NZPC #268 PREVIEW

FOUR-DOOR SWAG

INTERVIEW: THE KIWI RALLY STAR YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

uncovering nz’s toughest datsun!

$10.99 INCL. GST

APR. 2019

268

9

416803 800821

ISSUE

REUNION 2019, NZ’S FASTEST TIN-TOP, SOUTH ISLAND MINITRUCK SHOW, 4WD REAR-ENGINED MARCH

CONTENTS

18

PRO STREET BRAWLER 13B TURBO DATSUN 1200

52 36 THINKING FASTER

THE INFAMOUS

SWAGGED-OUT RB30DET LAUREL

UNDER THE SKIN OF NEW ZEALAND’S FASTEST TIN-TOP

70 84 DEATH MARCH 3.0

themotorhood.com

2

POWER HAULER 1JZ-POWERED TOYOTA HILUX

A LOOK AT THE REAR-ENGINE FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE MARCH

CONTENTS

44

60 76

006 EDITORIAL 008 ED. TEAM CHATTER 010 NEWS 014 GIG GUIDE 043 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 080 D1NZ NEWS 082 POWER PLANT 088 WEEKEND WARRIOR 090 P’CAR BABE 092 NAC INSURANCE ADVICE 094 CRUISE MODE 096 PRODUCTS 098 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 100 DAILY DRIVEN 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 DRAG TIMES

90 66

044 LIFE IN STAGES 060 RIDING ON AIR WE SIT DOWN WITH RALLY PRODIGY MIKE YOUNG

2019 SOUTH ISLAND MINITRUCKIN MINITRUCK AND AIRBAG SHOW

066 THE ROAD TO 400MPH 076 SPIT-SHINNING SUNDAY INSIDE COOK MOTOR RACING’S 2019 BONNEVILLE CAMPAIGN

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LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE AT THE ELLERSLIE CAR SHOW

28

DORITO RIOT

2019 REUNION

Pro Street Brawler CHOPPER KEEN IS BRINGING BACK THE TRUE MEANING OF STANCE, WITH THIS DECADE-SPANNING PRO STREET DATSUN ROADSTER BUILD

T

WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

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1981 DATSUN ROADSTER

he term ‘stance’ is undoubtedly one of the most overused terms of the modern automotive era. And while it’s generally employed to refer to cars with nonexistent suspension travel, tyres two sizes too small, and guard gaps measured with a feeler gauge, the true origins of the term, and its use, date back to the ’70s.

This was an era when if you asked about someone’s wheel size they’d state the width not the diameter, your tyres were

two sizes too big, and your front wheels would always be at least a quarter of the width of the rears. Yes, my young pimplefaced social-media warriors, stance was born in the era when Pro Street ruled — a time when drag cars crept the main road on Friday nights and then stormed the strip on Saturday. It’s an era that faded off sometime in the ’90s, and one that never really took hold in the import scene, but Chopper Keen’s ’81 Datsun is rolling proof that it damn well should.

With limited room to work with underneath, 3.5inch oval stainless exhaust tube was imported from the US and snakes its way to a pair of AES mufflers tucked up under the rear of the tray

REUNION ’19 SUPERSIZED ITSELF WITH OVER 400 ROTARIES STORMING TAUPO MOTORSPORT PARK FOR A WEEKEND OF ON-TRACK HAVOC WORDS: NZPC PHOTOS: DANNY WOOD

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F

rom humble beginnings only a few years ago, the 2019 running of REunion showed that the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park–based event has cemented itself as number one in the rotary world. Smashing all previous attendance numbers with a sold-out 405 rotaries on Saturday, we’re pretty confident that that makes it the biggest rotary-only track event on the planet. With entrant numbers like that, it was reminiscent of what you’d consider the golden era of the rotary scene, but, then again, perhaps we’re still living that era. Each year, the bar has been raised in terms of the quality of vehicles in attendance, and this year marked the debut of plenty of standouts — from the rebuilt ‘Madmax’ 26B Turbo FD to Andrew Dremler’s 522kW 20B RX-3, Michael Barker’s 20B peripheral-port (PP) RX-2, Steve Ellicott’s 808 wagon, and even an S-Cargo with a 12A thrown in just for the event.

The complete polar opposite to last year’s event weatherwise — we’d describe 2018 as nothing more than a drowned rat — 2019 was on point, and that made for a much better vibe all round,

something that was not lost on organizer Guy Maxwell: “The vibe was amazing all weekend, especially the respect everyone had for each other, the venue, and our crew. It was near perfect for me. We didn’t have a single crash, and only two oil drops all weekend.” Who says rotaries are unreliable?

So, what is it that makes this event just so damn popular? With three days of heavy track time, cruise sessions, race sessions, drags and burnouts, for most attendees who we talked to, the running theme seemed to be that, at RE, they can actually use their car to its full potential. Most show up with a few sets for the rear, at least 100 litres of juice, and a very heavy right foot. All without any bullsh*t; just rota heads by the hundreds.

With so much to cover and only so many pages to fit it all in, we have decided to keep these words brief so we can cram more photos in of all the action. With the dates booked in already for 11–13 February 2020, the countdown is on for next year, and we’re sure many people are already figuring out how to top the standouts from 2019.

ROBBIE LONGLEY IS A MAN WHO’S NOT AFRAID TO BEAT THE SH*T OUT OF HIS 20B PP 808. BUILT BY GREEN BROTHERS RACING, THE 20B PP RUNS EFI HARDWARE THROTTLE BODIES AND IS BACKED BY A TREMEC TKO 600. RECENTLY THE WAGON HAS TAKEN A LIKING TO PUTTING ON A BIG FLAME SHOW MID SKID AND DIDN’T DISAPPOINT THIS TIME AROUND, TAKING OUT THE NA BURNOUTS FOR ITS EFFORTS

WHO SAYS STEVE ELLICOTT’S LOROTA 808 IS TOO NICE TO SKID NOW? CERTINALY NOT STEVE, WHO TOOK OUT A TON OF AWARDS INCLUDING BEST BURNOUT

THEY SAY THAT ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY, BUT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU VIBE ON THE KIND OF PUBLICITY THAT IT HAS DRUMMED UP, THE ‘SWAGER’ RB30DET-POWERED LAUREL IS ONE HELL OF A TYRE-SLAYER THAT LOOKS EVEN BETTER THAN IT LIGHTS UP

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WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

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LIF ST

FE IN TAGES TALKING RALLYING IN ASIA WITH NEW ZEALAND’S OWN TEAM CUSCO JAPAN DRIVER, MIKE YOUNG!

INTERVIEWER: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: BRIAN YOUNG, MITSURU KOTAKE

NZ Performance Car : Hi, Mike. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to yarn with us. Can you quickly tell the readers who you are and what you do?

Mike: Hey, guys. I’m Mike Young, a 26-year-old rally driver from Opotiki, New Zealand. I’m currently based in Perth, Australia, and I compete in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with Cusco Racing and TRD [Toyota Racing Development].

What sparked your interest in motorsport, and how did you end up driving?

My dad, Brian Young, has been photographing and filming motorsport all his life, and we used to go to events as a family. He tried to get me to take up a camera to follow in his footsteps, which I did for a while, but I didn’t want to stand on the sidelines anymore — I always wanted to be the one driving. I started out in karts at Edgecumbe kart club when I was about 10, then progressed to a rally car around a paddock, and later I got a driver’s license so I could do autocross and hill climbs. My first car club was Motorsport Bay of Plenty, and I’m still a member!

NAME: MIKE YOUNG

AGE: 26 HOMETOWN: OPOTIKI, NEW ZEALAND CURRENT BASE: PERTH, AUSTRALIA DISCIPLINE: RALLY

TOP RESULTS: 2014 FIA APRC RUNNER-UP, 2015 FIA APRC RUNNER-UP ACCOLADES: 2013 FIA ASIA-PACIFIC RALLY 2WD CUP CHAMPION, 2013 FIA ASIA CUP WINNER, 2013 FIA APRC JUNIOR CUP CHAMPION, 2014 FIA APRC JUNIOR CUP CHAMPION, 2014 FIA APRC 2WD CUP CHAMPION VEHICLES: TOYOTA YARIS 4WD, SUBARU IMPREZA WRX, PROTON SATRIA NEO, TOYOTA VITZ

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