fell head over heels for drifting and dreamed of making it to the big time — the world stage. Even if he admits that at his first track day he couldn’t so much as keep a doughnut going around a cone without spinning out.

Over the next few years, his skills improved (vastly) and so did his car. He made the switch from an RB20DET Cefiro to a RB25DET Silvia and climbed his way towards the top of the D1NZ ranks. In 2008, the young Mag and Turbo staffer decided it was time to go big, and he bought a crashed 350Z: “I purchased the 350Z chassis because Tanner Foust and Chris Forsberg were winning championships in them in the States. Like every kid, I wanted to be this top-dog drifter, [and I thought] they are winning championships, so, OK, that’s the shell I should go and buy.”

Not two years old at the time, the 350Z was New Zealand new and had barely had 30 klicks on the clock before someone sideswiped the sh*t out of it, to the point that it resembled a peeled-open sardine can.

WE CHEW THE FAT WITH ASH FROM HERO PRINTS TO FIND OUT WHAT DRIVES ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S EMERGING TALENTS IN LIVERY DESIGN INTERVIEW: MARCUS GIBSON IMAGES: ASH WESTMORELAND

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NZ Performance Car: Hey Ash, welcome to the hot seat. Please begin by introducing yourself to our readers.

Ash: Hey, my name is Ashley Westmoreland. I’m a designer for Hero Prints. I illustrate drift cars mostly, and I also design liveries.

When did drawing/art become a part of that?

Man … it would be the same, really. I can remember my parents showing me pictures of cars I was drawing when I was like, four years old. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Cars are clearly a big part of your life; do you recall what first got you into the automotive culture?

Ever since I was a little kid, that’s all I can remember — being stoked on cars. My dad has always liked cars — we were forever changing cars when I was young. My grandfather was also really into cars. He had a Ferrari, and he also had a Porsche at one point. So, yeah, it’s always been a part of my life.

Have cars always been the focus of your art?

No, not necessarily. When I was a kid, I was into all the stuff that kids are into — dinosaurs, cartoons, etc. I was really into Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — all those classic 90s cartoons. As I got a bit older, I started to focus more and more on the car side of things. But I used to draw loads of different stuff.

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How long have you known this was the career path you would take?

When I was 15, I got the opportunity to do some work experience.

The normal thing — they give you a list of jobs you can do, and I looked at them and I was like, these suck, I don’t want to do any of those. My cousin and her husband both work for Jaguar cars in Coventry. They secured me a spot there, which is really rare, as usually they only take university students. I went there for two weeks and got introduced to everything they do in the factory, and how they make the cars. I did three or four days in the design studio, which, at the time, was managed by Ian Callum, who designed the Aston Martin Vanquish. The guys I was working

with were designing the Jag XK. I had already been drawing cars by then, but they showed me showed me the ropes in reguards to proportions etc. To be exposed to what that world was like — from then on, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. But, shortly after that, we moved to New Zealand, where there is zero car-manufacturing industry. I still continued to draw cars, while I was at school, but, after leaving school, i joined the work force and didn’t do anything specical. I took a hiatius fom drawing until I was like 24 and got back into it.

So, you have never been traditionally trained; it’s all self-taught?

1972 DATSUN 510 (1600) NO. 93

WORDS AND PHOTOS: RICHARD OPIE

BUILT 45 YEARS AGO IN THE SOUTHERN USA, AND NOW A SOUTHERN CANTERBURY RESIDENT, RICHARD BROWN’S REAL-DEAL DATSUN 510 TWO-DOOR RACE CAR REPRESENTS THE CONTINUATION OF A GENERATION-SPANNING MOTORSPORT ADDICTION

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L TIONA A N R Z 1N WEEPE RGY D E N E OHE S K N E O K M U P DE NEW INFAMOUS E H T D AT THE HARD OPIE WNEW IC O R TOS: R C ON PHO G A ARCIN N H S GIBS U O IT R T W WORDS: M ARMSHAMPION E L O C ING C DRIFT

D1NZ NATIONAL DRIFTING CHAMPIONSH 66 themotorhood.com/nzperformancecar