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MILWAUKEE STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR W GIANT POSTERS W MEGA BIRTHDAY ISSUE!

B ROADC AS T ANDREW BROADLEY

R EMBE SEPT incl GST

2021

95 T $10. 1.95 incl GS .com.au hine NZ $1 mac street

!:K;S ,!3BD0A6-a ibej

S! PAGE 24 4 E SINC 1981

WEBSITE streetmachine.com.au EMAIL streetmachine@aremedia.com.au

STREET MACHINE MERCH shop.streetmachine.com.au FACEBOOK streetmachinemagazine INSTAGRAM streetmachinemag YOUTUBE STREETMACHINETV MAIL Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 EDITORIAL (03) 9567 4200 SUBSCRIBE streetmachine.subscription.com.au (03) 9567 4104 9am-5pm (EST) Mon-Fri

ELCOME to the 244 pages of beautness that is Street Machine’s 40th anniversary issue. Four decades and counting is a hell of a milestone for any brand, especially in the publishing game, which can be fickle at times. But Street Machine has survived and thrived thanks in no small part to you lot – our readers – and your passion not only for what we do, but for modified cars in general. Thanks for backing SM by buying the mag; consuming, sharing and interacting with our digital content; buying our merch; attending our events; or supporting those who support us. Thanks for building amazing cars for us to feature, sharing your projects with us for Readers’ Rockets and In The Build, and dropping us a line for Your Stuff. I once heard former editor Geoff Seddon say that Street Machine belongs to everyone, and this issue is all about sharing and celebrating our longevity and success with you. Speaking of Seddo, it’s incredibly fitting to have him appear in the mag as this month’s

street machines tend to be built with quality tools, and we simply could not bring you this historic and all-important award without Milwaukee’s valued support. Thanks also to our outgoing sponsor Valvoline for supporting SMOTY since 2009. We have assembled an incredible, diverse field of 16 finalists for the 2021 Milwaukee Street Machine of the Year, all of which have an equal chance at claiming the $20,000 in prize money and having their name etched into the most sought-after dust collector in our sport. And the great thing about SMOTY is that it all comes down to the will of the people. Check out the finalists from page 54, cast your vote by scanning the QR code below, and you’re in with a chance of winning $5000 cash. Just as this issue is about celebrating 40 years of proud Street Machine history, it’s also about looking to the future. Both the Street Machine brand and the scene it is dedicated to have never been healthier, and we’re excited about what’s to come. We’ve got our first-ever electric feature

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE MILWAUKEE STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR BY SCANNING THE QR CODE BELOW, AND YOU’RE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING $5000 CASH Legend, interviewed by his apprentice, Simon Telford. The role these two blokes have played in Street Machine’s enduring success cannot be overstated. Indeed, Telfo has harnessed his encyclopaedic knowledge of SM’s prolific archive and jumped back on the tools to craft many of the awesome special features that I hope will make this a real landmark issue. What do you reckon of the cover? We haven’t had an illustrated cover since 1987, and if you ask me, artist Patrick Skinner absolutely nailed the retro vibe we were after. He’s re-imagined a photo taken by gun snapper Chris Thorogood of our most iconic project car, HQFORU. The car is alive and well under the custodianship of Queenslanders Rodney and Judith Menso. I’m stoked to be able to bring you a feature on it as it currently sits, along with a look at Judith’s incredible LX Torana hatch. What a good-looking garage they must have! As it happens, our 40th anniversary issue is also our September mag, and that means it’s Street Machine of the Year time! Firstly, I’m thrilled to welcome Milwaukee as our SMOTY sponsor for 2021. It’s a fitting partnership given that quality

car, together with a cracking Grunt Hunt yarn on repowering classic cars with electric powertrains. I don’t mind telling you that I personally hold electric cars to be the work of the Dark Lord, but I know they will be of interest to plenty of you, and will become increasingly prevalent as time marches on. Both yarns make for a fascinating read. You’ll also come across a ripping story on direct injection, a recap of Street Machine’s move into the YouTube space, and a feature on a chookcooker, which are indeed few and far between! Lastly, I’d like to offer a heartfelt thanks to all the SM staff and contributors who work so hard each and every month, but this past month in particular. Assembling this mammoth mag was an absolute mission, but at the same time, the highest of privileges. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Broads andrew.broadley@aremedia.com.au s

C O N TEN TS SEPTEMBER 2021 | VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 9

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> FEATURES LEGEND: GEOFF SEDDON ONN

30 54 MILWAUKEE SMOTY 2021 74 LITRE8 ON TRACK 96 ALL FORD DAY 117 A-Z OF STREET MACHINE 128 MOVERS & SHAKERS SM SMOTY HALL OF FAME 137 150 SM PROJECT CARS 158 CARNAGE 196 EXPRESSION SESSION

106

Legendary editor Seddo played a huge h role l in i revamping Street Machine for the 21st century

Who will earn the coveted Street Machine of the Year trophy this year? You decide!

Howard Bell dusts off his iconic ‘SL/R 8000’ Torana for a heart-pounding track day

054

QUALITY STREET With its tough Chev and imposing stance, this HK Prem is ready for the street

Blue Oval fanatics take over Willowbank to strut their stuff after two years away

Brush up on your alphabetical skills and SM history, all in one place!

We pay tribute to some of the hardest workers in our scene

074

Recounting 33 of Australia’s favourite modified cars, all chosen by you

We take a deep dive into the long, wild history of Street Machine project cars

Scotty tells the story of our YouTube house of fun, plus what’s in the workshop now

117

The reader favourite is back, kicking off with a radical EH Holden/El Camino mash-up

> REGULARS

196

07 BROADCAST 12 NEWS FRONT 16 PEOPLE LIKE US 20 SNAPSHOTS 22 FANGING FLICK 25 YOUR STUFF & PRIVACY NOTICE 164 STAFF CARS 174 TECH TORQUE 186 GRUNT HUNT 192 TIME MACHINE 202 YOUNG GUN 206 DRAG CHALLENGE 210 IN THE BUILD 216 IRON MAIDEN 220 URBAN WARFARE 224 DIRTY STUFF 226 IN GEAR 228 READERS’ ROCKETS 236 LOL 238 SUNDAY TOO FAR AWAY 242 MILL OF THE MONTH

242

R EMBE SEPT

2021

machi street

ne.com

.au

! AGES 24 4 P

SINCE 1981

110 SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM This Cortina proves that electric cars don’t have to be soulless appliances

036 WON FOR THE AGES

The HQFORU giveaway Monaro lives on, and it’s as tough as ever!

PURPLE REIGN Judith Menso’s Whipple-blown LX wears a shade that would make even Prince blush

HELLRAISER With a triple rotor and rear-mount turbo, you won’t see this Datto ute making tip runs

046

LIME TONIC

068

SWEET CHARIOT

090

RELATIVE VELOCITY

Frank Vadnjal thrashed tirelessly on this gorgeous XW Fairmont to bring home his injured son

060 This ripper Valiant blends old-world charm with modern style

082 Packing a tough Windsor, Ange and Mitch Wallace’s XP hardtop keeps it classic

PHOTO: CHRIS THOROGOOD KILLA B Andrew Broadley MOJO Leah Gionis, Povi Pullinen, Brendon Wise ONIT Brett Collingwood, Matt Reekie, Jenny Valentish HAMMERTIME Scott Taylor UP4IT Kian Heagney OFFTAP Jack Houlihan UNFAZD Mary Lee S1CKO Paul Cronin IMMORTAL Simon Telford PARTY TIME Aidan’s Design & Illustration, Mark Arblaster, Troy Barker, Cobey Bartels, Dave Carey, Iain Curry, Carly Dale, Simon Davidson, Ellen Dewar, Drag Photos, Matt Everingham, Peter Flint, Mitch Hemming, Ben Hosking, Luke Hunter, Iain Kelly, Steve Kelly, Jordan Leist, Joseph Lenthall, Simon Major, Shawn McCann, Brad McDonald, Tas McMillan, Brad Miskiewicz, Craig Parker, Dave Reid, Chad Silvey, Damion Smy, Shaun Tanner, Chris Thorogood, Steve Titcumb, Glenn Torrens, Noel Tuckey, Boris Viskovic, Rick Welch, Thomas Wielecki, Matt Williams, Ashleigh Wilson

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S TR E E T M A CH INE

COVER ILLUSTRATION Patrick Skinner COMMERCIAL MANAGER – ENTHUSIAST Joseph Lenthall (02) 8114 9421, jlenthall@aremedia.com.au VICTORIAN SALES MANAGER Kim Simonsen (03) 9567 4311 QUEENSLAND SALES MANAGER Todd Anderson 0409 630 733 ADVERTISING PRODUCTION Joanna Garretto joanna.garretto@aremedia.com.au MARKETING SPECIALIST Katie Bastion CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SPECIALIST & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Vin Nguyen CLIENT PARTNERSHIPS Paul McCaig

PRODUCTION SERVICES Di McLarty CIRCULATION MANAGER Stuart Jones GENERAL MANAGER – TECHNOLOGY Tim Kenington GROUP FINANCE MANAGER Cain Murphy CONTENT DIRECTOR – ENTHUSIAST Simon Telford CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Scott Davison CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Christian Clark ARE MEDIA AUTOMOTIVE CEO Andrew Beecher

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N EW S FR O N T

S E P TE M B E R 2 0 2 1: A L L TH E N E W S TH AT M AT TE R S STORY SIMON TELFORD PHOTOS DRAG PHOTOS & SM ARCHIVES

NITRO BREAKAWAY! > 400 THUNDER STRUCK A BLOW AS DRAG RACING’S HEAVY HITTERS JOIN FORCES TO LAUNCH THE AUSTRALIAN TOP FUEL CHAMPIONSHIP

N A huge shake-up for Aussie drag racing, the country’s four active Top Fuel teams have broken away from the IHRA-sanctioned 400 Thunder Series to launch the Australian Top Fuel Championship. Jim Read Racing, Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, PremiAir Racing and Rapisarda Autosport International have all committed to the inaugural series, which will include races in Victoria and WA for the first time in years. “Victorian and West Australian fans have been wanting Top Fuel championship events, so it’s great to add these regions to the mix,” said Rapisarda Autosport International crew chief Santino Rapisarda. Although the calendar is still being finalised, the 2022 Australian Top Fuel Championship is set to include six rounds across four states and territories, with at least six Top Fuel cars planning to race at each round. Three rounds will be brand-new events, while another three will run as part of ANDRA’s Australian Drag Racing Championship rounds. Reading between the lines, Willowbank Raceway will

S T R E E T M ACH INE

not be involved, at least for the first phase. Nathan Prendergast of Ignition Productions and Andy Lopez of Out There Productions, promoters of Street Machine Summernats, have been tasked with running and marketing the series. Both have extensive experience in delivering motorsport festival events. “The focus is to put on a great show and get the fans to the tracks,” said Andy. “We want people to be able to come into the pits and meet the teams. We think that is more important than TV at this stage.” The first round is scheduled for January 2022, with the final round set to be staged in June. “Lamattina Racing is excited to be hitting more tracks with a full field of Top Fuel racers,” said Phil Lamattina in a press release that accompanied the announcement. Bruce Read from Jim Read Racing thanked the 400 Thunder Series for what it had done for drag racing over the past few years. “Even though we’re not part of 400 Thunder in 2022, we encourage fans to continue supporting them,” he said. s

> HOT GOSSIP A GOOD CAUSE MATER Cars For Cancer is celebrating its 100th draw by offering up a bumper prize package, including a limited-edition Mustang Mach 1. The Queenslandbased charity has been operating for 16 years and raised millions to help support cancer research. In addition to the Mach 1, the winner of Cars For Cancer 100 will take home a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, a Patriot Campers X3 camper trailer, $60,000 of cashable gold bullion and plus even more! If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can instead choose a Mach 1, a RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab pick-up, a Harley-Davidson Breakout motorbike, $60,000 in gold bullion and the $2700 Coles-Myer voucher. Each package is worth over $300K! Tickets are $30 and entries close at 7:55pm on 13 September 2021, ahead of the draw on 15 September. QLD: Licence No. 29792; NSW: Permit No. GOCAU/2327; VIC: Permit No. 10270/21; ACT: Permit No. R21/00097. Terms and Conditions apply, visit carsforcancer.com.au.

BIG HITTER AUSSIE boxing royalty Danny Green has put his killer Falcon coupe up for auction at Grays Online. The former world champ has owned his ‘Green Machine’ XB since 2006, and it copped a full rotisserie makeover the same year. It now runs a 541ci, carbfed big-block Ford backed by an auto ’box. “I wasn’t interested in turbos or anything like that,” he told SM. “I just wanted a tough-as-nails V8 that sounded like an angry T-Rex, and that’s exactly what I got.” Danny says the car has done little work under his ownership. “That engine probably only has 3500km on it since it was built, and the car just doesn’t get used like it should. I’d love to see it go to a new home where someone can really enjoy it.” It will hit the Grays auction block on 27 August.

NEXT! JUST as we’re poised to send this historic issue of Street Machine off to print, we turn our focus to October – no rest for the wicked, eh? We’ll head north to Mopar Sunday, then attend the opening of the Shepparton Motor Museum. Our feature cars will range in vintage from a Deluxe Rod Shopbuilt, LS-powered ’34 Chev sedan, to a tubbed, turbocharged, plastic-powered VS ClubSport, so you can bet there will be something for everyone. The October issue of SM goes on sale 9 September. Do yourself a favour!

S T R E E T M AC H I NE

N E W S FR O N T

S E P TE M B E R 2 0 2 1: A L L TH E N E W S TH AT M AT TE R S STORY KIAN HEAGNEY PHOTOS BRAD MCDONALD

TAMWORTH DRAG PLANS FIRE UP > A WORLD-CLASS MOTORSPORT FACILITY IS CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS FOR TAMWORTH, INCLUDING A BRAND-NEW DRAG STRIP

AMWORTH could soon become the motorsport hub of country NSW, with plans to reinvent the Oakburn Park Motorsport Complex into a world-class facility with a speedway, racing circuit and drag strip. The Tamworth Sporting Car Club (TSCC) recently shared a video on its Facebook page outlining the plans in place for the facility. The plans are to progress in three major stages. Stage two is the most important, as it will include the construction of a new 1.2km Touring Car circuit and an ANDRAsanctioned eighth-mile drag strip. Stage three will then see the drag strip extended to a full quarter-mile and the circuit increased to a 3.1km layout. Oakburn Park is just 13km from the Tamworth CBD, with the TSCC regularly using the current 760m short circuit for hillclimb and circuit events, while the speedway has seen great success with bike racing. Bill Ausling is the president of the Tamworth

S TRE E T MA CH I NE

Drag Racing Association (TDRA), which has been running drag events at Gunnedah Airport (80km north-west of Tamworth) for over 25 years. The TDRA, along with other local motorsport clubs, has been lobbying for the upgrades to Oakburn Park for the best part of 10 years, and Bill is delighted that the plans are now seeing the light of day. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the past 18 months, and getting our DA [development application] has been a big part of that,” says Bill. “We had to get our plans basically to the point of being shovel-ready before we could go any further, which is what the video shows you. “The drag strip will be built to both ANDRA and international specs, and the goal is to have everything from junior classes to Top Fuel running down the strip,” he continues. Along with the circuit and drag strip, the stage-two upgrades will also include an area to run driver training programs, as well as workshops and classrooms for education and STEM programs.

The stage-two developments are still awaiting council approval and state government funding, but Bill is hopeful that, if all goes to plan, work will begin next year. “I’d like to hope that by March next year we’d be getting close, and the NSW Government is willing to distribute a decent amount of funding for regional projects, so fingers crossed that can help fund the stagetwo works,” he says. The redevelopment of Oakburn will be a huge boost for country NSW, and will be the only major permanent motorsport facility and drag strip between Sydney and Brisbane, located perfectly between the two capitals to draw interest from both states. “It will really complete Tamworth as the sporting hub of the area, because we already have amazing facilities for equine, hockey and a cycling velodrome, so the council can see the value in creating a major motorsport facility for Tamworth,” Bill says. “It’s really exciting for us and the region – because out here in country NSW there’s nothing!” s

P E O P LE L I KE U S STORY JACK HOULIHAN

PHOTOS S H A U N TA N N E R

MARK ALLEN > MOORABBIN,, VICTORIA

OU’LL find Mark Allen cruising the streets of Moorabbin in his rare Chrysler 300, but he has another cool thing to his name – a copy of every Street Machine issue ever released, right back to the Van Wheels era! He’s brimming with enthusiasm for our mag’s history and what it represents, so we got in touch for a chat. How did you end up with every issue of Street Machine? My grandmother used to take my sister and me to the Great Barrier Reef for holidays, and I bought the April/May 1984 issue up there when I was 13. I was into cars already, but that got me hooked on the magazine! I bought every issue from then on. I moved house a couple of

times over the years, and I was a bit over carting my collection around, so roughly 16 years ago I donated my whole collection to an op shop. Three months after that, I realised how stupid I was! So I went back and tracked down all the ones I’d had, and then found all the earlier ones right back to the first Van Wheels. What’s your favourite era? In the early 2000s I was in my 30s and heavily into the car scene. That’s probably my favourite era, because there were cars you could imagine building yourself. You’d often see them out and about and could get to know the owners and builders. At the risk of tooting our own horn, why have you stuck with Street Machine? Because they’re cars you can relate to. Some

magazines had models draped over the cars, but Street Machine has always been about the cars and the people. It’s something you can open, read from front to back, and then back to front again. We’d better get to this 300 of yours. It’s a 1966 hardtop running the original 440cube big-block and 727 auto. I’ve owned it for three years and it was imported from California a couple of years before that. It’s up on stands right now, as I’m fitting up a set of disc brakes custom-made by Hoppers Stoppers. How many of these cars are getting around? There’s only one other I know of in Australia – same make and model, and it’s in Melbourne, too. They only made this style for about six

STREET MACHINE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN OPEN, READ FROM FRONT TO BACK, AND THEN BACK TO FRONT AGAIN

Mark is well-connected to Street Machine alumni. “I’ve been kicking around with Shannon Heraud [SM, Aug ’18] and Heath Van Der Waerden [SM, Mar ’21] for a few years. They’re way above my skill level with fabricating and building, but having a small feature in the mag is a bucket-list item for me”

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ST RE E T M AC HI N E

Mark says the Best of Van Wheels magazines were hardest to track down, but they eventually cropped up on eBay. Most other back issues came from swap meets in the early 2000s

Although it no longer sports the factory-issued vinyl roof, the 300 still proudly wears its original paint. “As much as I don’t want to use the term, it’s got patina,” Mark laughs

S TR E E T MA C H IN E

017

months, so parts are like rocking horse shit; they’re damn-near impossible to find! What kind of duties does it see? I get out with Melbourne Old School Cruisers, but it’s great to just drive; you don’t have to be going anywhere in particular. There’s nothing I love more than just coming out to the garage and looking at it. It just makes me immensely happy. It gets up and goes when I want it to, but just cruising at the speed limit puts a big smile on my face. How do you go parking it? Finding a space long enough is a challenge! Being left-hand drive, parking isn’t too bad because I can get within a few millimetres of a gutter. But because it’s so low, sometimes

the gutter will stop the driver’s door from opening. I’ve had to climb out the passenger side a few times. Have you owned any other cool toys? My very first car was an HT Kingswood. Later on I had a ZC Fairlane with a stroked 351, when fuel prices weren’t ridiculous. There’s also been Jap stuff like some 60s Coronas and a Datsun 720, but most recently I had a VC Commodore on ’bags, which I drove pretty much everywhere. What do you do for a living? I’m a police officer, of all things! People say, “Really? With that car?” But I’m not trafficoriented; I don’t go around pulling people over. In fact, you may be surprised by how many coppers are in the car scene. s “With cars, I like pretty much everything,” says Mark. “No matter what make, country of origin, whatever – I’ve made a point of buying stuff that you just don’t see often”

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S TR E E T M AC H IN E

“NO ONE KNOWS YOUR P A S S I O N L I K E S H A N N O N S.”

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S N AP S H OT S STORY SIMON MAJOR

5 t r a P

MARK PARSONS

> RIPLEY, QUEENSLAND

S THE new millennium approached, Mark Parsons was celebrating nearly a quarter of a century building hot cars – long enough to have seen certain styles and fads come and go. But what separated Mark from many of his peers was his general lack of brand allegiance – he just loves cars. And if he likes a certain car or can just plain see potential in a particular make or model, he’s always jumped in balls-deep and given each project his all.

01: WELL-known hot rodder Len Moore was a good mate of Mark’s. “He had a very tough green T-bucket that ran a blown small-block Chev, which he would drag-race in a pair of overalls – no rollcage or anything,” Mark says. “He owned a Ford wrecking yard in Yennora and pieced together this XD ute in the late 1980s using a four-bolt 351 Clevo block with 4V heads, topped by a 6/71. A C6 and nine-inch finished it off and it was a popular Summernats car. Sadly, Len died in a car accident in the early 90s and a mate and I bought the ute off his family a few years later. We actually went halves in it – my mate bought the engine and trans and I had the roller. We took it to a few shows as a complete car, then later pulled the driveline. I replaced the supercharged engine with a carbied 351 and FMX, then fitted a plain XD bonnet and grille to replace the LTD combo. The Armorlites were swapped out for Convo Pros and it became my clean driver when we opened our speed shop, The Hot Rod Store. A guy saw it parked there in 1999 and just had to have it. I sold it for $11K and had to start again!”

02: MARK still had his old yellow HiLux ute for towing duties, but was keen to upgrade it to something more comfortable. This 1990 VG Holden ute became his new speed shop company vehicle in 1997. It was a beige, ex-council three-seater with V6 engine and column auto. Mark had been crewing on and towing Mal Gower’s ‘Swamp Rat’ A40 ute for a number of years, and, as a thank you, Mal offered to paint the ute for Mark. “I wanted it painted Black Black; that was the actual colour name and it’s what they use on hearses and the like,” says Mark. “It came up beautifully and looked the part with the VR ClubSport-style front bumper and grille. The wheels were custom-made for it by Center Line from their then-new billet range and really set it off; 16-inch rims were huge back then!” Interestingly, the VN-based VG utes had no Commodore branding anywhere, and were simply marketed as a “Holden ute”.

03: THE Hot Rod Store started out of Mark’s detailing shed as a side hobby, but he soon realised it was easier and more fun selling parts than it was cleaning cars. “When enquiries for parts started to outweigh the cleaning work, we sold the detailing business and went into parts fulltime,” he says. “That was in 1997, and we had an amazing three years, importing parts from the States, being an Aussie rep for Deist and a NSW distributor for Super Plus. My mate Brett turned up one day in a one-owner Yellow Glow XY Falcon sedan he’d recently bought. It basically left the factory as a GT with no stripes, and had the lot – 351, four-speed, nine-inch, 36-gallon tank, six-leaf rear springs and a black GT interior. It was as if the original owner couldn’t afford the full GT so specced one up as close as he could. The build plate showed it was supposed to be Monza Green, and Brett returned with it a year later all resprayed in the correct colour. It looked mint. Our employee, another Brett, was looking for a cool car and scored the XY for $6500 in ’98. A year later, he had a baby on the way and was looking for something more family friendly. Coincidentally, my wife Sonja’s driver was a clean V8 ZK Fairlane with all the fruit, so we did a straight swap for the XY and loved it for the next few years. Sadly, we closed down The Hot Rod Store in April 2000 after a couple of bad turns of luck – the old Eastern Creek strip was shut after Mark Skaife had a bad crash on the VHT-clad racetrack portion, which basically destroyed our core drag racer market overnight,

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plus we lost a heap of stock after a couple of ram-raids cleaned us out. We moved up to Tweed Heads for a fresh start and took the XY with us. We eventually sold it to a GT fanatic in Brisbane for $11,500, which, of course, was just before the ‘first’ big price boom for these.”

04: WITH money burning a hole in Mark’s pocket following the sale of

the XY, he decided to get involved with the resurgence of nostalgia-style drag racing and build a fresh strip runner. Mark and drag racing legend Ken Lowe struck up a friendship, and in 2004 Mark bought one of Ken’s fibreglass 1938 Fiat Topolino bodies. “Ken let my son Ricky and I use his chassis jig, so we would head up to the Gold Coast on the weekends and get busy. Under Ken’s guidance, we sorted the RHS chassis and tube front axle, mounted the four-link and coil-overs, and dummied up the small-block Chev. That super-short diff was pretty famous, actually – it was out of Barry Birt’s ‘Cat Killer’ Hume Performance Monaro. I got right into it, hinging the body to lift up Funny Car-style, and eventually swapped out the Cragar S/S rims for 12-spoke spindle-mount fronts and genuine Halibrand rears. By 2009, it was still not finished as I kept making changes; then I sold it after receiving a very healthy offer.”

05: THE Topolino needed a cool tow rig, so Mark picked up this ’65 F100 for $6000 from Sydney in 2005. The seller had bought it in 1968, still in its dealership guise as a six-cylinder fitted with a trayback. He later fitted an ex-divvy van 1970 ute bed and switched to V8 power. “The bed just didn’t look right, as the width and pressings were a total mismatch, so I hunted down the proper 1965 box and painted it to match,” says Mark. “It’d had the 351 Windsor conversion in the mid-70s and was a real goer. The seller told me he bought the engine from a wreckers who had pulled it from John Laws’s smashed 1970 Mustang Mach I. Yep, the radio announcer had apparently written his off back in the day. Stock and wide cream-painted rims and whitewalls sorted its look, and I got approval to use the Moon signage from Mooneyes owner Shige Suganuma himself – we were set up next to him at Wintersun one year with the Fiat and became great friends. Ricky had started building his own ’65 as the full lowrider-style truck, but a ’55 Chev popped up for sale in 2009 that we needed to fund, and we sold the pair for $11K, minus the Moon livery, of course!

06: MARK’S eldest daughter Karisa fell in love with a baby-blue XP

Falcon as a teenager during one of the family’s Wintersun trips. A few years later, in 2008, Mark and Sonja surprised her with one of her own for her 21st birthday! “We saw a similar one for sale so jumped on it, then hid it in the garage for the big unveil,” Mark says. “We managed to con her into helping lift the garage door under the premise it was broken, and she was left speechless after spotting her dream car staring back at her. She is 35 now and still has the XP – she just loves it and will never sell it. It has been pinstriped and we lowered it a little, and it hums along nicely thanks to a 221-cube six-cylinder and Cruise-O-Matic trans. It’s a cool thing.”

07: ACCORDING to Mark, he can’t help myself: “I’d always buy cars to put away as rainy-day projects, and that’s exactly how this aqua LJ Torana two-door came about,” he says. Mark found it out near Laidley, west of Brisbane, in 2008, and $4500 bought him a tidy six-cylinder S model. He got it running, detailed it to within an inch of its life, painted the wheels black and that was it. It was nestled in the shed as a future build with plans for a respray and V8 conversion. “I realised I’d never get to it, so I popped it up on eBay a year later and sold it for $9K. It went to Victoria and I never heard of it again. This was a sign that prices were starting to go a little haywire, but no one could have predicted what cars like these were going to be worth today.” s S T RE E T MA C HI N E

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F A NG I NG F L IC K STORY JACK HOULIHAN

COOL FLICK FACT: King, an avid AC/DC fan, offered the band a role in the film. They declined.

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE 1986 > “WE MADE YOU! WE EXPECT SOME LOYALTY!”

BREAKDOWN VEHICLES: Western Star 4800, Autocar A64 B, 1978 GMC Brigadier, 1962 Mack B-61, 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, 1980 Chevrolet Malibu, Willys M274, 1973 Chevrolet Step-Van STARS: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, Frankie Faison, Giancarlo Esposito DIRECTOR: Stephen King ACTION: All manner of cars and trucks are smashed, crashed and blown up as man fights machine. A classic BMX rig is even thrown in for good measure PLOT: A truck stop is assaulted by a gang of vehicles possessed by cosmic forces AVAILABLE: DVD, YouTube

S TR E E T M AC HI N E

HOUGH many acclaimed flicks have been based on the works of Stephen King, Maximum Overdrive was the first – and so far last – to have been directed by the horror legend himself. Based loosely on King’s short story Trucks, Maximum Overdrive kicks off with a drawbridge mysteriously rising by itself, sending motorists to their doom to the tune of AC/DC’s Who Made Who. This sets the tone for the rest of the film – machines running amok, soundtracked by more Acca Dacca songs. Much of the action takes place around the Dixie Boy Truck Stop outside Wilmington, North Carolina. Things begin to go awry when a misbehaving diesel bowser blinds an attendant and an arcade gamer (a young Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad fame) is electrocuted. It’s here that we meet parolee Bill (Estevez in his typical ‘delinquent with a heart of gold’ role). The parked trucks then begin to awaken, murdering anybody unfortunate enough to get in their way. Leading the lot is a black Western Star 4800 with an enormous Green Goblin mask fixed to the grille. The prime movers lay siege to the truck stop, trapping a motley crew of survivors inside, including Bill, shrill newlywed Connie (Smith, voice of Lisa Simpson) and Vietnam veteran Bubba (Hingle). As more and more 18-wheelers converge on the holed-up humans to extract blood and diesel, Bill and the others decide to fight back. With an arsenal of M72 rocket launchers stowed by Bubba, they attempt to escape the angry vehicles. Stephen King later admitted to being coked to the gills throughout Maximum Overdrive’s production, labelling

it a “moron movie” and even apologising repeatedly to Estevez for the final result. Its premise begins to fall apart under scrutiny – for example, no cars seem to become possessed, just trucks and electrical appliances – and the mystical elements in the film are hastily explained away at the end as being due to UFOs. Some of the dialogue is painful too: “It’s like Neville Chamberlain giving in to the Nazis,” protests a character when appeasing the trucks is suggested. Despite all of these critiques (plus two Golden Raspberry nominations), this is an absolute hoot of a film. The various punishments dispensed by machines in the opening half are creative, and the trucks feel properly intimidating. Most of the humour sticks – a machine gunwielding Mule utility vehicle as a Morse code-beeping enforcer is especially entertaining. Sound design is satisfying too, propelled by air-started diesels and the Young brothers’ guitars.

VERDICT: 3.5/5 MAXIMUM Overdrive copped a harsh reception on release, but it looks brighter through the rearview mirror. It’s a 90-minute feast of automotive carnage, directed by an off-chops Stephen King. What more do you need to know? s

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Write to: Your Stuff, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 or email streetmachine@aremedia.com.au. Make sure you include your address (not necessarily for publication). Keep it short and sweet!

> LETTER OF THE MONTH SPARK THE FIRE I HAVE made a discovery about the infamous Starfire engine, which was created by cutting down a six-cylinder big-car donk into a four to go into Toyota Coronas and others to meet government quotas of the time. Quick recap for context: the Starfire ran like crap, sucked petrol and quickly gained a reputation for being a piece of shit! I ended up being given one of these Coronas, which inevitably led me into the Starfire quagmire. But here’s the kicker: I

discovered what the fault was! The standard set for the timing was about 15 degrees out. My hypothesis is that the timing mark on the leading pulley wheel had been notched 15 degrees off the correct position, causing the spark timing to be slightly delayed. A delayed spark still lets a car start and run, but as engine speed climbs and sparkadvance becomes critical, the error is exacerbated. Now, I don’t know everything. This may have all been discovered and revealed

years ago. So hey, I reinvented the wheel! My idea is that you acquire one of these things in original condition, put it on a test bed and measure the power outputs, performance and consumption at the two settings. Be thoroughly scientific, then disassemble it and discover/show/prove what the original factory error was. This is not to have a go at the company, but purely for the mystery, the science and the infamy of these things. Ged Maybury, email

KIAN FOR PM KIAN, if you ever decide you’re gonna run for prime minister, you get my vote! After watching the ‘Almost 20 Things you Didn’t Know About Kian’ video on the SM website, I was absolutely floored by how you spoke, along with your whole attitude. It’s a pity that more people in your generation are not that humble. You don’t seem to be out to promote just one thing in the automotive scene. You are right about that fact you just cannot have your blinkers on about one type of car or one type of engine. The options in the auto industry right now are phenomenal. If we have a few

more people with your sort of mentality in higher positions, we may be in a better place. Keep it up, and looking forward to the next cars ’n’ coffee. James Baylis, email

CORONA VARIANT I’VE recently purchased a 1971 Corona 12R-1600cc and was wondering if you could guide me. I have read some of your previous articles regarding motors that suit Corollas, such as 1.8-litre turbo and 2.2-litre aspirated versions. Not sure if this would be the same for a vehicle that came out with a 1.6? Although they seem the same size, they are completely different underneath. Rob, email

HEY mate, as prices for the 3S BEAMS and 4AGs have rocketed of late, a 2ZZ-GE from a Corolla would be a cool engine to jam in, but I think they were only ever offered in transverse layout, never FR. You might be able to use a Toyota 86 Aisin six-speed behind it to convert to north-south layout. If purity isn’t a factor, a Honda K-series from an Accord Euro is probably what I’d do, because you can buy them for $3.85 and there are plenty of kits to run them north-south. There are a lot of aftermarket options (swap kits for E30s, etc), so you may be able to marmalade something together that way, too. – Iain Kelly

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WHEN I’M ’64 MY NAME is Zach and I am nine years old. Here is a picture I drew of my dad’s ’64 EH. My dad bought this car when he was 15 and sold it when he was 18 to buy a house. Twenty years later, it came up for sale and he bought it back all rusty. We are hoping to start fixing it up later this year. Zach Hanton, email

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CLAW MACHINE ANOTHER excellent issue of Street Machine for August, with plenty of awesome machines featured, like the beautiful 427 XT Fairmont. However, I must take you to task with page 10. No, not the picture of the beautiful ’32 Ford three-window coupe, but the cast of Street Machine, or should I say Get Smart? Any Get Smart fan worth their salt will tell you that Jack Houlihan is “THE CRAW! Not The Craw!” Keep up the great work. Phil Minns, email

over Oz. My long-time friend Peter Grmusa with the ATRISK XR Falcon (above) featured in the mag a couple of times – front cover, of course, along with his evil XA front cover. I have his XR Falcon now; I swapped him my HQ ute for it. I go to Canberra for the Summernats each year. As long as Street Machine still covers cars from all around Australia and the great stories, I will definitely keep buying the mag. Well, anyway, hope you like my little story. Keep up the awesome work, Street Machine. Take care. Georgi Andrasik, email

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I’M GEORGI. I have been a subscriber for over 20 years. I am very, very happy with the quality, the pictures and the stories from all

G’DAY Georgi, thanks for your feedback and support! Glad you’re enjoying the mag. – Broads

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WAKE-UP CALL

VER the past few months, Wakefield Park Raceway has faced an ongoing battle with Goulburn Mulwaree Council over a development application. While the application was eventually approved, it came with more than 90 strict conditions, with most relating to noise. They’ve now taken the fight to the Land & Environment Court of NSW. Darren Robertson – More than likely the endangered home of a dead rat so we need to preserve it. Dave Emm – “Progress” wins again, just like it did with Amaroo and Oran Park. Chris Hays – Same shit has been going on at Lakeside for years. Three serial whingers are being appeased to the detriment of everyone else. Angelo Donni – If it needs 90 conditions then it shouldn’t have been approved. Troy Ziggy Cunningham – Only thing going for Goulburn. Surely the council can understand that. Brodie Hogg – I watched the council meeting for six hours. Then, at like 11:30, they said they would adjourn and come back in July! Andrew Salouros – Enthusiasts will be forced out of the sport because of a small number of locals who moved into the area knowing full well that they were going to live near a racing facility. When will common sense prevail? Never, I’m afraid. Corey McAlister – The problem is the whole area, Wakefield included, is zoned rural. The neighbors have a legal leg to stand on; some of those opposing it have

ADVERTISING: Commercial Manager – Enthusiast: Joseph Lenthall Ph (02) 8114 9421. Vic rep: Kim Simonsen Ph (03) 9567 4311. Queensland rep: Todd Anderson Ph 0409 630 733. Advertising Production: Joanna Garretto email joanna.garretto@ aremedia.com.au. Street Machine is published by Are Media Pty Ltd, ABN 18 053 273 546, 54-58 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. © 2020. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0043-4779. Printed by: Ovato Warwick Farm, 8 Priddle St, Warwick Farm, New South Wales, 2170. Distribution: Ovato Distribution. *Recommended price. Privacy Notice: This issue of Street Machine is published by Are Media Pty Ltd (Are Media). Are Media may use and disclose your information in

been there since before the track existed. Do I like that? No. I love Wakefield and I love what they’re planning out there; it’ll be awesome. Do I accept that the neighbors have a legitimate case to argue the track is “too noisy” compared to actual rural use? Unfortunately, yes. Shaun Tanner – Noise? Nearest town is 15 minutes away. Martin Johansen – Countless race tracks around the country have disappeared and it all starts with noise complaints. Maybe it should be in council regulations for building near a race track to have double-glazed windows. Reynold Griffith – Noise will be so sweet, they should be charged for living so close! Adam Henry – The community: “Bloody hoons, our streets aren’t for racing on, why don’t you take it to the track where it’s legal and safe?” Race track: “Sorry, we had to close because the community doesn’t like the noise!” Philip Barnes – Developers sell blocks in new estates once; tourist dollars keep coming forever. Which benefits the people of a town more? Brent Thompson – I’m sure the neighbours will pitch in the $15 million annually to the local economy that the track brings! Matt Black – Spent a day on that track with Leo Geoghegan around 2005. Great memories. Troy Robinson – Anything to do with motorsport is frowned upon, yet tell them it’s for a football field and they’ll throw money at you. Lee Selby – Hope someone in power has the balls to stand up for the track.

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L E G EN D STORY SIMON TELFORD

PHOTOS SM ARCHIVES

MAIN: One of Seddo’s favourite yarns was the exposé on Sydney’s illegal street racing scene that Mark Bramley and Arby did for the November 2000 issue

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AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, GEOFF SEDDON GOT UNDER THE BONNET OF STREET MACHINE AND SUPERCHARGED THE BEST HOT CAR MAG ON THE PLANET

HEN Geoff Seddon became editor of Street Machine in 2000, the magazine was almost 20 years old. It was still a great thing, but was in need of a reboot. The mag was still only coming out nine times a year and the sales weren’t what they could have been. Although he’d been a car guy since birth, ‘Seddo’ was no expert. What he was good at was magazines, and thank Christ for that! With Geoff at the helm, SM got a serious injection of investment, enthusiasm and talent, driving sales through the roof and setting a template that we still follow today.

What came first for you, Seddo – cars or motorbikes? I was into cars from when I could breathe, I reckon. My dad was into cars and all my mates were. Then the motorbikes came a bit later, but I guess they’ve both been around the whole way through.

These days, any kid fresh off his Ps can buy a factory V8 or turbo-six second-hand that makes almost 400hp. What was the raw material when you were a young ’un? I always thought I was pretty lucky to have grown up when I did. I got my licence in 1972. Everybody was into cars; like, everybody. A lot of it was Holdens and Fords, mostly sixcylinder, but we all modified them. It was just what everybody did. And even if you had no money, the cheap cars were the cool cars. I remember I had an EK wagon that cost me 200 bucks, which wasn’t even much money then. And it was a bloody great car. It wasn’t very fast, but it was cool. I think I owned just about every Holden from EK through to HJ.

I had an HK Monaro GTS that cost me a thousand bucks. It was a six-cylinder one. The V8s were quite a bit more expensive.

When did you get into bikes? Back in the 70s, every kid had a dirt bike. And my dad, he encouraged me with the cars; he hated road bikes. So I had to wait ’til I left home. And I started with a GT750 Suzuki. Those were the days when you could start on any size bike. To get your Ps, they just got you to ride around the block, and if you weren’t bleeding too much when you came back, they gave you your licence. It’s amazing any of us survived. But also, there wasn’t the same amount of traffic around. They were more laidback times and the bikes weren’t as fast as they are today.

GT750 sounds fast to me. It kind of was, but I wasn’t really into performance so much in those days. I used to just try and do 100 miles an hour on each of my bikes once, and then I’d never

I WAS A BIG FAN OF VAN WHEELS; THAT WAS A FANTASTIC MAGAZINE. I LIKED THE NAKED GIRLS. AND, OF COURSE, EVERYONE WAS INTO PANEL VANS

go anywhere near there again. I bought a Ducati 900 SuperSport in 1982, and that was a whole different ball game. It loved 100 miles an hour. I was probably still in fourth gear. The thing could do 200km/h easy, and stable. So life changed a bit.

What magazines were you reading as a young bloke? I devoured motorcycle magazines, anything I could get. There weren’t that many around. Ozbike was a bit of a watershed moment. That was the first lifestyle magazine; it wasn’t just about the bikes. It was Harleyoriented, but it was about the lifestyle around motorcycles. And that’s where I got my first stories published in the late 1970s, early 1980s. Then I got some fiction published in Two Wheels and magazines like that.

What about car mags? I was a big fan of Van Wheels; that was a fantastic magazine. I liked the naked girls. And, of course, everyone was into panel vans. Panel vans were just so popular in the 70s; everyone wanted one. I think partly because life was changing. Contraception was around, so there was a lot more sex happening amongst unmarried people, but living together outside of marriage was less common, so that’s why panel vans were so popular. And I guess from there, I got into Street Machine and into the car mags.

When did it turn into a real job? I always thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be a great job to work on a magazine?’ I started testing bikes from the mid-80s for Two Wheels and started full-time in 1988. It was a difficult time financially. I had quite a good job at Tooheys Brewery. I was in a management

S T RE E T MA C HI NE

031

position there, earning lots of money. But I was testing bikes on the weekend, which was putting a strain on my marriage. We had a lot of young kids. Luckily I married very well and Stephanie said, “Well, you’re the one who has to go to work every day, so you might as well do something that you like.” I couldn’t believe when she said that. I went from wearing a suit to work to wearing jeans and a T-shirt. My whole life changed and I just loved it. Loved it ever since. My first regular mag that I ever edited was in 1990, a magazine called Street Bike for Federal Publishing, which was a copy of Street Machine – I was fully into Street Machine then. It was all about modified bikes – short, three- and four-page stories. We also incorporated a bit of the lifestyle stuff from Ozbike. So that’s what an impact Street Machine had on me all those years before. So when I got to Street Machine 10 years later, I copied the copy, if you like.

Journalists and magazine editors come from all kinds of backgrounds. Your training is in accounting and industrial relations, which to my mind is the perfect skillset to be an editor. I think it is. When I started full-time at Two Wheels, the editor was a guy called John Rooth, who went on to become a legendary four-wheel drive journo. John is a close friend to this day. But we figured we were a good match for each other. John’s approach was that you could put anything in the magazine. You didn’t have to follow a format, you could do different stuff. And he had a great style of talking with the reader rather than at the reader. But he appreciated my background in business. And so between us, we were a pretty formidable team.

Did you ever go out on your own? After Street Bike, I started my own magazine called Performance Cycles, but it didn’t last. I was looking through it the other day, the four copies that we did, and it actually made me realise I’ve been doing the same magazine for the past 30 years. I just changed the content.

Where did you go after that? I went to work on The Picture magazine, under

I REMEMBER GOING TO SPRINGNATS THE FIRST TIME AND THERE’S THIS GUY, THIS GURU THERE. HE WAS LIKE PETER BROCK. IT WAS GARY MYERS, OF COURSE a guy called Brad Boxall. At the time it was selling about 150,000 to 160,000 copies a week. It peaked after I left at close to 200,000 copies a week. I asked Brad what the secret was, and he said, “Just surround yourself with geniuses, and play the long game.” That’s held me in good stead. After The Picture, I was founding editor of Ralph. That’s when I thought, “Gosh, this is the pinnacle of my career.” But I learned a few harsh lessons at Ralph. When we started, it was going to be a

much more blokey mag. Actually, the title we were going to call it was Burnout. So it was kind of like the English lad mags, but where they had soccer as a focus, we thought, what’s the Australian focus? What’s the equivalent here? And we thought: Cars. So we had this great mag planned around cars, but as we were developing it, the suits decided to make it more of a fashion, upmarket magazine like FHM. So I went from being the ideal guy for the job to the worst guy for the job. But I learned some lessons there, which I put to good use when I got to Street Machine.

What happened after Ralph? I had a few years in the wilderness, part of which was spent helping Mark Hanna at Street Heat, which was my first exposure to the organised car scene. I’d been into cars all my life, but I’d never been to Summernats. Through Mark I went to Springnats in Shepparton. I remember going there the first time and it was the first time I’d seen an organised burnout competition. And there’s this guy, this guru there. He was like Peter Brock. It was Gary Myers, of course. And I thought, “You people outside this scene have never heard of Gary Myers, but he is such a legend within the scene and a mentor to the younger guys.” Peter Gray was the same.

How did the Street Machine gig come about?

BELOW: Behind the wheel of Norm Hardinge’s roadster at Lake Gairdner in 2003. “That was one of the best days of my life,” says Seddo. “I hadn’t even sat in a hot rod before and now I’m about to do 200km/h in it. And, of course, Norm is winding me up, telling me about getting it sideways. I’ve been back to the salt many times since. It’s just magic – cars doing 200mph, with open pipes. The noise goes on forever”

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LEFT: Ready to rock with Victor Bray at Springnats 2003 BELOW: Seddo is a proud member of the Mangrove Mountain Muscle Car Club and documented the creation of their aluminium-bodied, slantsix-powered HAMBster in the mag. “It still gets raced every now and again. It’s there for anyone who wants to have a taste of drag racing”

Purely by accident. I thought with all the experience I’d had, if I got the Street Machine job, I thought I could have a real crack at this. I figured I’d learned all the good lessons by then – it’s content, it’s delivery, it’s also how to handle the suits. You are allowed to tell them to get f--ked, but you don’t do it all the time.

What did you find on your first day? Street Machine was a bit down on its luck at the time. The company didn’t regard it well. We were wer ere e at an an office offifce out of out at at Epping, E pi Ep p ng g, as you with Wheels Whee eels lss magazine. mag agaz azin ne. And And there the here re e yo ou recall, re w th Wh wi was w s St wa Street tre reet et Machine Machi hine e, ou outt th o tthe e ba back back, ck,, be behi behind hind nd the And th he to ttoilets. ilet ets. s A nd d the he view vie ew was, was, “Oh, “Oh Oh, they’re t ey th e ’rre all all bogans.” bo oga g ns ns.”” “Knuckle-draggers” “Kn K uc Kn u kl k ee-dr d ag dr agge g rss” was ge was the the word wo ord d

they used to use for our readers. I hated that shit. It really got my goat. I did have a mullet and I did wear flannelette shirts and I always liked old Holdens. So that was a real motivation for when I got there, to change that perception, and to get a bit more respect for it within the company and outside, too.

I guess at that point Street Machine was like a car that had a bit of rust and needed a new paintjob. That’s a really good analogy. It did need a freshen-up. It was a bit straight, didn’t take too too many ma any risks. ris iskss. There T er Th ere e was was a rule ru ule le that tha hatt you yo ou couldn’t put American car So coul co u dn ul d ’tt p utt aan n Am Amer erric e can c arr on on the the cover. cove co ver. S ver. ve o when went put GM176 on the cover, w wh en nIw entt to en op ut G M 76 o M1 n th he co c ve err,, tthe he bosses can’t won’t bo oss s ess ssaid, a d, ““You ai You Yo u ca can’ n t do n’ do tthat! hat! IItt won’ ha wo on’ n’tt se ssell.” ellll.” .”” They had no idea Gary Myers And, ea who who h G a y My ar M yer erss wa was. s. A s. nd,, nd Th T heyy h hey ad dn o id dea

of course, it sold its tits off. We also needed more staff. I remember your first job interview; I hired Craig Parker instead! That must have pissed you off.

Ha ha! I didn’t have to wait long for my turn. Craig was the guy I needed at the time. I wanted that genius, the car genius. I remember his CV, there’s his name, his address and his achievements: Winner of Street Machine of the Year 1991. I thought, “F--k, I need this guy.” What really changed the magazine was Brad Boxall wh when hen e B rad Bo rad ra Boxa x lll became xa bec e am ame e the the publisher. pu p ubl b isshe er. Brad doesn’t have B Br rad dd o sn oe s ’tt h a e a single av ssiing ngle le e car ca arr gene gen ne in n his hiss body, but bo b od dyy, bu ut he he’s ’ss the th he e best bes estt magazine ma m aaga g ziine guy ga guy in in the th he world. He gave w wo orl rlld. rld d. H e ga g vve e me me the tth he ammo ammo m I needed neede ee ede d d – increased in incr ncrreaase sed d th the print the p in pr int run, ru un, took too o k the the magazine ma m maga aga g zi zine ne ne

BELOW: The Seddon family ready to head off in their first road trip in the ex-Daniel Johns, 428-powered ’67 Ford Galaxie. The Gal was Seddo’s daily drive for many years

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to 12 issues a year, and brought in a gun art team. He also brought us into the city with the rest of the ACP empire, with Cosmo and The Bulletin and big mags like that. Then we got to spread our wings, rather than just being an adjunct to Wheels. We won some awards not long after that, which was a vindication for me after the Ralph debacle. And also that whole thing about the magazine having respect in the lifestyle, and the car builders having the respect that they deserved. I thought we nailed it by then. It was a very gratifying thing to happen.

What was the big change content-wise? I used to surf and loved surfing magazines. There’s one called Surfing Life published by Derek Riley. It was just a masterpiece. I liked

the way the surfing mags respected their elders and those that had come before, but still took the piss out of them a little bit. Surfing comes with a lifestyle and so do cars. So instead of being a magazine about cars, it kind of became a magazine about the people that drove the cars as well.

How did you tune into the culture? I’d been in the job about two minutes when Arby picked me up in WAR440 and took me up to Newcastle for a burnout comp. I thought, “Wow! This guy has balls!” It was the same when we put a night on at Blacktown Drive-In. Gary Myers happened to be in town and he drove across the city in GM176 to be there. It just didn’t worry him. That was what the magazine was lacking. One time, we took

TOP: Seddo was blown away to be inducted into the Rare Spares Hall of Fame at Street Machine Summernats 2013, joining such legends as Rod Hadfield and Chic Henry BELOW: For a mag that was regarded as being for “knuckle-draggers”, the 2003 Magazine of the Year Awards was a nice moment for SM. We won Magazine of the Year in the Special Interest category, and Seddo won Editor of the Year overall! We also picked up Cover of the Year in 2007

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a photo of Gary chirping outt the hi i the th tyres t th front f t of Sydney Uni with a government bus behind it. Would you get away with that today? I think the mainstream media is a lot more anti than they used to be. To me, it’s not about if your car is legal, it’s if you have the balls to drive it on the road. I’ve always thought a streetregistered car was a street-registered car, whether it’s legal or not.

When you took over in 2000, the four-cylinder scene was huge. Was there pressure to go that way? I had lunch with (Street Machine founding editor) Geoff Paradise a couple of times early on. He was a fantastic bloke and a real car guy. He was a big fan of the direction we went in but we disagreed on a couple of things. He thought we should get more

into the import cars. He remembered how the hot rod guys shunned the street machine guys in the 70s. But, if anything, I made the mag more V8-focused than ever. I don’t think we even ran many six-cylinders until you came along [laughs]. The great example for me was when they brought the 2.0-litre Touring Cars to Bathurst. Nobody turned up! Then the V8s came a few weeks later and the joint was packed. I like V8 cars and twocylinder motorbikes. There is a reason they’ve kept making V8s for so long, and it’s not the performance.

What was your first Summernats like? I remember walking into the Elite Hall for the first time and seeing so many incredible cars. I was glad I wasn’t the guy picking the cars because I thought, “All these cars are amazing! Let’s run every single one!” I thought it was a fantastic event, but I did struggle with the wild side of it. I’d been to the Hell’s Angels concerts at Broadford, but to me they seemed more disciplined in their anarchy. Summernats just didn’t seem like a safe place to bring your wife or daughters. I butted heads with Chic Henry on that issue for a while. Chic would say, “It’s not a Sunday school picnic!” And he was right; you wouldn’t want it to be. I loved meeting guys like the Thirlmere Fryers. They had these wild, hugely powerful cars. They weren’t there to put their cars in a show; they were there to kill tyres. I’ve been back quite a few times and loved it. I think bringing the music to the fore was a great idea. I saw Airbourne there for the first time; what a great band. And Drapht – he’s not the guy I’d normally go to see, but I thought he was incredible.

Is it true Holden invited us to be involved with Efijy? They flew me down to Melbourne to talk about it with (GM-H designers) Mike Simcoe and Richard Ferlazzo. It was top secret; I was sworn to secrecy. They had computer renderings of the car and explained what they wanted to do,

TO ME, IT’S NOT ABOUT IF YOUR CAR IS LEGAL, IT’S IF YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO DRIVE IT ON THE ROAD how they’d scaled it to fit a Corvette chassis. Then they asked if we’d like to build it. I went back and spoke to Craig Parker and Phil Scott, who was our publisher then. This was around the time Ben Gatt built his Zephyr, so it seemed achievable, but there was no money to do it and we didn’t have a workshop. The Holden guys were disappointed, but I thought it would kill us. So they built it in-house and I’d have to say that was the best car we ever featured in my time. That and Adam LeBrese’s EH.

What was your favourite cover? The one with Simon Kryger’s Torana on it: ‘Drive It Like You Stole It’ (SM, Sep ’01). That really captured what we were trying to do. And the one with Mark Miocevich’s XB: ‘Baby Got Back’ (SM, May ’04). [Magazine designer] Sonia Blaskovic came up with that line.

Favourite story? We did a story about street racing called ‘The Dark Side’ (SM, Nov ’00) and sent Arby and the photographer Mark Bramley out to do it. It was difficult to organise and it caused all sorts of trouble with ANDRA, but I really like that story. Another great one was ‘Bob’s Beers and Burnouts’ (SM, Jul ’03), about a shed party down near Gundagai that Simon Davidson shot. My only regret was that the guy in the passenger seat of the cover shot was holding a VB can, so we changed it to make it look like a can of Coke.

Biggest mistake? Putting a hot rod on the cover. I saw Pete Denny’s Willys and thought, “That is the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen, let’s put it on the cover (SM, Dec ’00).” And it tanked [laughs]. But we started Street Machine Hot Rod mag later and that was a great thing.

I’ve got an awesome photo of your Ford Galaxie with a box trailer behind it, surfboards on the roof and about 45 children in the back. What’s the story behind that? That was taken the day I bought the car! I’d seen it for sale at a car yard just before Summernats. I thought if it was still there when I got back, I’d buy it. The owner was Daniel Johns from Silverchair and our whole family were massive Silverchair fans. It was in great condition and he’d spent a lot of money on it. And it had a 428 in it, instead of the 390. Up until then, the biggest engine I’d had was a 318 in a Dodge Phoenix! I picked it up Saturday morning and drove it home and backed it into the driveway. We already had the box trailer packed with camping gear. We filled up the boot with all our stuff, put the board racks on the roof and the surfboards on, ’cos it wasn’t a hobby car, it was actually a family truckster. So we headed off on a fourhour trip up the coast for our family holiday. We’re driving along and Tom, the oldest son, in the backseat, said, “What’s that vibration?” I’m like, “What vibration?” I’m cursing myself for trying to drive all this way with an untested car. But, being a rock star’s car, it had a rockstar stereo in it, and the vibration was the subwoofer. Phew! I’ve had that car 20 years now. I’ll never sell it.

So you’re a Ford guy now? Well, I was a Holden guy for a long time. I think I’m more of a Ducati guy than a Ford or a Holden guy. I love playing guitar these days, so I’m probably even more of a Fender guy than anything else! s

BELOW: Seddo aboard our Street Bob project bike, which we reluctantly gave away to a loyal SM subscriber in 2011. These days, Seddo is the editor of the excellent Retro Bike mag

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ON MAJOR STORY SIM OOD RIS THOROG H C S O T O H P

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R O F N O W

S E G A E H T

C I N O C I E H T , 6 8 9 ET MACHINE IN 1

E R T S S T I Y H B T I Y A W W E A F I L N E D V I E G ARM H C A G N I V I L N E ‘HQFORU’ HAS BE DNEY AND JUDITH MENSO SAVIOURS RO

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TREET Machine has built a number of awesome project cars over the past 40 years, but not many can hold a candle to the popularity and longevity of our sixth build, the HQFORU Monaro. Maybe it’s because it was our first project to be given away to a reader. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to beat the iconic shape of an HQ Monaro. Or perhaps it’s just because HQFORU was tougher than Japanese maths. Whatever the reasons, this car has lived long in our collective memory. Fortunately, it’s also lived long in the garage of street machining power couple Rodney and Judith Menso. Late in 1985, I was one of the many starry-eyed SM tragics who dutifully cut out the entry coupons, checked and rechecked the postal address and double-licked the stamp as I sent in my entry in the hope of winning HQFORU. At 12 years of age, I had formulated a plan to win the Monaro, drive it straight to The Gap State High School and drop a massive Christou-spec burnout in the parade

BODY: There is no mistaking HQFORU. Those pumped steel guards, colour-coded bumpers and blacked-out trim pieces combine perfectly with the Porsche Guards Red paint. The reverse-cowl scoop is a more recent addition following the switch back to a non-blown donk, but works in nicely with the period front spoiler and Chevelle-inspired LS Monaro/Premier twinheadlight front

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ground. The chance of expulsion or my lack of a driver’s licence never even factored into it. Ironically, in 1986 I did see HQFORU throwing smoky hoops in the car park at the Albany Creek Tavern, and I felt kind of gutted that it wasn’t me in the driver’s seat. But I do digress. So just how did HQFORU become such a legend? After all, Street Machine project cars weren’t a new concept. Between 1981 and 1985, we had a stack of ’em. There was a banana-yellow Mitsubishi L200 mini-truck and a Mazda 323 café racer – hey, it had twin carbs! There was scribe John Wright’s ‘Cheap Thrills’ Charger, art director Lindsay Hannington’s V8 Jag project, and founding editor Geoff Paradise’s ’57 Chevy sedan, ‘Heaven’. The difference with the HQFORU build was that some lucky bastard was going to win it! It was the brainchild of then-editor Phil Scott, who believed a giveaway car was a sure thing to drive up sales. Phil entrusted the project management to motor racing legend and KB’s Workshop

HQFORU WAS THE BRAINCHILD OF THEN-EDITOR PHIL SCOTT, WHO BELIEVED A GIVEAWAY CAR WAS A SURE THING TO DRIVE UP SALES

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tech guru Kevin Bartlett. An HQ Monaro LS was sourced through a relative of a mag employee. The car was tired but straight, its faded green paint and black vinyl roof pretty much standard fare for a then-14-year-old daily basher, which had dutifully ferried its bank manager owner around for a number of years. In May 1985, the old Quey was famously single-pegged into the workshop to be stripped down for an intense makeover, emerging just in time to be shot for the cover of our December 1985 issue. In that five-month stint, the vinyl roof was given the flick and all four guards expertly pumped in steel – necessary to house fat 10- and 12-inch-wide Compomotive three-piece wheels. To tie in with the build’s staunch, Sports Sedan-esque theme, front and rear spoilers were added, along with HK GTS flutes. After ensuring the shell was perfect, Phil Travers aced the iconic Porsche Guards Red hue by flowing on layers of Acran, including colour-coding the bumpers and the Gemini mirrors. It was here that things nearly went pear-shaped. Thieves broke into the panel

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shop, but thankfully they left the freshly painted HQ shell well enough alone. KB and the good folks at Lynx Performance screwed together a stout 350 Chev package, running era-perfect double-hump ‘fuellie’ heads and all the good stuff to make it honk, while a shiftkitted Turbo 400 trans and nine-inch conversion rounded out the driveline upgrades. Inside the cabin, a swathe of black and anthracite trim was wrapped over all surfaces, including the König front buckets, complemented by NOS GTS dash componentry, a Kenwood stereo and a suede-wrapped Momo sports wheel. Forty-thousand entries later, the winner of HQFORU was announced in our March 1986 issue. Dale Cooper from Brisbane was the aforementioned lucky bastard, and the HQ began its new life in Queensland, the state where it still resides today. Dale didn’t hang onto the car for long before unloading it to a car yard in Brissie, and from there it made its way to the small town

FORTY-THOUSAND ENTRIES LATER, THE LUCKY WINNER OF HQFORU WAS ANNOUNCED IN OUR MARCH 1986 ISSUE ENGINE: HQFORU’s original 350 Chev again resides in the engine bay after a stint where the car was powered by a 600hp, supercharged Dart-based small-block. A flat firewall and smoothed inner guards are more recent additions that only add to the quality and finish of the original build. Those awesome Holley tappet covers are the original engraved HQFORU jobs that have survived the past 35 years

STANCE: That’s how you Monaro! The stance, colour and body mods came to fruition in 1985, but are still as cool as ever. The 15in Compomotive three-piece wheels measure in at 10in front and 12in rear widths, with full black centres now in place to better complement the lack of factory chrome. Rodney scored the Queensland HQFORU plates from Judith and her brother Jeff as a Chrissy present – a fitting nod to the originals

INTERIOR: König front buckets remain from 1985, but were retrimmed with red vinyl inserts as part of an interior revamp in 2010. The GTS dash has been replaced by a custom fascia with a brace of aftermarket gauges, while the original Momo wheel was swapped out for a red-bound billet item. The current interior is probably the biggest deviation from the car’s ’86 incarnation

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WHEN YOU’VE HAD A CAR FOR SO LONG, IT BECOMES PART OF YOUR FAMILY, AND I REALLY LOVE HAVING THAT CONNECTION WITH THE HQ

of Richmond in North Queensland. By 1991, the HQ had been left baking under a tarp in Townsville for a few years before being spotted for sale in the local rag by Jeff Granshaw – Judith Menso’s brother – who rebuilt the 350 and tidied the car up a little. When Jeff decided it was time to move the HQ on, he didn’t have to look far for new owners. Rodney and Judith took the reins in 1996, and Jeff, along with Rodney’s brother Trevor, chipped in to help the couple as they embarked on a bare-metal respray. It helped that Rodney is in the paint and panel game in their hometown of Ayr in North Queensland. The HQ was finished in time to hit the road for Summernats 12 at the end of 1998. They drove the HQ 4500km during that trip – yep, not trailered – and returned home with the trophy for Top Mild To Wild Custom. The pair then spent the next decade enjoying plenty of local shows and even some Townsville drag strip action, where the Monaro clocked a credible 12.65@105mph best.

The HQ was pulled down again in 2010 for a full body-off-chassis respray, at which point the original 350 Chev was replaced with a 6/71-blown small-block combo that belonged to Jeff. This, along with a heap of detail refinements and a more modern retrim in a combination of red vinyl and black cloth, reinvigorated the Monaro – HQFORU 2.0, if you will. “We’ve been determined custodians of the car; I think that’s the best way to describe it,” Rodney says. “I’m a car guy and still wanted to put my stamp on it while keeping it as a bit of a time capsule and tribute to the skill and workmanship of the people involved in the original build.” While the blower and extra neddies it offered were cool, Rodney and Judith missed the freedom of being able to drive it without the worry of any unwanted attention, so have since refitted the original aspirated 350 and made the bonnet a little more modest by covering the supercharger cut-out with a reverse-cowl scoop.

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The engine is due to come out to for a freshen-up and to tidy some oil leaks – it has been 25 years after all – but between the build of Judith’s HER LX Torana (see full feature on p. 60), which debuted at Rockynats this year, and plans to take the hatch to both MotorEx and Summernats, it will have to wait its turn. There is also an EK sedan in the wings that is begging to be built, along with Rodney’s great-grandfather’s 1928 Rugby truck that was used on the family sugarcane farm, which he’s keen to do up for its 100th birthday. “I’d love to build a TX Gemini sedan, too. I had one as a first car, which was a real piece of crap, so it’s more just a sentimental thing. I think I can hear Judith sighing,” Rodney laughs. One thing is for certain: HQFORU will not be leaving the Menso shed any time soon. “When you’ve had a car for so long, it becomes part of your family, and I really love having that connection with the HQ,” Rodney says. “It may not have twin turbos, 3000hp or 40-inch wheels, but it’s all about the memories. We’ve had so many great times with HQFORU and met so many amazing people because of it. Isn’t that what being car people is all about?” s

RODNEY MENSO 1971 HOLDEN HQ MONARO LS Colour: Guards Red

DONK Make: Chevrolet 350ci Block: Factory cast Camshaft: Cam Dynamics

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Pistons: Hypereutectic Heads: Cast iron doublehump ‘fuellies’ Intake: Edelbrock Victor Jr Carb: Quick Fuel 650 double-pumper Exhaust: Pacemaker tri-Y extractors, twin 3in system

IT MAY NOT HAVE TWIN TURBOS, 3000HP OR 40-INCH WHEELS, BUT IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MEMORIES

Ignition: Mallory electronic distributor, Eagle leads Cooling: HQ radiator modified to five-core

SHIFT Transmission: Turbo 400, shift-kitted Converter: 3000rpm stall

Rodney and Judith Menso have been custodians of HQFORU for 25 years now, and have road-tripped it up and down the Queensland coast on numerous occasions – and further south to Summernats. “We even did a couple of hot laps around Mount Panorama on the way,” Rodney says. “I still get a buzz when we’re at a car show and someone says: ‘Hey, I tried to win this!’”

Diff: Ford 9in, 3.25:1 gears

Master cylinder: HQ

ROLLING STOCK BENEATH Front: Lowered King Springs, Monroe shocks Rear: Lowered King Springs, Monroe shocks Brakes: HQ discs (f), Ford discs (r)

Rims: Compomotive three-piece; 15x10 (f), 15x12 (r) Tyres: Nankang 255/60 (f), BFG 295/50 (r)

THANKS Judith; Jeff; Trevor; Phil Jones (devoted fan); Mick 'Grizzly' Adams (equally devoted fan); everyone who was involved with the original build back in 1985; everyone that’s ever seen us at a show and came up to say hi!

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STORY CARLY DALE

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PHOTOS CHRIS THOROGOOD

LIME TONIC FRANK VADNJAL’S SON NICHOLAS WAS IN HOSPITAL, SO HE DECIDED THE BEST WAY TO BRING HIM HOME WAS IN A 10-SECOND FAIRMONT

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OR Frank Vadnjal, cars are more than just fun toys to cruise around in on sunny Sunday arvos. Cars have provided an opportunity to work beside family and friends, to share in the joy of achieving something, and to build stronger bonds. His Lime Frost XW Fairmont is the epitome of that, and it’s been the catalyst for a stable of stout streeters that Frank and his 20-year-old son Nicholas have built up over the past few years. Frank bought the 1970 Fairmont after a chance sighting at a car show in 2014. “I saw the XW for sale at the Picnic at Hanging Rock Classic Car Show,” he says. “It was a totally unmolested factory V8 Fairmont that had sat around for the past 18 years.” While Frank wasn’t chasing an XW per se, as a keen enthusiast, he knew that he’d found gold. “Getting a factory car in original condition is getting harder and harder,” he says. And with that simple truth, a deal was quickly sealed. Then, tragedy struck. “Nicholas was 14 years old at the time and had become badly injured,” Frank recalls. “He had to be in hospital for six months, so I put the car on the back burner and gave all of my attention to him.” But Nicholas had other ideas. “Not long after Nicholas had gone

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to hospital, I was visiting him and he asked that when the time came, he’d like to be brought home in the built XW,” Frank says. “So, I hit it hard to make it happen.” Frank pulled out all the stops, calling in help from family and friends to get the XW sorted within the tight timeline. First up, the factory donk was pulled in favour of a stout 417-cuber. “I had previously worked at Holden’s Fishermans Bend plant with James Melmoth, who now owns Melway Competition Engines,” says Frank. “James suggested this combo and it’s a testament to him as we use the car a lot with no hassles.” With such a trusted workshop as MCE on the case, the Ford Windsor block had a ton of worthy parts lobbed at it, from a tough Scat crank, Compstar conrods, Manley slugs, custom bumpstick, solid-roller lifters through to a pair of CHI Kaase C400 heads. A CHI manifold sporting a Holley Dominator 1050 carb tops the lot. Overall, it’s a very healthy set-up that’s been bolted together right and pounds out a hefty 747 neddies at the flywheel. Further down the line, everything is adequately updated to take a hiding. We’re talking a manualised C4 trans mated to a Dominator

I SAW THE XW FOR SALE – A TOTALLY UNMOLESTED FACTORY V8 FAIRMONT THAT HAD SAT AROUND FOR THE PAST 18 YEARS

ENGINE The 417-cube motor will soon cop a ProCharger upgrade along with additional go-fast necessities that should see the XW easily shoot into the nines ENGINE BAY In addition to the insane 727-hp, 417ci Windsor donk, there’s actually a bunch of sensible functionalities in the bay. Frank and Nicholas cruise the XW often, therefore the heater is just as important as the oil catch can WHEELS Black Weld Magnums look striking against the stunning factory Lime Frost hue, and nicely enhance the XW’s tough credentials

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FRANK VADNJAL 1970 FORD XW FAIRMONT

SUSPENSION & BRAKES

Front: King Springs, Calvert shocks Rear: CalTracs, Calvert shocks Brakes: Ford XF discs (f), ENGINE Ford XW drums (r) Brand: 417ci Ford Windsor Induction: Holley Dominator 1050 Master cylinder: Ford XW carb Manifold: CHI WHEELS & TYRES Heads: CHI Kaase C400 Rims: Weld Magnum; Camshaft: Custom solid-roller 17x3.5 (f), 15x8.5 (r) Conrods: Callies Compstar Rubber: Mickey Thompson; Pistons: Manley Performance 165/70/17 (f), ET Street Crank: Scat 255/60/15 (r) Oil pump: Melling, ASR sump, catch can THANKS Fuel pump: Aeromotive James Melmoth at Melway Cooling: Aluminium radiator, Competition Engines; DTM Meziere water pump, twin Automatic Transmissions; Ross Spal fans at Fitzroy Motor Body Repairs; Exhaust: 2in custom headers; Roy at Classic & Custom Exhaust 3½in exhaust; MagnaFlow mufflers Factory; Pat Mesiti at Sunshine Ignition: MSD Motor Trimming; GT Ford Performance Shop; La Rock Auto Electrical; Chris’s Differential DRIVELINE Services; Pat Caruso for all his Trans: Ford C4 manualised help during the build; my wife Converter: Dominator 5500rpm Kathryn for letting me dabble in Tailshaft: Custom 4in Diff: 9in, 31-spline axles, Truetrac, cars; my youngest son Daniel, who is my cruising partner! 4.11:1 gears Paint: Lime Frost

IT’S A VERY HEALTHY SET-UP THAT’S BEEN BOLTED TOGETHER JUST RIGHT AND POUNDS OUT A HEFTY 747 NEDDIES AT THE FLYWHEEL

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5500rpm-stall converter, backed by a nine-inch stuffed with 31-spline billet axles, Truetrac, and 4.11s. Frank’s timeline was tight, and no doubt his head wasn’t always in the game, yet at no point did he skimp on quality. His son deserved a superior build. Underneath the car, Frank and co. went to town, with the entire suspension copping a thorough going-over to handle the bounce, twist and stop. Calvert CalTracs were bolted under the rear, with Calvert shocks positioned at all four corners. Fresh XF disc brakes feature at the pointy end, with the rears retaining the factory drum set-up. Rounding out the drag-spec sleeper vibe are sinister black Weld Magnums with Frank opting for tall ’n’ skinny 17x3.5-inch fronts with short and fat double-beadlocked 15x8.5-inch rears. Back on top, fresh paint has only been laid where required, with the engine bay and reverse-cowl bonnet copping a fresh lick of Lime Frost to match with the original duco. The retro revival continues inside, where Sunshine Motor Trimmers have whipped up a Saddle trim to complement the factory appointments. Frank chose to retain all original functionality and design with only a couple of sneaky additions, such as Auto Meter gauges and a B&M shifter. By 2016, Nicholas was homeward bound, and the XW rolled out of the shed for the magical moment it was intended for. Since then, not only has Nicholas gone from strength to strength, he now works in the shed right alongside his dad. “We’ve just finished building a 600kW GT-R Skyline together,” Frank says with a grin. “Plus, we have a pair of matching VL Berlina sixcylinder turbos too. Mine has 500rwkW, and Nicholas’s will be worked next.” With all of that going on, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the XW may’ve been shimmied down the line, but that’s not the case at all. “I raced the XW once, running 10.4sec off the trailer,” says Frank. “Soon it’ll be getting a ProCharger, which will yield over 1000hp, so we are going to ’cage it and add racing seats and updated brakes.” The best part? This time around it will be a father-and-son project. s

PAINT The majority of the Lime Frost duco is original, and for good reason. “We use the XW a lot,” Frank says. “It’s done a lot of trips all over Victoria; it’s not a show pony. That’s the reason that I didn’t respray it – I want to drive it” INSPIRATION Nicholas (pictured on opposite

page) is keen to be involved with the planned ProCharger upgrades to hopefully send the XW into the nines and beyond INTERIOR Sunshine Motor Trimmers did a stellar job of maintaining the factory appointments, with Frank’s minor additions of a B&M shifter and Auto Meter gauges only barely noticeable

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IT’S TIME AGAIN FOR YOU, DEAR READER, TO DECIDE WHICH CAR HAS EARNED THE TITLE OF MILWAUKEE STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR!

TREET Machine of the Year is one of the longest-running, most prestigious, most lucrative and certainly most democratic prizes in the Aussie car-crafting scene, with $20,000 and eternal bragging rights on the line. For a tilt at winning, a car must have been built primarily in Australia and featured in Street Machine over the past year. Like last year, we’ve turned to SM staff and contributors to select the 16 finalists. A grand total of 60 cars ended up with at least one vote from a member of our team, reflecting the number of incredible builds that have graced our pages of late. The addition of our 2020 Yearbook made the decision even harder by throwing more amazing metal into the mix. Now it’s up to you to decide who takes home the perpetual SMOTY trophy and the $20K grand prize, thanks to our friends at Milwaukee.

This year’s list features eight Holdens, five Fords, one Chevy, one Dodge and one Toyota. Finalists range from incredibly finished show cars to bigpower drag racers, pro tourers and even a limiterbashing drift machine.

YOU CAN WIN TOO! IT'S not just SMOTY finalists who are in with a chance to win a fat stack of cash. All you need to do is vote for your favourite car and you go in the draw to win a cool $5000 to spend however you like, so lodge your vote today!

HOW TO VOTE VOTING is easy! Just head to smoty.com.au, follow the prompts to the entry page and fill out the form with your full name, mailing address, phone number and email address. If you need a refresher on any of the 16 finalists, head to our website to view each one’s feature story.

Conditions apply, see www.smoty.com.au. Commences 13/08/21. Ends 23.59 AEST on 20/09/21. AU and NZ residents 18+. Only one entry per person. Drawn at Are Media, 73-75 Atherton Road, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 on 28 September 2021 at 11:00 AEST. Prize: $5000. The Promoter in Australia is Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546) of 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 (phone: (02) 8268 8000) and in New Zealand is Are Media Limited (8042050) of Level 1, 317 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland City 1021. Authorised under permit numbers: ACT TP 21/01167.

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CHAD RIBBONS HD HOLDEN JUNE 2021

CHAD Ribbons’s HD is a stunning tribute to his late dad Scott, who spent many years behind the wheel of the ute. The spotless build incorporates Scott’s favourite things – a can of Coke, thongs and a hot Holden six – melded with Chad’s own mini-trucking background. Chad did most of the work himself in just one year, finishing the ute days before Summernats 33. Neat custom touches include a new tray floor, smoothed engine bay and air suspension all ’round.

LOUIS YOUNIS LJ TORANA MAY 2021

WITH a massive 14/71 blower hanging from the engine bay, Louis Younis’s blacked-out LJ is positively bad-arse. The car has run in the eights on a previous nitrous combo, and the all-new EFI 377-cube small-block makes a monstrous amount of grunt. The car has also competed in Street Machine Drag Challenge and has a Summernats Top 60 credit to its name. And did we mention it’s street registered? What a weapon!

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DAVID

CHEVY CAMARO APRIL 2021

THIS right-hook, pro touring ’69 Camaro is the first car in Australia to run a Mercury Racing SB4 engine – a 7.0L DOHC V8 based on the LS bottom end. Once broken in, Dave will be sending the Image Conversions-built Camaro all the way to 8000rpm! With an Art Morrison C6 Corvette-derived front end, rack-and-pinion steering, double-adjustable coil-overs and 14-inch Wilwood stoppers, it’ll carve corners and stop on a dime.

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PETER SHARP HQ MONARO JULY 2021

THE SHQRP Monaro is one of the most comprehensively modified cars ever built in Australia. The Down Town Kustoms-built HQ has copped a full ‘wide-body’ treatment and extensive mods all over. It also packs a perfectly fitted VZ Commodore interior for modern comfort. With everything going on, it’s almost easy to forget the stonking Harropblown LS3 lurking in the engine bay. Tech touches include a raft of LEDs, hidden reversing camera and heaps of sound-deadening stuff.

smoty.com.au

DANNY PROBERT XD FALCON MARCH 2021

DON’T be fooled by the big Group C bodykit – Danny Probert’s Barra-powered XD is a very different beast to the one Dick Johnson punted around Bathurst. XDrift is a comprehensively assembled drift weapon that packs a custom front end with S14 Silvia geometry, with AU-based IRS out back. A limiter-smashing Barra filled with FG F6 parts and a four-speed dogbox help keep the big Falcon sliding sideways, while four-pot Brembos rein it in.

COLIN BYRNE

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER MARCH 2021

WHILE it’s rare to see a Land Cruiser in Street Machine, Colin Byrne’s mental big block-powered example is the real deal. If the groundscraping ride height doesn’t give that away, try the 1200hp, 8/71blown 540 Chev up front! Colin bought the Cruiser as a fire-damaged write-off and sold most of the parts to Toyota wreckers, making most of his money back in the process. Lots of wily fabrication went into fitting the donk and dropping the body over huge 24x15 wheels.

JOHN DENNIS FORD ESCORT JANUARY 2021

THE sole four-pot among this year’s finalists, John Dennis’s Nissan FJ20-powered Mk1 Escort features plenty of no-nonsense track-car cues. After the tragic passing of The Chop Shop’s Laurie Starling, last year’s SMOTY winner Aaron Gregory took over the build, and John’s now got a street/track weapon that handles well and is driven hard. It’s tough on the outside, too, with RS2000style guards, custom diffuser and spoiler, and fat 17-inch wheels.

GRAHAM MILLER EH PANEL VAN JUNE 2021

GRAHAM Miller’s latest tilt at an EH Holden yielded this gorgeous panel van. Between the rails lies a 430hp Chevy ZZ383 crate motor topped with Borla EFI stack injection. Attention to detail abounds, typified by touches like the ultra-smooth bonnet cut-out and extended instrument binnacle that holds extra gauges. Such finesse extends into the van’s rear, which is finished with oodles of black leather. S TR E E T M A CH I N E

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DANIEL DIBELLA XB FALCON FEBRUARY 2021

THERE’S more to Daniel DiBella’s smooth Falcon 500 than meets the eye. The biggest surprise is an E85-drinking Coyote quad-cam V8, fed by two snails and laying down 900hp at the wheels. Daniel was an early pioneer of the less-than-common swap, facing plenty of challenges along the way. He’s also strayed from the GT-replica crowd, keeping the tidy exterior subtle. The XB is a true streeter, with Daniel getting it out every weekend for at least 100km of driving with the fam.

DANIEL WICKMAN XM FALCON DECEMBER 2020

DANIEL Wickman stayed true to his Falcon’s straight-six heritage, and with a 1086hp dyno figure, he’s none the worse off for it. Heaps of work has been done to keep this Barra-powered beast manageable, including a heavily reinforced chassis, three-link rear, custom front end, coil-overs and huge Brembo brakes. The bodywork is incredible too, from shaved mouldings to custom glass. There’s even six seats inside for Daniel’s whole family.

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JON MITCHELL

DODGE CHALLENGER AUGUST 2021

THE only Mopar in the running this year, Jon Mitchell’s 1970 Challenger is also the biggest-cube car on the list. The aluminium 605ci Indy Maxx Hemi offered enough grunt to be the NA bigblock dyno champ at Chryslers on the Murray 2020, while a massive fibreglass bonnet and 295 rear meats leave an indelible impression. Though it’s won several trophies on display, it’s no show pony, with five Drag Challenge campaigns to its name.

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DAVID GALEA HT MONARO OCTOBER 2020

RATHER than go all-out with crazy mods, David Galea chose instead to carefully enhance what makes an HT Monaro so great. A 400ci small-block Chev and uncut bonnet keep things subtle, while mini-tubs out back mean 275 tyres will get under without chassis mods or flared guards. The paint and panel is immaculate and the interior tells a similar story, finished factory-style in gorgeous Twilight Blue.

smoty.com.au

BILLY SHELTON VL COMMODORE AUGUST 2021

SHOOTING for deep eight-second passes, Billy’s red-on-red VL is likely the quickest car among this year’s SMOTY contenders. Nestled in a tube front end, a turbo 5.7L LS offers up a hefty 1053rwhp. The Sicko Red duco from Concept Paints is equally impressive, contributing to a Commodore that’s both show- and strip-ready. Upon being unveiled at Rockynats, SICKEST landed in the Top 10 and was awarded Top Comp, Best Engine Bay and 2nd Top Paint.

LUKE MITCHELL LJ TORANA SEPTEMBER 2020

LUKE Mitchell’s 8/71-blown, 430ci LS-powered Torana was transformed from a shell to what you see here in just four months, as documented on the TV show Rides Down Under: Workshop Wars. Underneath is a custom chassis and floor from the firewall back, a bespoke four-link rear, and massive 12-inch Intro Billets. Despite the super-rapid build time, its impeccable finish earned Top Standard Paint at Street Machine Summernats 33.

MICHAEL MOIT

TD CORTINA SM YEARBOOK 2020

THE reborn WOG-007 Cortina was our first-ever Street Machine Yearbook cover car. Michael Moit has owned the wheelstanding TD for 40 years, campaigning it through the 80s and 90s. It’s been under ceaseless development since then, always retaining its distinct orange paint and blacked-out bumpers. In its current form, the car’s venerable Windsor wears a pair of low-mounted Precision turbos and spits out 850hp at the hubs on just 10psi of boost.

DEAN RICKARD HT MONARO JANUARY 2021

OUR January cover car is so much more than a pretty face. A massive amount of work has gone into modernising every aspect of Dean’s 1969 HT Monaro, with innovative CNC goodies as far as the eye can see. Even the door cards are CNC-routed and held together with magnets! Underneath is a bespoke chassis holding custom front and rear ends, all from the brains trust at Down Town Kustoms. It’s rounded out by an LS3 and T56 manual combo.

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OVER NEARLY THREE DECADES, JUDITH MENSO’S IRON LION-POWERED LX HATCH HAS MORPHED INTO A HOME-BUILT ELITE SHOW CAR STORY CARLY DALE PHOTOS CHRIS THOROGOOD

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RESHAPED COWL PANEL

REAR SPOILER MOULDED TO HATCH LID AND QUARTER PANELS

A9X SCOOP MOULDED TO BONNET

TOYOTA HILUX BONNET LOCK AND STRIKER

KINDIG IT DOOR PULLS AND POPPERS

DOOR AND GUARD GAPS ALIGNED

BUMPERS SHORTENED & RESHAPED REDESIGNED FLARES

HANKS to passionate Holden-loving elders, Judith Menso’s fate was sealed from an early age. Enveloped in Monaros, Commodores and H-series dailies, it was pre-determined that Judith would have petrol pumping through her veins – and she’s proud of it, too. In 1992, a young Judith had her sights firmly set

Over the past 29 years, the Torana has copped a raft of modifications, including Judith’s desired V8. “A friend and I put in a 308ci over a long weekend – it was still my daily driver so couldn’t be off the road,” she explains. Later, Judith’s hubby Rodney – who’s owned the ex-Street Machine giveaway HQFORU for the past 25 years (see p. 36) – put his panel and paint trade

Rodney hatched fresh plans for the weary LX. Initially the idea was to just give it a quick freshen-up for the 2019 Toranafest. “Now here we are after a two-year, full-on rebuild. We went a bit off track!” Judith smiles. The pair decided to step up to an Elite-style build, setting their sights on Summernats, an event Judith was keen to sink her teeth into. The short

I BOUGHT THE LX HATCH FOR $5000; MY PARENTS WERE HAPPY TO CONTRIBUTE $3000, BUT I COULDN’T PUT IN A V8 UNTIL I OWNED IT on a 308ci-powered Barbados Green LX Torana sedan. But her dad was having none of it. Instead, the then 17-year-old was strongly persuaded to invest in an under-powered four-pot Torana hatch. “The hatch was bought for $5000. My parents were happy to contribute $3000, but I couldn’t put in a V8 until I owned it. Hence I paid them back as soon as I could,” Judith laughs.

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to work dousing the LX in BMW black with a gold pearl, and later black with pink flames. “The pink highlights were added as I was tired of being asked if it was my boyfriend’s car,” Judith says. The hatch went from daily driver to weekend cruiser before deterioration saw the tired LX eventually parked up. Fast-forward to Easter 2019, when Judith and

turnaround was thanks to Rodney’s passionate desire to see the project completed quickly and to an exceptional level. “About 75 per cent of the build was done in our shed,” Judith says. “Rodney did an awesome job of the body and fabrication work. The LX doors and underneath were beaten up worse than what we thought; it looked like someone had been out

PAINT: Morpheus Purple is a world away from the Absynth Yellow that the LX was born with, yet the striking colour works well with the bold late70s muscle car styling ENGINE: Judith has kept with a Holden V8, now fed by a Whipple blower. The surrounding bay is show-spec thanks to Rodney’s bespoke fab work coupled with neatly hidden necessities BONNET:: The A9X scoop was seamlessly smoothed into the factory bonnet, while the front guards were attached underneath by hidden fasteners HATCH: Rodney spent around 40 hours smoothing out the hatch compartment, including the fibreglass work underneath the hatch lid S T R E E T MA C HI N E

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BOTTOM LEFT: “I chiselled off the undercarriage deadener and sanded the radiator support panel; they were some of the few things that I could help with,” Judith says. “I’m sure Rodney was sick of me asking what I could do to help out with the car!” RIGHT: “Our cars were part of our wedding day, too. HER LX was BLK 08 back then – and it overheated going up the hill, of course,” Judith laughs

INTERIOR: Triton seats replace the factory offerings for a fairly simple reason: “I’m tall, and these seats sit a bit lower so I’m not going to hit my head on the roof,” says Judith. “They’re quite similar, and still tilt forward”

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UNDERSIDE: More crazy detailing resides underneath, with ‘HER LX’ lasered into the rear lower four-bars and on the front crossmember, all surrounded by a mix of satin-based Morpheus, gloss black and silver

FIBREGLASS DASHH WITH OEM PAD RESHAPED RESHAP REAR SEATS JVC STEREO EREO BILLET SPECIALTIES WHEEL WITH LEATHER HALF-WRAP

CUSTOM CONSOLE FLANKED WITH LEDSS DAKOTA TA DIGITAL GAUGES AUGES TRITON FRONT SEATS

ITALIAN LILAC LEATHER

BILLET DOOR HANDLES, DASH KNOBS AND PEDALS

FLAT FLOORS

bush-bashing before I owned it.” Rodney fabricated a fresh firewall, cowl panel and bespoke radiator support, and re-engineered the mounts from inner guards to fenders with hidden fasteners. Externally, a ton of subtle mods make the hatch look and sit just right, including both the rear spoiler and A9X scoop moulded to the body. “We also spent a long time deliberating on the

always loved the colour; my everyday driver is a Morpheus Purple SS VE Commodore,” Judith explains. Yet perhaps the most striking element of the car now is the show-spec lilac leather trim. “I wanted a clean, fresh, light colour that was different but still complemented the body,” Judith says. She had a vinyl sample in the exact hue she was after,

304ci from a VR Stato, thanks to Judith’s brother Jeffrey. “We kept a Holden motor but added the Yella Terra Whipple blower for something different. I wanted to keep the motor reasonably tough but didn’t want anything sticking out of the bonnet,” she says. Underneath gained more than an immaculate paintjob, with the entire suspension and braking

THE FLARES WERE TWEAKED AND THE RIMS AND RIDE HEIGHT PLAYED WITH UNTIL THE TORRY SAT JUST SO stance; the flares were tweaked and the rims and ride height played with until the LX sat just so,” Judith says. Next, Rodney set all of the gaps, getting the LX lines nice and crisp before laying down the Holden Morpheus Purple from roof to undercarriage. “I’ve

but after exhausting all local leads on correctly matched hides, the lilac furniture leather was imported from Italy. Michael from Resurrected Auto Upholstery then trimmed Judith’s dreams into sumptuous reality. Under the moulded A9X scoop now resides a

system receiving a decent overhaul. There’s a Castlemaine Rod Shop IFS with Viking coil-overs, a Rod Shop chassis kit, and Wilwood stoppers all around. Team Menso set an ambitious target of debuting HER LX at Summernats 2021. The event’s S T R E E T MA CH I N E

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JUDITH MENSO 1977 HOLDEN LX TORANA Paint: PPG Holden Morpheus Purple

ENGINE Brand: Holden 304ci Induction: 2.4L Whipple supercharger ECU: Haltech Elite 2000 Heads: Ported

Camshaft: Crane Conrods: A9L Pistons: Hypatec Oil pump: JP Fuel system: JD Customs aluminium 90L drop tank, internal Raceworks electric fuel pump, upgraded injectors Cooling: Aussie Desert Cooler radiator, twin 12in thermos

I WANT TO KEEP THE CAR ELITE FOR A WHILE, BUT SOON I’LL BE GETTING INTO THE DRIVING EVENTS cancellation and the shift in focus to a Rockynats unveiling worked greatly in their favour. “We were still rushing and doing things the night before we left on the seven-hour drive to Rockynats,” Judith admits. There, HER LX wowed the punters and judges alike, collecting a sought-after MotorEx Superstars invite. “Now we’re fixing some of the rushed areas; Rodney tucked the front bumper and moved the number plate underneath just before this shoot,” Judith says of the continuous improvements. “I want to keep the car Elite for a while, but soon I’ll be getting into the driving events – I like doing that sort of stuff,” Judith says. “I’ve been an enthusiast since I was a teenager, and it hasn’t stopped.” Make sure you get to check out HER LX in the metal before Judith firmly plants herself behind the tiller and drives off into the sunset. s

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Exhaust: Pacemaker extractors, custom twin 2½in system, stainless mufflers, electric cut-outs Ignition: Haltech Elite ECU

TRANSMISSION Gearbox: TH350 Converter: Converter Shop 2500rpm Diff: CRS, Strange centre, 3.55:1 gears, 31-spline axles

SUSPENSION & BRAKES Front: CRS IFS, Viking coil-overs, rack-and-pinion steering Rear: CRS four-bar, lowered springs Brakes: Wilwood discs (f & r)

WHEELS & TYRES Rims: Showwheels; 18x7 (f), 18x9 (r)

Rubber: Grenlander; 225/45 (f), 285/45 (r)

THANKS My husband Rodney for all the work he’s put into HER LX over the past two years; my brother Jeff Granshaw for engine assembly; Bill Dingle Smash Repairs; John at JB Automotive for engine machine work,

dyno and tune; Michael at Resurrected Auto Upholstery for custom interior; Tony at TDv Autosport for wiring; Warren at Norstate Auto; PPG; Barry & Matt at Performance Parts Plus; Bob Parkes Automotive for exhaust; Jake at Castlemaine Rod Shop; Barbara at Glicks Auto Plus

STORY BORIS VISKOVIC PHOTOS MATTHEW EVERINGHAM

SWEET LEO MORTAKIS COMBINES MODERN STYLING WITH OLD-SCHOOL MUSCLE TO CREATE HIS IDEAL VALIANT COUPE

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OU may not have heard of Leonidas Mortakis, but if you’re a Sydneysider, you’ve probably seen some of the cars that have come out of his one-man shop, Muscle Car Restorations. And if you’re a regular SM reader, you’ve definitely seen his work, as Leo applied the lush custom green paint to the two-door WILDFB Holden ( SM, Jun ’18). A scroll through MCR’s Facebook page shows just how prolific he is, with everything from Fiat Bambinos to Falcon coupes receiving his flawless paintjobs. One has to wonder: where did he find the time to build this stunning VF Valiant hardtop? It was Leo’s long-held dream to build a Val coupe. “Ever since I was a kid and I watched The Wog Boy, I always said to myself I would own one,” he says. “My papppou [grandfather] , Leonidas Mortakis Sr, has a ’68 VE Valiant sedan, which also had a part in me falling in love with The Wog Boy VF coupe.” This is actually the second one Leo has owned, having purchased a VG coupe almost 10 years ago, when he was an apprentice spray painter.

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“The first one was pretty standard: just a few holes welded up in the engine bay; not minitubbed; just had a nice paintjob on it and that was it,” he says. He ended up selling it as a painted rolling shell, but always knew he’d get another one when the time was right. That time turned out to be 2017, when he found this VF and paid just $4500 for it. As you can imagine, it wasn’t exactly a peach. “People don’t spend money on Valiants; they’re always tired and rundown,” Leo reckons. But this isn’t a huge problem when you’re a talented body and paint man. Now with a few more years’ experience under his belt, and with his own business up and running, Leo knew he could go a lot crazier with the car and build something that stood out in a crowd. “Being the iconic car that it is, especially for Greeks, I wanted to do something that was different to what a normal Valiant was,” he says. “I would have liked to have done a lot more modifications to the car, but I was limited to what I could do because I don’t have a team behind

me. If I had another couple of guys in the shop, I would have taken it to that next level.” While it turned into a highly detailed build, that wasn’t always the plan. “It kind of evolved slowly,” explains Leo. “I modified the engine bay a little bit, then I wasn’t happy with it, so I ended up cutting the whole lot out and making a custom bay. It was going to be stoneguard underneath, but then I ended up painting it all.” Paint also covers the engine, trans, diff and four-link. They’ve been done in a contrasting gold pearl, with just a smattering of shiny stuff thrown in for good measure. From the start, Leo wanted to mix the old with the new, and you can see that throughout the car. He didn’t want to lose sight of the fact that this is a 60s car, and even though you can buy all sorts of cool stuff to make it drive like a late-model, that was never the aim. “I stuck with the original front end because it suited the era of the car,” he offers. “I was going to put power steering in it but I thought: ‘I don’t want that; I want it to feel like an old car’. I didn’t want power windows, cruise control and all that shit.”

ENGINE: Not surprisingly, Leo opted for paint rather than chrome or polish for the engine. Apart from the alloy heads and chrome sump, the rest of the engine was bathed in pearl gold, including the carbies! REAR: While the standard torsion bar front end remains, Leo opted for a triangulated four-link out back. The braced 9in is sprung on Monroe coilovers and holds 3.50 gears

WHEELS: The Ferrada FR4 wheels are something you’d expect to see on a modern supercar and were supplied with the bronze finish that ties in beautifully with Leo’s custom paint colour. The rears measure up at 20x11.5 and are wrapped in 315/35 rubber, which required mini-tubbing to the rails. Up front are 20x9 rims with 245/35 tyres S T RE E T M AC HI N E

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FRONT: Leo has some strong reasoning behind leaving off the front bar. “It doesn’t flow with the car,” he says. “It just looks shit, like it was an afterthought and they’ve just plonked it on!” REAR LOGO: The logo on the quarter is from the 2018 Dodge Demon, which is what inspired Leo to do the all-steel bonnet scoop and rear spoiler INTERIOR: While the colours add a modern vibe, the bulk of the interior remains true to the original design, save for modern bucket seats and electronic gauges

The same can be said about the engine choice. A Gen III Hemi wouldn’t have looked out of place – especially considering all of the nods to the modern Dodge Demon – and turbo LS is always an option, but Leo wanted to keep it all Mopar. He went full old-school and got drag racing legend Ben Gatt to screw together a 440 big-block punched out to 460 cubes. With alloy Aeroflow heads, 10:1 compression and a Crane solidroller cam, it wears a Weiand Hi-Ram intake with a couple of 650 Holleys perched on top, and pumps out 450hp. Punchy enough for the street, and a Chrysler A833 manual ’box makes it even more fun. “I wanted it to sound good and look good; that’s what I was going for the whole time,” Leo says. “You can’t beat a four-speed big-block.” He won’t get any argument here. Where Leo departed from that classic 60s and 70s muscle car era was in the choice of paint colour. While there were some amazing options available from that era, there’s not much that hasn’t been done before, so Leo got creative with his own custom candy that he’s dubbed

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Caramilk. “It’s like when you look at Coca-Cola in the sun and it gets that yellow tinge to it,” he says. “It’s a black base with a yellow pearl, a bit of red and a bit of black mixed up and thinned out, so it’s a little bit transparent.” Topped with a whole heap of clear and blocked back to perfection, it sure gets people’s attention. The wheels are another ingredient that falls into the new section of the recipe, with a set of 20x9 and 20x11.5 Ferrada FR4 rims wrapped in 245/35 and 315/35 Federal rubber. Surprisingly, they weren’t too hard to squeeze into the confines of the small-bodied Valiant. “It was mini-tubbed to the rail at the rear, which gives you about 14 inches – plenty of room,” Leo says. “Believe it or not, at the front I can get full lock and nothing rubs. I winged the offset. I bought zero-offset wheels and had the diff made to suit, so the rear wasn’t an issue, but it was completely by luck that the front worked out.” The old and new mix continues into the interior, with the stock dash filled with white-faced electronic gauges, while the front seat was tossed and race-inspired buckets went in. Tying

it all together is a classy two-tone trim job by Just Upholstery. “I was going to go red or a real dark chocolate to match the outside, but I thought it might be a bit too harsh, so the burnt orange and tan just settles it all down and makes it a bit more elegant,” Leo says. A Hurst shifter and SAAS Classic Woodgrain steering wheel bring it back to the swinging 60s. While Leo estimates he did 90 per cent of the work himself, family always plays an important part. “I have to thank my wife for standing by me and giving me the time I needed to get the car finished. My brother Paul was a big help, too. He finished high school in November, so he’s been with me since then, but he’s actually starting uni soon. I tried to get him to come over and work with me, but I think he’s just too smart to do what I do, which is a bit disappointing because we’ve had a lot of fun the last year and it’s been really good.” Since its show debut at the Sydney Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo, Leo has taken the hardtop out for a few spins, but he wants to hit a few more shows, and who knows, maybe even take it to SEMA. s

LEONIDAS MORTAKIS 1969 CHRYSLER VF VALIANT COUPE Paint: Caramilk custom candy

DONK Type: 440 big-block Chrysler Inlet: Weiand Hi-Ram

tunnel ram Carb: Twin Holley 650cfm vac-sec Heads: Aeroflow aluminium Valves: 2.14in (in), 1.81in (ex) Cam: Crane solid-roller Pistons: 10:1 compression

Crank: Standard Conrods: Standard Radiator: Aluminium Exhaust: Custom headers, twin 3in system Ignition: MSD

SHIFT ’Box: Chrysler A833 four-speed

Clutch: Exedy Diff: 9in, 3.50:1 gears

Steering: Standard Brakes: Wilwood discs; 320mm (f), 300mm (r)

BENEATH

ROLLING STOCK

Front: Standard torsion bar, KYB shocks Rear: Triangulated fourbar, Monroe Sensa-Trac coil-overs

Rims: Ferrada FR4; 20x9 (f), 20x11.5 (r) Rubber: Federal; 245/35/20 (f), 315/35/20 (r)

THANKS Muscle Car Restorations; Ben Gatt for the motor; Baslac and Mothers for their support; most importantly, my wife and family for helping me achieve my goals, and my friends that helped along the way S T RE E T M AC H IN E

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PHOTOS SHAUN TANNER

SSPEND PEND A DAY AATT TTHE HE TTRACK RACK WIT WITH TH HHOWARD OWARD BELL AND HIS LITRE8 LX AND YOU’LL FIND THERE’S MORE THAN 8000 REASONS TO LOVE THIS LEGEND

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OU only have to read the comments below any online Street Machine piece on Howard Bell’s iconic LX Torana to get a taste of the impact it had on a generation of enthusiasts: “Still got the poster!”; “Best Torana ever built”; “This would have been one of the tuffest cars on the road once upon a time”; and countless shared links between mates with, “Remember this?” What makes this car so legendary? Howard Bell paid $6981 for a brand-new Mandarin Red LX SL/R 5000 at Dustings Holden in Burwood, Victoria, in April 1976. It was a 21st birthday present to himself. The dealership no longer exists, though its sticker remains on the Torana’s rear windscreen. Street Machine was still years away from its first issue. Malcolm Fraser was Aussie PM. Significantly, though, Peter Brock had claimed his second Bathurst victory six months earlier, this time in a privateer L34 Torana as a two-fingered salute to his former employer, the Holden Dealer Team, who’d dumped him after 1974. It’s this “I’ll show ’em” attitude that inspired young Howard and would shine through every step of his now-famed LX Torana’s four-decade development from a tough streeter to an unregistrable leviathan. This is why we’re at Winton Raceway in rural Victoria. The alpine wind skims the picturesque mountaintops in the distance for a cold start to the day, yet the Torana isn’t here. We’ve been lolling about the pits waiting to clap eyes on a car that most of us have only ever seen in the pages of Street Machine. Maybe we gave Howard a different time? Is it the wrong day? “We’ll give him a few more minutes before we start worrying,” says JP, videographer for the day. Surely everything’s okay… The first session goes by before the red LX finally trundles in behind Howard’s black VF ClubSport tow car. “We had to change a flat!” he says, pointing out a sorry-looking spare fitted to the trailer that his priceless SL/R sits on. It’s amazing the set-up made it this far. We ponder what could’ve been a significant disaster as Howard unloads the car. It’s immediately clear that he doesn’t treat the Torana like a pampered trailer queen. Wear and tear, minor scratches and tiny imperfections remain as signs of a life well lived. It’s refreshing how modest Howard’s set-up is, too. It’s like Floyd Mayweather showing up to a title fight without an entourage. We watch awkwardly, not sure whether to give Howard a hand or not, as he brims with enthusiasm. The man cannot stop talking about the car, and we can’t stop asking questions. When did the ’cage go in? “1982.” When were the Scheel seats fitted? “1991.” The brakes? “They were top of the pops back in the day; you can probably buy them at Woolworths now.” Once the 10-inch-wide slicks touch ground, we hover like seagulls awaiting start-up. Crank. Crank. Brrrr. Cra-womblewarble-warble. The gasps and sounds stirring up beneath this

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01 Nothing screams Bathurst like a drop-tank on a Torana – 120L in this case – but the likes of Brock, Grice and Bond never drove one as potent as this. The chassis bracing includes a box section at the rear for added stiffness, where there’s a heavyduty 9in diff

03 Howard’s not a purist by any means. “I copped some stick for the SS badge on the front, because it’s not an actual SS! Well, they didn’t make them in eight litres, either!” The exterior is neat but remarkably factorythemed for someone so addicted to mods!

02 Rod Green, who did the bodywork on Peter Brock’s ’75 Bathurst winner, made the fibreglass flares. Remarkably, the boot, roof, rear spoiler, front guards and two of the doors still wear the original coat of Mandarin Red

04 An absolute chrome masterclass, 9240cc of alloy Keith Black brilliance swarms the engine bay. A Manley forged crank and Molnar conrods host JE pistons inside CNC-ported AFR heads. It all combines for a stonking 886hp!

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IT SORT OF MELTED THE TOPS AROUND THE EXHAUST VALVE ON FOUR PISTONS, SO AT LEAST I’VE GOT EIGHT NICE PAPERWEIGHTS NOW!

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I SLIDE INTO THE DRIVER’S SEAT AND IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THE FEELING THIS CAR WOULD’VE BROUGHT A HOLDEN-LOVING 21-YEAR-OLD IN 1976

CROWD PLEASER HOW influential is the SL/R 8000? While at Winton to test the new 9.2L upgrade for the first time – MkIII, Howard calls it – curious onlookers and thrilled fans came down for a closer look. Some knew the car, like Pat. “I saw it on track and as soon as I saw the wheels, I knew it was SL/R 8000,” he said. Punters doing double-takes is common. “How long have you had it?” asked another onlooker as he wandered up. Howard casually replied, “Oh, about 45 years.”

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01 There’s only one SL/R 8000. The graphics were added in 1991 when the Keith Black mill went in. Despite an increase in cubic inches since, they’re not coming off. “I’m not going to change the 8000 now,” says Howard. “It’s too ingrained. I’d get hate mail!” 02 Track-day capability has been engineered into the car, with an eight-point alloy rollcage that also helps to brace the chassis – the LX’s rails have been reinforced – while fourpoint harnesses, an adjustable brake bias lever and a 300km/h speedo show that this is no joke 03 Period brands that mark the early-1991 arrival of this beast onto the scene are still to be found, like the SAAS steering wheel, VDO gauges, Scheel seats and Compomotive

17in alloys. Worth checking the stereo for a Noiseworks CD, too!

04 The car has outlasted the dealership, the original 308/M21 four-speed combo, and, sadly, the Holden brand 05 The exquisite NOS plumbing is there for presentation – Howard never intends to actually use it. It sits atop eight trumpets and a manifold designed for a C3 Corvette, with a Kinsler EFI set-up run by a MoTeC M48 ECU 06

Howard didn’t want the Keith Black poking out of the engine bay, so, after cutting the bonnet, he cleverly tidied things up with a custom A9Xstyle scoop that looks factory but is, in fact, 5in longer. It subtly reveals the latest cubic capacity, too

famous Torana body are otherworldly. Its ominous, deep cackle sounds more like a Top Fuel dragster as it rumbles into the pit garage. This is what we came for. You may have read that this car is no longer an 8.0-litre. Since an incident at Winton in 2017, Howard took the opportunity to spike the proverbial punch and add some more grunt. “It sort of melted the tops around the exhaust valve on four pistons, so at least I’ve got eight nice paperweights now,” he explains with a laugh. In their place is a fresh, larger set on a new crank nestling into the 30thou-overbore block, with CNC-ported AFR 335 heads combining for a grand total of 564 cubes. As several former Supercars lap Winton, Howard’s monster of a Torana is like the mothership they were spawned from. Its engine is almost literally twice the size of their 5.0-litre V8s. What’s more, it looks awesome, as if the chromed 9.2-litre is bulging to get out of the engine bay. Today is the Torana’s first time on track with the new upgrades. “Are you nervous?” I ask Howard. “No, not really,” he says calmly as he puts on his helmet. “The car’s limits are obviously well beyond mine, but yeah, I’ll enjoy spirited driving, but we’re not racing for a ranch.” Just after 11am, the red Holden belatedly warbles down pit lane, clearly the loudest machine here, and by some margin. That deep rumble and laziness of such a large powertrain is obvious, even when the car is moving at a clip. Howard’s on it. Changes between the five-speed’s straight-cut gears sound like salvo bursts amid machine-gun fire. It’s as raw and brutal as it gets. “You never question whether it’s in gear,” Howard jokes later. We watch from the pit wall, smartphones grabbing images and footage as we savour the sight and sound of this monster, pushing walls of air past us like a sonic wave as it blasts by. After a handful of laps, Howard returns to the pits. It’s all gone wrong. “The brakes were dodgy, but you can drive around that, but then the clutch just went to the floor,” he laments. There’s fluid underneath the driver’s side of the engine bay. It’s brake or clutch, we think. The source of the leak isn’t easy to find. We trace the braided lines around the engine bay and think, but aren’t totally sure, that it’s coming from the clutch. It’s game over. Crestfallen, the fact that we won’t see it on track again only makes that oneand-done run even more special. Ever humble, Howard apologises to us. Are you kidding? He has pushed everything uphill – even changing a tyre in the dark at 6:30am – to be here, and he’s apologising to us? It’s a mark of

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the man. He allows us to push the car around the garage to grab some more images, trustfully leaving us alone with this icon. I slide into the driver’s seat and imagine for a moment the feeling this car would’ve brought a Holden-loving 21-year-old in 1976. It’s the first and only genuine SL/R 5000 I’ve ever sat in, and what a debut. I cannot believe I’ve touched such a legendary, enduring car. Despite being cut short, Howard was a delighted mess after the sole run. “It just has the grunt from everywhere because of the whole reconfigure, the engine size and camshaft and stuff,” he says. “I mean, the other one went hard, but it didn’t have that super low-down grunt this thing’s got.” That’s an understatement when you look at the latest dyno figures: 886hp at the flywheel at 6560rpm, and 864ft-lb of torque at 4370rpm, all motor. “I was using about half-throttle where I used to be flat before. The one time I did give it a bit more of a sniff on the back straight, the whole thing snapped sideways on me!” Was the short run enough to rate the latest upgrades? “Oh, undoubtedly a success, yep,” Howard says resoundingly. “Just the way it felt, the low-down poke, the speed at which you were rowing through the gears even with a limited rev range. It’s leaps and bounds. Plus, this time we got it done on a chassis dyno at Melbourne Performance Centre, the gurus with MoTeC down there.” What’s obvious is that for Howard, his 21st party has never stopped. Having owned this truly unique Torana from new for an amazing 45 years, it’s not only a Street Machine legend, but a part of him. “If you’d told me then that we’d still be talking about this car in 2021, there’s no way I’d have believed you,” Howard says. It’s the spirit of always tinkering, tuning and loving the car that’s seen it capture a special place in history – and it’s still going strong and making the pages of Street Machine, such is the pull of this timeless streeter. Perhaps in 2040 we’ll be reading about LITRE8 and its new synthetic-fuelled, 24-litre V16 packing 2500hp. Whatever it will be, there will only ever be one Howard Bell, and only one SL/R 8000. s

Howard pulls LITRE8 with an HSV VF R8 ClubSport. “It’s a manual with cruise control; it’s a great way to travel,” he says. “It’s just nice to have a bone-stock, turnkey car that is as the manufacturer intended. It’s my tow car and roadtrip car, so even in standard spec it does it all with ease”

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COVER STAR HOWARD’S SL/R 8000 first rocked the pages of Street Machine in December 1991 in our Summernats 5 coverage, with a full-blown cover feature in the April-May 1992 issue. Yet its first appearance wass actually in our July-August 1986 issue, wearing ILE890 plates. Under the bonnet back ck then was a Normalair-Garrettt Strata VI-turbocharged 202 that screamed to 8000rpm and nd made 500hp on 22psi.

After emerging as LITRE8, Howard’s LX has been a repeat guest of SM, including making our 20th anniversary issue in 2001, when it was named one of Australia’s Top 20 Most Influential Street Machines.

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R E S I A R L L E H FRANK CANNISTRA MISSED HIS OLD WHITE DATSUN UTE, ‘MRHELI’, SO HE BUILT AN EVEN BETTER ONE STORY TAS MCMILLAN

PHOTOS MATT EVERINGHAM

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HERE are two schools of thought when it comes to crafting a car that can travel at speeds somewhere in the vicinity of ‘the clappers’. The first posits giving it a powerplant that generates the kind of output required to move a container ship, while the second argues for making it so light that adding two occupants would double the kerb weight. Of course, there are some who recognise the benefits of both schools and concoct crazy creations like Frank Cannistra’s mean little Datsun ute. Dubbed HEL113, this Datto is not Frank’s first foray into the wild world of brutally quick cars. “My brother is a Ford guy and has an XY GT, and my uncle has an original Phase III,” says Frank. “My first car was an XW Falcon and it felt like a really big tank of a car to me. I watched a few guys race RX-3s and I just loved them; I got caught up in the idea of a high powerto-weight ratio.” With his perspective irrevocably skewed away from large cars, Frank built himself an RX-3 sedan, and followed that with a Datsun ute called MRHELI, with which he cemented his place in Sydney street car folklore. While Frank describes the exterior of MRHELI as a “white piece of shit on Pro Stars”, the little ute more than made up for its appearance with a killer driveline. With a force-fed 13B under the bonnet, a Top Loader cog-swapper and a nine-inch diff, it was good for a cracking 9.40@145mph – and that was

way back in 2000! Fast-forward to 2015, and with MRHELI long gone, Frank had an itch that could only be scratched with another quick street car. He scoured the internet and found a dead-stock Datsun 1200 ute on Gumtree. “It was such a clean car; the tub looked like it had never carried a load,” Frank says. “I drove it for a couple of weeks, then took it to my mate Charlie Boutoubia.” Charlie got stuck into the body, fabricating a bigger trans tunnel, moving the chassis rails inwards and replacing the tubs with new ones large enough to clear 305-wide Mickey Ts. While Charlie covered the panels in a thick coat of a Mazda colour that Frank simply describes as “red and glossy”, James Hehir of Groove Ryder Fabrications whipped up an ANDRAspec rollcage. Frank was initially going to throw a 13B in the front of the ute just like MRHELI, but the allure of a triple-rotor was too strong to ignore. Chris Fakinos, the man responsible for looking after Frank’s race car engine, was tasked with knocking up a healthy 20B based around a billet crank and Billet Boss centre plate. The rotors themselves and the other main components are all factory Mazda Cosmo items, although the ports were given a mild touch-up. Outside the spinning Doritos, a MoTeC M84 controls a sextet of Bosch injectors and LS coils, and copious amounts of E85 is supplied by an Aeromotive mechanical pump.

FRANK WAS INITIALLY GOING TO THROW A 13B IN THE FRONT, BUT THE ALLURE OF A TRIPLE-ROTOR WAS TOO STRONG TO IGNORE

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TUB: The two big blue nitrous bottles nestled in the tub make a bold statement, but they’re not actually filled with laughing gas. With so much going on under the car, Frank ran out of room for a fuel tank, so the matching cylinders are the result of some clever thinking

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TRA CK S ID E FRANK has been ripping up the street and the quarter-mile since he was a young lad, and his roster of past and present machinery includes a lot of single-digit timeslips pinned to various cars, almost all of them rotary-powered. After his first RX-3 and the infamous MRHELI, Frank built a red Mazda sedan in conjunction with Zoom magazine to compete in the Sport Compact 28x9 class. After a few years of racing, including an altercation with the WSID wall that Frank describes bitterly as “not ideal” and a PB of 7.61@180mph, the sedan moved over the ditch to New Zealand, where it holds the 13B small-tyre record. Frank also piloted a black Nissan 350Z Pro Mod for Scott Porter Racing for a time, during which he won the Brisbane and Melbourne Jamborees and ran a PB of 6.40. Recently, Frank took home the win in the Pro Compact class at the 2021 Sydney Jamboree in his yellow RX-3 competition car, which is powered by – you guessed it – a 13B.

THE AUTO IS A BIG DEAL FOR ME; I’M USED TO DUMPING THE

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CLUTCH AND GOING THROUGH GEARS AS FAST AS I CAN THINK

INTERIOR: You won’t find much in the way of creature comforts inside the ute’s cabin, though the exhaust does such a good job of toning down the 20B’s decibels that Frank can actually listen to the stereo! Classic Gauge Restoration customised a set of Auto Meters to fit in the factory dash, Garry’s Auto Trim covered everything in black carpet and velour and the ANDRA-spec ’cage is all but invisible WHEELS: The black three-piece Simmons FRs are a combination of two sets of wheels and custom lips made by Whitehorse Industries, and measure a whopping 12in wide on the back. Rear brakes and the under-dash pedal assembly are from Wilwood, while R32 GTR fronts ensure the Datto pulls up as well as modern cars do S T R E E T MA CH I N E

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FRANK CANNISTRA 1985 DATSUN 1200 UTE Paint: Mazda Red

ENGINE

ENGINE: There’s a great deal of ridgeydidge Mazda engineering under the Datto’s little bonnet. Even the intake manifold and throttlebody are straight out of a Cosmo. Geo’s Garage built all the plumbing for the rear-mount turbo and intercooler, leaving the engine bay plumbing relatively tidy. A PWR radiator and oil cooler tucked below the front bumper keep the rotary cool

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If you’re curious about the lack of a turbo under the bonnet, then cast your eyes over the contents of the Datto’s tub: Frank moved the BorgWarner war whistle rearward to help with weight balance, engine bay temps and steering rack clearance. Keeping the pressurised air frosty is a PWR air-to-water barrel cooler tucked under the passenger side of the tub, and the distinctive rotary buzz is damped by two mufflers hidden at the rear. An auto transmission backs up the 20B, which is something very different for Frank. “I’m a manual guy, so the auto is a big deal for me,” he says. “I’m used to dumping the clutch and going through gears as fast as I can think.” Keeping Frank’s penchant for speed in mind, you already know this isn’t a sloppy slushbox that takes two minutes to change gears. A TCE converter transfers power to a goodie-filled TH400 from Al’s Race Glides, and the three-inch aluminium tailshaft from Frank’s old race car twists the diff. The nine-inch is basic and bulletproof, with 4.11:1 gears and Strange 35-spline axles. The job of keeping the rear end planted firmly on the ground is handled by Gazzard Brothers monoleaf springs, CalTracs and adjustable shocks, while the front is controlled by a set of Eibach springs and Monroe shocks. With the Datto finally on the road, Frank has something quick to enjoy without having to drag his mental low-seven-second RX-3 race car out. And the ute’s already bringing home the brass. “It won Best Rotary Conversion at Rotary Revival and Top Engineered at Sydney Jamboree,” Frank says. As for the Datsun’s street manners, it drives just the way Frank intended. “If I’d had the money back in the day, this is how I would have built MRHELI. It drives awesome: it’s quiet as a mouse, comes on boost no problem, and should run an eight with its eyes closed!” s

Type: Mazda 20B Rotors: Mazda Series 4 Exhaust: Custom by Geo’s Garage Turbo: BorgWarner Fuel system: Bosch 044 prime pump, Aeromotive mechanical pressure pump, Bosch 1650cc injectors Ignition: LS2 coils ECU: MoTeC M84 Cooling: PWR radiator, oil cooler, air-to-water intercooler

TRANSMISSION Gearbox: TH400 Converter: TCE Tailshaft: 3in aluminium Diff: 9in, Strange 35-spline axles, 4.11:1 gears

SUSPENSION & BRAKES Front: Eibach springs, Monroe shocks Rear: Gazzard Bros mono-leaf springs and shocks, CalTracs Brakes: R32 discs (f), Wilwood discs (r)

WHEELS & TYRES Rims: Simmons FR; 17x6 (f), 17x12 (r) Rubber: 205/45/17 (f), 305/45/17 (r)

THANKS Geo’s Garage for all the work they’ve done on the car (fabrication, brakes, wiring); Charlie Boutoubia for all the fab and panelwork; Fred at Turbologic; Chubby and Jason at Lowe Fabrications; Paul Torony at Make Me Go Fast; Luke at PWR; Chris Fakinos for looking after the engines in my street car and race car; Billet Boss for the centreplate; Al’s Race Glides for the killer trans

STORY CRAIG PARKER

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PHOTOS CHRIS THOROGOOD

WITH A FOCUS ON FAMILY AND OLD-SCHOOL VALUES, ANGE AND MITCH WALLACE TOOK A HAND-ME-DOWN XP AND DID HER UP A TREAT

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HIS classic XP Falcon coupe has been part of Ange and Mitch Wallace’s family for a very long time. Ange’s father, Bob Westwood, purchased it in the mid 70s for his wife Judy. It was her first car and she learnt to drive in it. Many years later, Bob helped out Ange and her husband Mitch by swapping the XP for Mitch’s car, which had finance owing on it. The generous deal helped Ange and Mitch shake some debt and buy their first home. Fast-forward a few years, and Ange and Mitch welcomed their son Brenton into their lives. Somewhat ambitiously, Mitch also decided to give the XP a rebuild. He disassembled it in the garage and it sat that way for more than a decade. By the time 2014 rolled around, the Wallace family had grown by two more, with the arrival of Ryan and Jamie. However, they were now in a great position to reignite the stagnant XP project with the help of fabricator Luke Kinsmore and his brother Troy. “Luke had worked on my mate’s ’57 Chev,” says Mitch. “His work is great and he’s an easy guy to get along with. He

worked with us the whole way to achieve the look and feel we were after.” The car was always going to run a grunty V8, which is a pretty tight squeeze in an early Falcon. Chopping out the towers creates a ton of extra space, so out they came and in went a complete Rod Shop Mustang II-style double A-arm front end with adjustable coil-overs. The other must-haves for Ange and Mitch were the oldschool 15x10s out back, which had zero chance of fitting under the standard rear tubs. Luke remedied this with a pair of mini-tubs along with the installation of a McDonald Bros triangulated four-link. The kit is designed to be mostly bolt-in, but it was welded in for a cleaner installation. “With the four-link, you can feel the tyres bite and just grip,” says Mitch. “Thanks to the engine, you can get them loose if you want to, but it gives you so much more traction. “This was always going to be a driver. With the adjustable coil-overs all ’round, we could drop it further if we want, but at the moment it gets over speed humps no worries.”

MITCH DECIDED TO GIVE THE XP A REBUILD. HE DISASSEMBLED IT

Although the paint might look like a factory colour, it’s a custom hue created by painter Troy Kinsmore. Ange and Mitch are beyond happy with it

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Screwed together by Luke Forder and tuned by Riverside Motors, the 440hp, 302ci Windsor small-block is plenty tough. Go-fast goodies include RHS alloy heads, Keith Black pistons, Comp Cams bumpstick, Cobra Jet crank, Victor Jr intake, Holley 650 carb and ICE ignition system. With sensible gears in the nine-inch, the three-speed C10 auto and 4500rpm-stall converter make for effortless cruising. When it came time for body and paint, Luke’s brother Troy stepped up to the plate. “I was impressed by his work and I hadn’t heard a bad word about it,” says Mitch. “Also, Luke and Troy’s workshops are close by, which made things really easy.” Again, things went very smoothly, with Troy doing a stellar job. The only hiccup was with the original colour choice. “We were on vacation in the UK with Bob and Judy,” says Mitch. “Troy phoned us and said we should come home ASAP as this colour is terrible. We got off the plane and went straight to Troy’s, despite being jet-lagged from the 20-hour flight. When we got there, he had mixed up a few different

variations on the original colour and had done a few sprayouts. All three of us pretty much pointed at this colour all at the same time!” “When you look out at the ocean, that’s our colour,” says Ange. “It has elements of both the sea and the sky in it.” Two key elements of the interior are the custom console and under-dash air conditioning. “I didn’t want to ruin the original dash by adding extra gauges,” says Mitch, “So Luke came up with the custom console, which he hand made out of steel.” Same story with the Palm Air a/c. “Lots of people were telling me to cut holes everywhere for a Vintage Air-style system,” says Mitch, “But I didn’t want to cut into it.” “We’re a bit old-school and wanted the car to look the same way,” Ange adds. When Scott Green from SG Auto Electrics commented that an under-dash system delivers better efficiency, it was a no-brainer. In addition to fitting up the a/c and stereo system, Scott also fully rewired the car. While the front buckets are definitely old-school Ford, their

IN THE GARAGE AND IT SAT THAT WAY FOR MORE THAN A DECADE

END OF THE LINE AFTER 47 years of manufacturing wheels for drag racers, street machiners and hot rodders, Center Line abruptly closed its doors in April 2017. Founded by Ray Lipper in 1970, the closure of the California-based business took the industry by complete surprise. The Pro Stocks on Ange and Mitch’s XP are one of the last sets made.“We got them about three months before the company went bust,” says Mitch. “I’ve been offered more than double for them. They can offer all the money they want; they’re not getting them. I don’t want to put any other wheel on it!” Understandably, the desirability and value of old Center Lines has exploded, with several websites dedicated to buying and selling them. Mint sets of satin Auto Drags have fetched as much as AU$4000. If you’ve got any lying around in the garage, you may be sitting on a gold mine.

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exact origin is unknown. “I thought they were XP, but they’re not,” says Mitch, “and they’re not Mustang, either.” Nonetheless, Rod’s Trimming Service re-skinned them and the rest of the interior in blazing white vinyl. It looks kinda factory, just a lot better. The finishing touch is the retractable seatbelts, making the coupe both safe and user-friendly. The car was completed in 2019 and the Wallace family has since racked up plenty of hassle-free miles in their pride and joy. Given their history with the XP, Ange’s parents were involved throughout the build process. “Mum and Dad still feel like it’s their car as well,” says Ange. “They had input all the way. They love what we’ve done.” Only time will tell which of Ange and Mitch’s three boys will become the next custodian of what is now a treasured family heirloom. s

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ABOVE: With the shock towers chopped out, there’s plenty of room in the ultratidy engine bay for the 440hp, 302 Windsor to strut its stuff OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP RIGHT: Behind the Falcon fascia is a Bluetooth head unit that powers speakers mounted in the kick panel BELOW LEFT: As head fabricator, Luke not only installed the new double A-arm Rod Shop front end,

he also fabricated the stylish new inner fenderwells BELOW RIGHT: XPs are not a big car. However, thanks to the re-trimmed buckets, there’s plenty of leg room and just enough head room for Mitch’s lanky six-footplus frame RIGHT: This XP has a great stance without the bellyscraping ride height. “I prefer it this way,” says Mitch. “I don’t have to pussyfoot around when out driving”

ANGE & MITCH WALLACE 1965 FORD XP FALCON Paint: Custom blue-green

ENGINE Brand: 302ci Windsor Heads: RHS aluminium Intake: Victor Jr Carby: Holley 650cfm Camshaft: Comp Cams 282-280 Conrods: Toyota Twin Cam Pistons: Keith Black Crankshaft: Cobra Jet Ignition: ICE Cooling: Aussie Desert Cooler Exhaust: Custom headers

DRIVELINE Gearbox: C10 three-speed Converter: Dominator 4500rpm Diff: Strange 9in

CHASSIS & BRAKES Front: Rod Shop double A-arm Rear: McDonald Bros four-link Steering: Rod Shop rack-andpinion Column: Flaming River collapsible Brakes: Wilwood discs & calipers (f & r) Master cylinder: Wilwood

WHEELS & TYRES Rims: Center Line Pro Stock; 15x6 (f), 15x10 (r) Rubber: 185/65/15 (f), 265/50/15 (r)

THANKS

WE’RE A BIT OLD-SCHOOL AND WANTED THE CAR TO LOOK THE SAME WAY

Luke Kinsmore (fabrication & assembly); Troy Kinsmore (body & paint); Luke Forder (engine); Riverside Motors (tuning); Castlemaine Rod Shop; Scott Green (SG Auto Electrics); Rod’s Trimming Service; Loud Pedal Engineering

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TOUGH

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Photos

Story

COBEY BARTELS ASHLEIGH WILSON & DRAG PHOTOS

AFTER A TWO-YEAR DROUGHT, LEGIONS OF STOKED FORD FANS RETURN TO THE ALL FORD DAY AT WILLOWBANK RACEWAY

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ORE than 1000 Fords rolled up to Willowbank Raceway for the 39th All Ford Day in July, though it was a close-run thing, with COVID breakouts across the country threatening to stop the party. Fortunately for Queensland’s Blue Oval buffs, the day got done, although under different circumstances than in previous years. AFD is organised by the Falcon GT Owners Club of Queensland’s Tammy and Mark Van Der Togt. Mark also happens to be Drag Challenge royalty, having taken out the first-ever Drag Challenge Weekend win in his savage 1600hp twin-turbo XW Futura. “COVID definitely made the day tricky with masks and check-ins, but while we may be a

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2 01: Rahim Tarr and his 434ci XD Falcon ute put on a wicked ‘wheels-up’ display for onlookers at All Ford Day. He was one of only a few to run into the nines on the day, with a 9.7@135mph once the front wheels touched down 02: Dan Bertham’s mint XR has just undergone a bare-metal resto, which he finished up earlier this year. BADXR packs a 392 stroked Windsor, C4 trans and 9in, putting out 450hp. It ran 11.3@118mph on its first outing at All Ford Day, but a later run saw the rear window fly out. A clear sign the wellsorted XR wasn’t hanging about! 03: Mark Johnstone’s 615ci all-motor Capri took out the Aspirated class on the dyno with 1165hp at the treads, setting the benchmark before the boosted Barras took to the rollers

THE VARIETY ON TRACK OFFERED PUNTERS AN EXCITING MIX OF MODERN BOOSTED BARRAS AND OLD-SCHOOL CUBIC MOTIVATION MULE KICKS AARON Schubert’s angry XR wagon set a PB of 10.9@123mph, after being off the road since DCW 2019. MULE has a 607hp Pavtek Performancebuilt 393ci Cleveland with CHI heads and manifold, C4 trans and Gazzard goodies in the rear. Aaron was the first through the gate and first onto the track on Sunday, showing real determination since he did it all himself on buggerall sleep – a well-deserved PB!

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PLENTY OF PBS WERE SET, AND THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF LOCKDOWN BUILDS WITH INVENTIVE BACKYARD ENGINEERING

KICK UP THE REAR A CURSORY glance at the engine bay of Sketch Coleman’s tough XY wagon may leave you scratching your head about the PSI071 plates, but never fear. A Hi-Torque Performance-built, Dart-block 408ci V8 gets the wagon up and boogying, backed by an AllFast-built TH400, but the magic lies in a discreet but potent rear-mounted Pulsar G42-1450 turbo set-up, good for 700hp on 15psi. Sketch’s best run for the day was 10.3@139mph, but his plan is to turn the boost right up, once grip permits.

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2 01: Nate Blake’s 1955 Ford Prefect runs Holden den V6 power, and won plenty of applause as it ripped an almighty skid on one of its early runs 02: Darren McClure has owned his purple Cortina since 2004. “It started life as a four-cylinder that I got for $400 because it wasn’t running,” he says. Darren promptly fitted a 250 Crossflow and four-speed manual and used it as a daily driver for the next five years. Many moons later and in its current state, OTD08 has a 347ci V8 making 410hp, C4 trans and BorgWarner diff. It ran a best of 11.1@122mph at All Ford Day, all while looking the part! 03: Tav Whan’s TE Cortina set a PB of 11.96@114mph on the day, getting off the line with anger. The Corty has a 347ci stroker with Victor Jr heads, C4 trans with 3600rpm stall and the original diff with 3.5 gears, all good for 330hp at the rears. Tav tells us it’s still a work in progress, but driving it and taking the kids out on weekends is what it’s all about. “The kids just love it!” he says

little down on numbers compared to 2019, it was a pretty good turnout,” Mark says. It just goes to show that this special community of ours only comes back stronger, following last year’s pandemic-decimated event calendar. In fact, many cars came back better for it too, with plenty of PBs set on the day. Plus there was no shortage of lockdown builds with inventive backyard engineering, like Sketch Coleman’s use of a SodaStream CO2 system to control the wastegate on his mental PSI071 XY wagon! All the major Queensland Ford clubs were represented on the day – 62 of ’em – from the obvious Falcon GT Owners Club of Queensland to the late model-focused Queensland FPV Collective and XR6 & XR8 Club, plus heaps more. “The COVID restrictions meant not every club could make it out to Willowbank – it was restricted to Queensland clubs – but lots still turned up,” Mark says.

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The Torque Time dyno shootout early in the day pulled big numbers, both with crowds drawn to the noise and in horsepower from cars giving it a nudge. One of the mighty power displays early on was Mark Johnstone’s big-cube Capri, which spat out 1165hp at the wheels to win the atmo V8 category, while having a hard time staying on the rollers. Winner of the forced-induction six-cylinder category was James Moore’s ANGRI6 F6, putting down 1134hp. The supercharged V8 top dog was Jamie Elliott’s WOAH BRO Mustang with a 692hp pull. It was clear the lack of car events last year left many owners seriously deprived of straight-line action, as a huge number of entrants lined up for the drags well before they commenced. Aaron Schubert’s MULE was one of the first tough Fords to run and also to set a PB, with this 2019 Drag Challenge Weekend legend running a 10.9@123mph in his XR wagon after nearly two years off the road.

01: Tony Sciberras’s gorgeous 1939 LincolnZephyr packs a 5.4L V8 from an FG Falcon with a six-speed and 9in up back. The car gets driven weekly, an impressive feat for a killer sled with visibility akin to that of a Centurion tank 02: There were a few GT40s kicking around All Ford Day, but Andrew Hall’s black example summoned a curious crowd as it lined up for the drags. The custom-built GT has a standard Boss V8 with Audi transaxle six-speed manual and a “little blower, but I’m not completely sure what type,” Andrew tells us. The package is good for 400hp at the treads, which is plenty in a car this light (and, according to Andrew, about as much as the Audi transaxle boxes can handle). “I’d have to put a Porsche gearbox in it if I wanted to make much more power,” he says 03: ‘Most Entertaining’ award for the day went to Paul Clark’s 1923 Ford T-bucket, after Paul threw the front wheels in the air with a huge send off the line, on his way to 10.7@119mph. His T-bucket runs an Edelbrock 347ci Windsor crate motor good for 440hp, hooked up to a C4 ’box. Paul tells us the whole car weighs just over a tonne with him in it

F-SHARP IAN Page’s freshly completed ’66 F100 was a decade in the making and worth every minute. Ian built the 460ci donk himself, a perfect reason to use the Benny Gatt Super Flow heads he stashed “under the bed for 30 years”. On top of sorting the motor himself, Ian did all the bodywork, paint and exhaust fabrication. A C6 auto and 9in out back complete the tidyy truck. p

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A BRUTAL SEND FROM PAUL CLARK IN HIS FORD T-BUCKET RIGHTFULLY SCORED HIM THE ‘MOST ENTERTAINING’ AWARD

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The crowd got plenty of action with DCW veteran Rahim Tarr wheelstanding his way to a 9.7@135mph in his mental XD Falcon ute, as well as a brutal send from Paul Clark in his T-bucket, rightfully scoring him the ‘Most Entertaining’ award. The variety on track offered punters an exciting mix of modern boosted Barras and old-school cubic motivation, providing the Ford fix many have missed since 2019. The organisers, clubs and every Ford owner that turned up and flew the flag deserve praise for putting on such a cracking day, and well and truly blowing out the car-show cobwebs. “It’s the people,” says Mark. “The Ford people are just really devoted to the badge and that’s why they turn up. It’s all about the love of the badge.” s

01: It’s fair to say Mark Arnold’s XW wagon went hard out on track, with the 700hp, 417ci V8 roaring its way to a best of 10.77@124mph in street trim. “I’ve owned lots of Fords over the years, from XYs to XDs, but none as tough as this one,” Mark says 02: Rockynats Grand Champion Paul Hart cracked the 10sec zone in his 1967 XR Fairmont, thanks to the 630hp, Tremaniac Racing-built 427ci Windsor under the bonnet. The time? A sweet 10.87@122mph

THE FORD PEOPLE ARE JUST REALLY DEVOTED TO THE BADGE, AND THAT’S WHY THEY TURN UP

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FAIR PLAY WILL Taylor’s tough streetdriven ZC Fairlane has been in the family for 33 years. OUT2WIN rocks a forged 351 Windsor fed 14psi of boost by a 78/75 turbo, running EFI and sipping E85. A ’Glide and 9in diff sends power to the Radial Pros up back. “We wound it up to 16lb for the last run, but it didn’t do anything for us,” Will says. “That engine is coming out and I’ve bought a Dart block, AFR Renegade race heads and a massive 88/103 VS Racing turbo.” The current set-up makes just shy of 600hp at the rears, but this Fairlane is still on family duties: “It’s mod-plated for six seats and runs my wife and the four kids around comfortably.”

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STORY KIAN HEAGNEY

PHOTOS TROY BARKER

VINNIE PRATICO TOOK AN ALREADY-TOUGH HK PREMIER AND MADE IT SWEET FOR THE STREET

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URBOS and LS engines may be the go in this new age of making horsepower, but it’s refreshing to see some people sticking to the old-school street machining recipe of big, carby-fed V8s sucking down pump fuel, ramping up on high-stall converters and meaty treads. Vinnie Pratico is one such practitioner of the old ways, and his HK Premier embodies his ideal of a big, tough street cruiser. When he saw it for sale, the Prem’s colour combo, killer stance and thumping 630hp aspo donk were enough to make him want it more than a six-year-old begging their mum for a chocolate at the supermarket checkout. “I knew opportunities like this don’t come up very often anymore, and the combination of the black paint, red interior and mini-tubs meant I couldn’t pass it up,” the South Australian says. “I’ve always liked the HKs, and this one was the perfect combo of that pure, iconic muscle that I just love.” The big HK had already been treated to a ground-up rebuild by the previous owner, which included fitting the striking Goya Red interior, laying down the two-pack black paint and dumping in the 434ci small-block Chevy. The latter is a big part of what personifies this car for Vinnie. “I love the older-school muscle using the carby and pump fuel, and with the carby and tune that’s on it now, it drives just as good as a new car anyway,” he says. The donk was put together by Graham at Advanced Engine Reconditioning using some good-quality gear. The crank is a four-inch Scat steel piece, with H-beam Scat rods and custom-coated Mahle pistons bringing comp up to 11.5:1. A pair of Brodix Track 1 heads breathe through a Crane solid R268 stick, and topping the whole deal is an APD 950 Billet Enforcer carby. On the engine dyno, it cranked out 635hp and 560lb-ft, backed up by a session on the chassis dyno at THR Developments, which yielded 444hp through the Turbo 400 ’box and nine-inch diff. The trans is forward-pattern and fully manualised, housing a Norwood Automatics 4500rpm nine-inch converter. The diff also has all the good stuff in the form of Moser 31-spline billet axles and snappy 4.33:1 gears. “The gears are probably a bit too aggressive for the street, especially on the highway, so I’ll look into changing those soon,” says Vinnie.

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THIS HK WAS THE PERFECT COMBO OF THAT PURE, ICONIC MUSCLE THAT I JUST LOVE

WHEELS: The big Prem sits pretty on a set of genuine Center Line Auto Drags, with the rears measuring 15x10 and wrapped in Mickey Thompson 28x12R15 rubber ENGINE BAY: The 434ci small-block Chevy is Vinnie’s ideal of old-school muscle, punching out 635hp at the crank

Paint: Custom two-pack black

9in, 4500rpm stall Diff: 9in, Moser 31-spline billet axles, 4.33:1 gears

ENGINE

SUSPENSION & BRAKES

Brand: 434ci small-block Chev Induction: Holley Dominator Carburettor: APD 950 Billet Enforcer Heads: Brodix Track 1 Camshaft: Crane R268 solid-roller Conrods: Scat H-beam Pistons: Mahle Crank: Scat 4in steel Fuel system: MagnaFuel 275 pump Cooling: Ron Davis three-core radiator, twin 1700cfm thermo fans Exhaust: Pacemaker headers, 3in system Ignition: MSD

Springs & shocks: Pedders (f & r) Brakes: HQ discs (f), HQ drums (r) Master cylinder: Wilwood

VINNIE PRATICO 1968 HOLDEN HK PREMIER

TRANSMISSION Gearbox: Turbo 400 Converter: Norwood Automatics

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WHEELS & TYRES Rims: Center Line Auto Drag, 15x5 (f), 15x10 (r) Rubber: Maxxis 165/80R15 (f), Mickey Thompson 28x12R15 (r)

THANKS Nick and his team at Manta Restos; Nick and Brenton at THR Developments for the tuning; Graham at Carline Mufflers in Findon; Simon at The HKTG Garage; Sot at Speed Garage; my friends and family and everyone else who helped make my vision possible

On the surface, then, it would seem that Vinnie had walked his way into a ready-to-rip cruiser, but that’s far from the case. “On the first two drives of the car we had alternator issues, and I’m very fussy with my cars,” he says. “While on the outside things looked good, once we got into it we ended up fixing a bunch of stuff.” Vinnie had to get most of the wiring redone, and not long after spoke with Nick from Manta Car Restorations about the long and stringent task of getting the car to meet the letter of the law. “Engineering was a big process, but I wanted the peace of mind of knowing the car is fully legal on the street and I’ll have no issues,” he says. “The boys had to completely redo the fuel system, and even the noise test had to be done three times because the car was too loud! But we got there in the end.” The finished product is impressive, and the rewards have included Promoter’s Choice at the 2019 Adelaide Auto Expo and Best Street Machine at the 2020 event.

The gongs don’t mean that the HK is a pampered show pony, though. “Don’t get me wrong, I look after the car, but we take it out and cruise it a fair bit on the weekends; it just drives so bloody nice,” Vinnie says. “It never gets hot, and people always stop me and want to have a chat about it, which I love doing.” Vinnie had to sell his 11-second, 383 big block-powered VC Valiant to make room for the Prem, but he has no issue with that. “I’ve always been a bit of a Mopar guy, but there really is no comparison between the HK and the Valiant,” he laughs. “It’s just such an awesome car; this’ll be the one for me now.” Vinnie’s plan now is to enjoy the car on the street for a bit before beefing up the top end of the motor in order to head to the track. “It’s obviously more a street car than strip, but next year we’ll change the heads and manifold and hopefully shoot for low 10s,” Vinnie says. “Then I’d love to put the bottle on it and go for nines!” s

INTERIOR: The Goya Red interior pops against the black paint, and the only variations from stock spec are the GTS dash, B&M shifter and Auto Meter dials

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BY SLINGING AN ELECTRIC MOTOR AND RTINA, TESLA BATTERY PACK INTO A 1965 MK1 CO T EC OJ PR ED US UN AN ED RN TU S HA ON IS TIM HARR CAR INTO A DAILY DRIVER STORY IAIN CURRY

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PHOTOS MATT WILLIAMS

TO THE SYSTEM

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s should be “Valuable and rare collectible car with ILENCE. That’s what gets you but there is maintained for their historical value, ttle thro the on mp Sto s. electric car resurrected a raft-load of classics waiting to be ing pris sur at ard forw g flun ’re you These and otherwise wouldn’t be on the road. t tha ly per pro n’t are ses sen rate, but your k and be are the ones I want to bring bac k, suc iliar fam the of e trac No d. satisfie enjoyed.” ; no squeeze, bang, blow of combustion found an So, how’s it all been done? Tim the le tick you as sic mu t aus a good grin-bringing exh unfinished project Mk1 Cortina with nce is sile by, isks wh la Tes a en Wh . project redline y but toasted engine. His job as a bod a rtin Co d For 5 196 a ut abo icle fastexpected, but what manager at Evie – an electric veh ? hip ces spa a like ng alo g to Mk1 hummin g network – had turned him on rgin cha ng. ddi -mo ctro ele of Welcome to the world e conver ted electro-modding. He’d seen som 0cc 150 nal itio trad a’s rtin Co ssic Cortina EV Gone is this cla VW Beetles and Morris Minors, so a kW/235Nm 100 a is ce pla its in t; r-po fou t ctric vehicle Ken had appeal. “I really appreciate ele tery bat la Tes Wh 31k a by the thrill of electric motor fed drivetrains – their efficiency and km. 180 ut abo of ge ran ing driv a ng y taken pack givi m,” he says. “But I’m not necessaril the g ayin spr is r bee d, lan In pubs around the

nagement on-board charging and battery ma and found a systems. “I then upped the ante 100D,” he written-off 2018 Tesla Model X to use in the says. “I salvaged the battery pack of it. Using Cortina, but only about one-third be way too the full pack would have meant it’d and I’d need heavy, deteriorating per formance, to upgrade the suspension.” specialist Brisbane electric car conversion work, motor Traction EV did all the battery Suzi Auto integration and installation, while and totally Ser vices balanced the driveshaft over the top, reconditioned the diff. Tim “hovered plays and doing the interface between the dis roid headthe driver interaction pieces”. An And compromise unit screen is a required modern

AGED LV SA D AN D 0 10 X EL OD M A SL TE 18 I FOUND A WRITTEN-OFF 20 A IN RT CO E TH IN E US TO CK PA Y ER THE BATT long-throw manual

. Outrage! from the mouths of the disgusted g on. What Sacrilege! Burn the witch! But han c meant it if conver ting a classic car to electri daily driver? went from being unused to being a if nothing’s Surely that’s a positive. Especially motor being been modified to prevent a petrol n the track. dropped back in at some point dow Harrison, The Cortina’s owner, Brisbane’s Tim ite the Qu is not some soulless tech nerd. previously opposite. He’s one of us, having and a 1960 owned a 1971 Valiant VG hardtop cars, but is Holden FB wagon. He gets old electric. incredibly happy his Cortina’s now purists who “There’s always traditionalists and be touched, don’t believe any old car should ,” he says. and I agree with them to a degree

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so a classic with all the new EVs on the market, nobody had Cortina was a good challenge, as done one before.” car history Appreciating Lotus road and race lightweight and the fact that the Mk1 Cortina is a ation, Tim’s legend thanks to its Lotus associ a wrecked first experiments began. He bought rible little 2011 Mitsubishi i-MiEV (a hor hope he overpriced electric city car) in the and bat tery could do a direct electric motor “software transplant. This was thwarted by trols on the limitations and modern OEM con EC U and drive unit,” he says. already a In the States, electro-modding is NetGain in thriving business, so Tim turned to motor and the USA for its off-the-shelf HyPer9

– mounted just above the Pro app, gear-shifter – and it runs the Torque w the likes giving a suite of digital gauges to sho ps, motor of power, rpm, regeneration kW, am p. temp, battery temp and inverter tem ctric cars Interestingly – and unlike modern ele gearbox has – the Cortina’s four-speed manual onditioned been retained, although this is a rec erformance Mk2 version upgraded with a high-p nual or an clutch. “You can drive it like a ma ctric motor, automatic,” Tim explains. “The ele can shif t when it idles, is not spinning, so you g the usin to any gear when stationary without the motor’s clutch. When you’re on the go and shif t through spinning and accelerating, you can the gears just like a normal manual.”

kW ABOVE: The electric impostor is a 100 the from ght bou or, mot AC NetGain HyPer9 ine eng the in d unte -mo low n USA. It’s bee ery box bay, with a custom aluminium batt Tesla the fitted above it containing some of than er high battery cells. “The batteries are ine eng the fill in a Tesla, but we needed to d,” ove rem bay with the weight that was Tim says are BOOT: The high-voltage components place in r floo t boo the er und cleanly housed inium of the fuel tank. Another custom alum cells is at box housing the rest of the battery a spare the back of the boot, but even with some ins reta wheel in there too, the Cortina aining rem ce spa t practicality, with ample boo more. It’s LEFT: Exhaust? No need for that any can Tim so t, por rge cha been replaced by a res to met kilo add to rger cha use a public fast km on a the Tesla battery. Range is about 180 an hour single charge; it takes approximately ht job, to fill up. Home charging is an overnig taking some 10 hours

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I’ve driven nearly every electric car on today’s Cortina Mk1, so it pulls away from standstill in market, and practically all are sing flush job, and it means the boot le gear still has its an eager, light-footed way. It’ll hit 100km/h in ratio. All the motor’s torque arrives assta nda rd cap aci ty. instantly – around 7.5 seconds and on to ove r 130km/h, that’s the fun par t – but not having “I didn’t want it to be compromised any gears meaning it’d outrun even the ico as a car,” to move through seriously dilutes nic Lotus Tim says. “I needed it to fit luggage, the driving and be safe Cortina of the era , and wipe the floo experience. In Tim’s Cortina, having r with the enough for our two kids. We’ve fitte a clutch Ford-powered family sedan versio d modern n. to dip and that lovely long-stalk gea seatbelts and two child seat anc r shif ter to hor As points.” for sending some charge back to stir feels so much more involving, Imperative for a Queensland summe even if you the battery, there’s a switch just r, a highdon’t actually need to do it. beside voltage compressor runs off the ma the oversized steering wheel in battery to control As a bonus, when stuck in city traf pack to work the electric air conditi fic and regenerative braking. You can sim oning. feeling lazy, you just stick it in ply select Regardless of one’s thoughts on third gear Hi, Lo or Off depending on your driv electroand drive it totally clutchless. “It’l e. Lift off modding classic cars, all should l do zero to appreciate the throttle and the car feels like it’s 100km/h in third gear without tou braking for the quality of work here. And Tim ching the you, all the while adding extra driving ’s keen to clutch, and it’ll never stall, as it’s ran ge. A change people’s perspectives – an electric lovely touch is the repurposing of the even the motor,” Tim said. Cortina’s most hard-nosed purists: “Electrifica original analogue fuel gauge, conver tion takes ted now to away the reliability issues and mainte nance, as

IT’LL HIT 100KM/H IN AROUND 7.5SE C AND ON TO OVER 130KM/H, MEANING IT’D OUTRUN EVEN THE ICON IC LOTUS CORTINA OF THE ERA Lack of noise aside, it drives ver y much display battery capacity.

like a 1960s Cortina. The strawb ser vicing is much simpler and easier,” erries-andAlso repurposed is the Cortin he says. cream front bench seat – beautifully a’s rear“They’re easier to drive and you can restored – mounted fuel filler. This now has a focus on Type 1 AC means you have to hang on to the gia just enjoying them.” nt original socket for home charging, giving zero-to-100 steering wheel when cornering. With an electric conversion suc Up front, per cent charge in around 10 hou h as this rs. A public Ultra Low King Springs coils have costing in the region of $30,000-$4 been fitted, DC fast charger does the job in 0,000, it’s around 60 helping with handling and stance cer tainly not cheap. That said, many . Original minutes, and Tim can bank on spend this a range of Cortina leaf springs are retained at and even more on a classic car’s the back, engine and around 180km with a full battery. but are due an upgrade or reset, drivetrain rebuild. An electro-mod sho as they’re a One of Tim’s goals in undertaking this uld prove bit compressed due to the weight project far more reliable too – there really are of the rear was to make this conversion totally ver y few battery box. It handles quite sweetly reversible. moving par ts – giving more opportu , helped There are no modifications to the nity to use no doubt by a low centre of gravity Cortina’s such cars as daily drivers. It may not from those original body and no welding or cut make the heavy, low-down batteries. ting. The sound you’d expect from a Mk1 Co only compromise needed was to rtin a, but remove the Unlike every modern electric car, it’s a beautiful sight to see on the roa this Mk1 original fuel tank from under the ds. s Cortina doesn’t feel lardy. Its finishe boot floor d weight (won’t be needing that any way) in order to is just 1007kg – only 100kg over FOR more on Tim’s classic ele an original house the high-voltage compon ctric car ents. It’s a projects, visit chargedgarage.com.

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TIM HARRISON 1965 FORD CORTINA MK1

Paint: Custom White

TAKING CHARGE

ina THE complex electric conversion work on the Cort nsland’s was performed by James Pauly, founder of Quee n Traction EV. The company provides EV conversio cts on the components, while James has numerous EV proje and. dem go – his own and for customers – and is in huge le with a His demonstrator car is an 88kW 1968 VW Beet but there’s 28kWh Tesla battery pack and range of 150km, nders are much more to come. A couple of Land Rover Defe ine uses in the works, while his own 1987 Nissan R31 Skyl erglide Pow two 300kW NetGain Warp11 DC motors and a ery and gearbox. With 600kW of power, 50kWh Tesla batt SHOCKR range of 200km, the street-legal weapon suits its number plate. 0s James says it’s tricky converting anything post-199 aresoftw plex running CAN bus electronics – just too com ntial wise – but reckons sedans and utes are good pote el shelf parc conversion vehicles: batteries can go under the or under the tray respectively. to What’s next? A Kombi with a Tesla small drive unit 350km give about 225kW, fed by a Tesla battery pack for rangee. That’s set to be one very rapid bus.

DONK

Diff: Ford Cortina Mk1

BENEATH Front: King Springs Ultra Low Rear: Mk1 Cortina leaf springs Brakes: Mk1 Cortina discs (f), Mk1 Cortina drums (r)

Type: NetGain HyPer9 three-phase AC electric Power: 100kW Battery: 31kWh Tesla ROLLING STOCK Range: Approximately 180km Rims: Reproduction Lotus 13x7, Charging: CHAdeMO port; full charge powdercoate d with original hubcaps in 60 minutes with DC fast charger (f & r) 0-100km/h: 7.5sec Rubber: Hankook Kinergy EX Top speed: 130mk/h 185/70R13 (f & r) Weight: 1007kg

SHIFT

THANKS

James Pauly and Nico Schenk at Gearbox: Ford Cortina Mk2 four-speed Traction EV for the conversion; Suzi manual Auto Services for dialling in the driveline

OPPOSITE PAGE: Experienced Queensland Mk1 Lotus Cortina race r Garry Saunderson has tested Tim’s electro-mod version and reckons it’s faster than any of his race cars. “I cannot believe how quick the car is; it nearly ripped my head off when we accelerated away,” he says. “This car’s a real street sleeper; it has as much punch off the line as a Phase III Falcon.” Doesn’t sound as good though!

BELOW: In an otherwise original interior, an Android head unit runs Torque Pro, displaying digital gauges for power, rpm, motor temp, battery temp and the like. The analogue fuel gauge has been converted to display battery capacity, while that manual shifter isn’t for show. A Cortina Mk2 fourspeed means you can still swap cogs yourself – unlike in modern electric cars

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FORD STORY SIMON TEL VES PHOTOS SM ARCHI

A-Z LET US TAKE YOU ON A TRIP THROUGH THE HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS AND MYSTERIES OF THIS MAG SINCE 1981

LOT of stuff has happened around this joint in the past 40 years, and you’d be crazy to try to condense the highlights down to 11 pages, wouldn’t you? Lucky I’m nuts! Powered by cup after cup of International Roast (aka ‘bogan dust’), plenty of Pepsi Max and many packets of Smarties, I barricaded myself in the Street Machine archives to emerge with this tour de force. It’s a trip through the highlights, lowlights and mysteries generated through these pages since 1981. And if you’re looking for a more formal history of the mag, check our website for the piece Geoff Seddon crafted for our 25th anniversary in 2006.

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ACMC THE Australian Confederation of Motor Clubs is the peak body representing car clubs of all genres. We teamed up with them in 2012-13 to stave off some onerous rules that would have had terrible consequences for our sport in NSW. By banding together with our classic car, 4x4 and street rod brethren, and with the support of then-NSW Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay, disaster was averted. While not everyone is into the car club thing, this was a powerful lesson in the importance of having numbers on your side – something to remember when our sport confronts future challenges.

ADVERTISEMENTS SOME folks complain about them, but without ads we wouldn’t have a magazine. But we reckon most of the ads in the mag over the years have actually been great content (aside from the Holden Camira spreads back in the day) and are a service to the reader. Plus, they make parts shops’ phones ring off the hook each month when the mag goes on sale, so it’s a win-win. Thanks a bunch to everyone who has advertised or used an advertiser’s product over the years. We wouldn’t have made 40 without ya.

AHMET THE irrepressible Ahmet ‘The Mad Turk’ Sehirligil earned his nickname on the burnout pad behind the wheel of his BAD065 HD Holden ute, before founding Supernats in 1994. Besides his achievements as a driver and event promoter, Ahmet is a crazy-talented spray painter, cartoonist and airbrush artist.

ALAN FLEMMING THE creator of the Motivator panel van, the J-Rod and now a killer, wild custom fibreglass FJ Holden.

ANDREW AZZOPARDI THE man you can thank for coming up with the classic Street Machine logo. Andrew was the art director of Wheels at the time, but joined SM full-time when Phil Scott became editor. He gave the look of Street Machine a serious makeover and designed it through to the Jul/Aug ’86 issue.

ALLEY CAT THE first-ever vehicle to grace the cover of a mag with the Street Machine name on it was John Strachan’s Alley Cat, which leapt out from the Aug/Sep 1981 issue of Van Wheels & Street Machine. The Jag V12-powered weapon was one of the wildest vans ever built and is still around today.

ARBY THE first and by far the tallest of our three resident Mopar fanatics, Mark Arblaster probably did more than anyone to reform the image of the Aussie Valiant and make it cooler than at any time since Alvin Purple was shagging his way across our silver screens.

BAM-BAM TREKS from the west coast to Summernats and other events are fairly common today, but Dave ‘Bam-Bam’ Martin blazed the trail with his infamous and ill-fated chopped HQ sedan.

BATHURST ‘BEACH’ BALL GREG ‘Beach’ Ball brought a massive dose of fun to our sport, but despite the wild antics, he remains a serious car builder – and shit-stirrer – of the highest order.

ALL of the most coveted Aussie cars in our scene were forged in the fire of competition on Mount Panorama, from the XR Falcon GT to the VN Group A SS. That, and the memory of countless October pissups, makes The Mountain one of our most sacred sites.

BIKES WHILE Street Machine is a car mag through and through, we’ve featured more than a few bikes over the years, and published a handful of Street Machine Choppers editions with Boris Mihailovic at the helm.

BATES PHOTOGRAPHER Peter Bateman was a big part of Phil Scott’s plan to professionalise Street Machine in the 1980s, along with other gun shooters like Gartside and Warwick Kent. Pete returned to the mag in the early 2000s and shot many iconic covers and countless events.

BOB KOTMEL BOB was the guy SM founding editor Geoff Paradise called on to be our first technical guru, and returned as our ‘Stage Write’ columnist for about three decades, educating the masses on the finer points of drag racing, engine building and more.

BROCKY HOW many street machiners have Peter Brock’s name scrawled on their glovebox lid? About the same number who have named a child after the nine-time Bathurst winner. A great friend of the mag, Brocky lent his wisdom to our pages on more than a few occasions, including driving tips and a VC Brock rebuild (‘Lion Tamer’ – SM, Mar ’99).

BURNOUTS THE most superior form of motorsport on the planet, of which Australians are the undisputed masters.

CASTERTON DRAGS THE last true street drag meeting in Oz.

CHIC HENRY LIKE Prince, Madonna and Lemmy, Chic was so big in his chosen field of endeavour that he is universally known by his first name alone. Actually, his real first name is Anthony, but the fact remains that Chic – with the assistance of SM editor Phil Scott – brought the Street Machine Summernats into existence in 1988 and carried it on his broad shoulders right though until its sale in 2009. Chic remains active at the Summernats each year, and if you want a cracking read, grab a copy of his autobiography from chichenry.com.

CHUBBY NO LONGER all that chubby, Damien ‘Chubby’ Lowe has done more than anyone to make the case that Commodores should be regarded as fair-dinkum street machines. Winner of Top Street Overall at Summernats in his beloved VB, Chubby once drove the car clear across the country to Motorvation in WA – the ultimate statement that show cars should be go cars. The VB is currently undergoing a mind-bending rebuild, but it will remain a streeter, never to see a car trailer. What’s more, Damien taught a generation of guys how to make a next-level engine bay and personally mentored many through the highs and lows of car crafting.

COME RACING SAM and Issy Blumentstein were pushing boundaries of performance before Street Machine was even a glimmer in Paro’s eye. After getting hooked on drag racing in the early 70s, the brothers built their Chev Offroad & Marine Engines business into a powerhouse that saw them set multiple records on the track and manufacture a line of products that includes camshafts, stroker cranks, aluminium cylinder heads and even complete blocks.

CRAIG LOWNDES THE heir apparent to Brock, an incredible racer in his own right, and Street Machine columnwriting guy from 2005 to 2007.

CUNDY PAUL Cundy hails from the freezing northern NSW town of Armidale, where he has been building hugely impactful rides for decades. And a top bloke to have a beer with.

CRAIG PARKER WINNER of the 1991 Street Machine of the Year award with TUFFXY, long-time SM tech editor, editor of Street Machine Fords and builder of VUFORU and the Comfort Cruiser, Craig has more cool cars in the th shed than any other SM M contributor.

DAVE FETHERSTON OUR US correspondent for about 1100 years, Canberra-born Dave was a beacon of enthusiasm, talent and professionalism. He kept us up to date with the latest goings-on Stateside and secured the very best Yankee streeters for features in the mag.

DRAG CHALLENGE DAVE RYAN DAVE was a co-founder and longtime director of Rare Spares. He was a massive supporter of the mag all the way through, and helped Geoff Paradise source the very best feature cars in the early days. Dave’s 1968 Pontiac GTO featured in the first issue of Van Wheels & Street Machine. Dave has lost track of the GTO over the years, so if you know where it is, sing out!

DAVO SIMON Davidson came out of the world of high-end fashion photography but had an innate appreciation for custom cars and how to shoot them. Seddo let him loose on events like Easternats and Springnats, and the mag has never looked the same since.

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OUR take on Hot Rod Drag Week, dreamed up and directed by Scotty Taylor. The best week you can have on four wheels.

DRAGO DRAGO Ostric smashed through the glass ceiling for four-pots at Street Machine Summernats 17, becoming the first guy to grab the Grand Champion sword with less than eight cylinders on board. Now heads the ’Nats judging team.

EWEN PAGE ELEVEN-SECOND STREET ANIMALS IN THE early 80s, having your ride dubbed an ‘11-Second Street Animal’ was about as good as it got.

PAGEY was Street Machine editor from Jul/Aug ’92 through to Oct/Nov ’94, and he returned as associate publisher in the noughties. Ewen was a ball-tearing storyteller; his work detailing the history of the Australian muscle car in his ‘Castrol Collection’ series remains a landmark.

ENGINEERS EASTERNATS NOW defunct, Jon Davison’s Easternats was the top event for Victorian street machiners for years. Originally held at Sandown Park, the 2010 event was to be held at Calder Park until Bob Jane cancelled the meeting a week out. In response, an estimated 4000-5000 aggrieved punters blocked the Princes Highway in Oakleigh and smashed up the local Bob Jane T-Marts store.

IF YOU wanna build a highly modified street car – or produce a magazine about the same – it pays to employ the services of a talented engineer or two. We’ve worked with some of the best in the business, including John Varetimidis and Dr Tim Bartrop.

FITZY FOR a guy who has essentially built only three cars for himself – his Broomstick Brougham, his FC and his ’34 coupe – Canberra’s Peter Fitzpatrick has had an outsized influence on our sport. Winning almost as many Grand Champion gongs as Brock had Bathurst wins (seven versus nine) has a lot to do with that. Rebuilding his FC from cutting-edge 90s spec to the wildly ambitious 2011 version did the rest. Besides his own cars, Fitzy’s influence can be seen in his son Aaron’s Datsuns, Gary Reid’s rebuild of Howard Astill’s Compact Fairlane and Kees Weel’s ’35 Chev coupe.

FOURS & ROTORS GARY MYERS IF JOHN Peterson invented burnouts as a sport, Gary Myers helped make it a nationwide obsession. Winner of countless burnout, powerskid and go-towhoa titles, Gary, with the constant support of his wife Deby, has made a success of everything he’s turned his hand to, including Elite show cars, salt racing and running events.

GATT BROTHERS JOE and Ben. The geniuses behind Super Flow Heads and the heart and soul of Aussie drag racing.

STREET Machine is V8 to its core, but we’ve never shied away from featuring the odd four-pot, even in the early days. Back then it looked like factory V8s were an endangered species, so Paro hedged his bets and featured more than a few fours. He even did up a Mazda 323 cafe racer and had a fiddle with a Mitsubishi L200 mini-truck! Paro – always good at picking the trends – would later found Fast Fours & Rotaries. We’ve featured a few four-bangers and Wankels when truly outstanding examples have surfaced, and don’t forget that there are two rotors and two four-pots that have claimed the Summernats Grand Champion sword.

GREG MASKELL WE don’t have space here to list all the high-end car builders turning out stunning machinery in Oz at the moment. We could mention Shane Rowe, Steve Alldrick, Graeme Brewer, Pat O’Shea, Chris Wells and plenty of others, but we’ll let Shepparton’s Greg Maskell represent them all – just because we wanted an excuse to run this killer shot of his blown and flamed XR ute.

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GRAPHICS IN THE 70s and early 80s, it was all about murals emblazoned on the sides of panels vans (and more than a few streeters). Then graphics arrived, imported from the US, and they were a gift to creative panel and paint guys everywhere. Karl Dolezal and Paul Bennett were among the best in the biz. Murals made a comeback during the Auto Salon days. And graphics? Maybe they’re due for a comeback, too. After all, if you want a 70s or 80s vibe on your chrome-bumper classic, graphics would be a great way to get it without laying a hand on the angle grinder.

GUP THE concept of Powercruise is so simple: create a place where folks can have fun in their high-powered streeters safe from the plod. It’s so simple that it’s a wonder no one thought of it before Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert. In any case, having the idea is one thing; having the testicular fortitude, patience and ability to deliver it is something else. The tyre retailers of Australia (and further afield) should build a shrine to this bloke, fair dinks.

GRIMAS SYDNEY based father-and-son team of shoebox Chev specialists. Laurie’s ’56 was a world-beater twice over. Son Wayne was a Street Machine Apprentice of the Year, built his own ’56 and now turns out high-end streeters for a living.

ONE of the longest-serving Street Machine scribblers, Glenn Torrens loves VWs, Commodores and racing of all kinds. GT added hands-on technical credibility to SM, delivered two difficult project cars, and he’s the friendly face of the mag at Summernats, Drag Challenge and other events across the nation. His Classic Car Hunter series on YouTube helped us find our feet in the video space, and he’s a regular contributor to our sister mag Unique Cars.

HANFUL THERE are countless high-end skid machines and driver combinations capable of putting on truly outstanding displays, but only a few have household-name status in our scene like Mark Schwarz and the HANFUL HQ Monaro. The HQ’s enduring streetability and Mark’s balls-to-thewall driving style explain the fame.

HIGH TECH REX and Tony Webster transformed their old drag car into High Tech, the ultimate FJ Holden that set a new standard for ultra-detailed street machines. The car won Top Judged at the very first Street Machine Summernats, before Rex shipped the car Stateside and brained the Yanks.

HILLIER BROTHERS TROY and Clayton Hillier hail from Tenterfield in NSW, where they build exquisite hearses for the funeral industry. But in the 90s and early 2000s, the boys built some of the most ground-breaking Falcons – both old and new – ever seen.

HOWARD ASTILL HO775 THE world’s most famous and best Phase III Falcon. Star of the Aug/Sep ’84 cover of SM and still owned and skidded to this day by Chris Christou.

HORSEPOWER HEROES FOR a while there in the late 90s and early noughties, the Horsepower Heroes dyno comp was one of the biggest deals at Street Machine Summernats. Fuelled by advances in ECU, blower and turbo technology, reputations were won and lost in the cage. The concept lost steam for a time, but the advent of new-generation hub dynos – allowing for truly staggering power levels – has brought renewed excitement.

DESPITE being located in the back of beyond in Broken Hill for the first 20-odd years of his car-crafting life, Howard Astill became known throughout the land for his Rock Solid series of Falcons, which claimed two Top Judged gongs, three Grand Champion swords, a SMOTY award and much more. He’s since built some killer rides for customers and helped on a stack more, including Adam and Kylie Perry’s Tailspin FB.

JOHN PETERSON

IAIN KELLY AKA ‘Marv’, aka ‘Jimmy Slapshift’, aka ‘Workshop Manuel’, Iain Kelly worked his way up from Street Machine work experience dude to Speed magazine staffer to editor of MOTOR. He now divides his time between Street Machine and his work with Mighty Car Mods.

JEFF HAGGARTY OUR original Expression Session guru from March 1997 through to January 2002, after which he went to GM-H and lent his talents to Efijy, the VZ Monaro, the SST Commodore show car and the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

THE originator of the sport of burnouts and a true original, JP influenced and assisted many names big and small, including Gary Myers, Victor Bray and Norm Hardinge. Sadly missed, never forgotten.

KANDOS THE biggest little show in Oz, held on the Australia Day long weekend.

JOHN TAVERNA HOW many street machines copped the JT treatment over the decades? Impossible to know, but the list includes Al ‘Bundy’ Lucas’s SMOTYwinning HQ and the SMOTY-winning rebuild of the GM176 Mustang. John was also a record-setting drag racer, constructor of countless race cars, a long-time ANDRA administrator and show judge. John’s own ’67 Camaro (SM, Apr/May ’91) was a stunning build that he drove from Melbourne to Canberra for its Summernats debut, where it won Top Super Street.

KEVIN BARTLETT ONE of Australia’s best-ever race drivers, ‘Big Rev Kev’ was Street Machine’s longserving tech guru. KB pulled together some of the magazine’s most famous project cars, including HQFORU and the Castrol Coupe, and patiently answered readers’ tech questions via his ‘KB’s Workshop’ column for three decades or so.

KERRY DIGNEY THE doyen of drag racing and burnout commentary in this country, Kerry’s dulcet tones were an essential part of both Street Machine Summernats and Powercruise for thousands of punters. Drag racing is Kerry’s true passion, and you can hear him on the mic at Street Machine Drag Challenge and other events all over the country.

LINDSAY HANNINGTON

LAURIE STARLING TAKEN too soon, Laurie Starling had a big impact in the time he was here, bridging the gap between the mini-trucking and street machine scenes, guiding the creation of Henry Parry’s SMOTY-winning FB, and lending his encouragement and wisdom to countless car builders in his role as a Summernats judge.

LINDZ was Street Machine’s first art director and had a big impact on the tone and presentation of the mag. Back then, SM was essentially a two-person show, and Lindsay was in it up to his eyeballs, helping to come up with the mag’s signature headings (‘Mario’s Speedwagon’, for example!) and documenting the conversion of his smoky XJ6 Jaguar into a Chev-powered street stormer. He left with Paro to lend his talents and humour to the pages of Performance Street Car.

LITTLE LEAGUE KING RAT WHEN Geoff Paton’s big-block A9X hatch graced the cover of the Aug/Sep 1985 mag ripping a burnout in the middle of a public road with a nine-second ET emblazoned beside it, it probably did more to fire debate over who had Australia’s quickest street car than any other moment in history.

OUR most popular engine build project ever – a mighty 253 Holden – screwed together by always-innovative Sydney car builder Chris Hillman.

LYNCHY ANDREW Lynch is a latter-day burnout legend, and he’s set to make his Street Machine Drag Challenge debut in 2021!

MAC DOUGLAS

MAD MAX

STREET Machine’s managing editor in the very early days, Mac was credited by Paro as a key figure in delivering the new mag safely into the world. He later founded Street & Custom and Super Street, both of which were awesome, wild and incredible mags under his leadership. If you love the 80s and have never seen a copy, do yourself a favour.

IS IT weird that the film that took Aussie street machining to the world is a brutal tale of gang violence, psychosis and revenge? Along with our venomous wildlife, the Mad Max films probably did more to terrify potential overseas visitors to this country up until the release of Wolf Creek. Nevertheless, the cars, the humour and the fusion of man and machine continues to speak to our tribe decades after the original fillum’s debut.

MAT EGAN MARK SANDERS

MARIO ANOTHER bloke so famous, he almost didn’t need a surname. Mario Colalillo’s enthusiasm for hot rods and customs was infectious, culminating in the creation of WILDCAD.

WHILE street machining is most closely tied to drag racing, there has always been an element of circuit racing influence, and Adelaide’s Mark Sanders did more than most to turn that influence into streetlegal fun.

BOTH here and in the US, Melbourne’s Mat Egan became the go-to guy for custom paint and pinstriping in the early 2000s. Making his name with the flamed XP ute that nabbed the cover of the Jun/Jul 2000 issue of SM, Mat has lent his talents to a number of SM projects, including VUFORU and Seddo’s Street Bob.

MILTON ADEY MINCER TRISTAN Ockers’s Capri is one of the wildest street-driven – if not exactly street-legal – cars in the country, and a living legend in its own right.

DRAG racer, ANDRA heavyweight and commentator at both the drags and Street Machine Summernats, ‘Uncle Milty’ was the voice of our sport for countless years. Grab a copy of The History of the Street Machine Summernats 1988-2006 DVD to hear him in full flight.

MOTORVATION THE premier show in West Oz and the country’s oldest car festival, predating Street Machine Summernats by one year.

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NARROGIN REVHEADS

NORM HARDINGE

ON the other end of the West Aussie show scale is Narrogin Revheads. Smaller, wilder, essential.

NORM and his partner Vicky not only supply most of the country’s street machines, hot rods, burnout cars and drag sedans with high-quality radiators via Aussie Desert Cooler, but they’ve built stacks of outrageous rides of their own, supported shows across the wide brown land, raced at Bonneville, and helped keep Aussie land speed racing firing on all eight cylinders through countless hours of volunteer labour.

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MICK BRASHER ALONG with Steve Loader, Peter Grmusa and a handful of others, ‘Mad Mick’ took the art of burnouts to a new level in the mid-2000s. And his Brashernats event proved that skid shows could work at Sydney Dragway.

PARO THE late Geoff Paradise was the founding editor of Street Machine, turning the much-loved but neglected Van Wheels into a surprise success. A car guy to his bootlaces, Paro won respect for the mag throughout the wider industry, to the point where he was able to help stave off the extinction of the Holden V8 through the V8s ’Til ’98 campaign. Four decades after the first issue, Paro’s vision remains essential to SM’s DNA.

NORM LONGFIELD NORM’S ’Vette graced the first issue of the mag where SM was given top billing – the Oct/Nov ’81 edition. Before that, he’d built one of the best T-buckets this country has ever seen and has continued to push the envelope ever since, as evidenced by his insane rear-engined Model A pick-up, his groundbreaking pro street Willys, the incredible restoration (twice) of the Jocko Liner, and his nitro-powered dragster.

OWEN WEBB AFTER establishing his reputation with an XW ute and an XY sedan dubbed Wild Thing, Owen Webb built a career as one of the best painters in the country and went on to modernise and lead the judging at Summernats and later MotorEx. He attends more cars shows per year than any other Aussie, mentors car builders all over the country and teaches spray jockeys how to make magic.

PHIL SCOTT THE second guy to pilot Street Machine, editor Phil Scott professionalised the mag, took it from six issues a year to nine, and drove sales through the roof, blasting our in-house rivals at Wheels out of the water. His relentless campaign of giveaway cars no doubt helped the cause!

PETER HANENBERGER

PAT FAY THE late Mr Fay was a Holden spare parts guru, owner of Australia’s most famous hearse and a big part of what made Street Machine Summernats so special.

TOP German bloke who made Holdens handle in the 70s. When he was made top dog in 1999, Peter helped turn the secret two-door Monaro project into production reality and exported Holdens around the world.

PINKY THE gravelly tones of Gordon ‘Pinky’ Fellows were an essential part of many car shows up and down the east coast throughout the 2000s. After getting his break on the mic at the 1997 Street Rod Nationals, Pinky was tapped by Chic Henry to work at Summernats, where he became the voice of both Horsepower Heroes and the tattoo comp.

PLANKKMAN THE Deacon of Dunedoo, Brian Plankkman is many things to many people – Street Machine’s spiritual guru, the bane of car company executives, the ultimate budget builder, and the biggest cheerleader for the venerable Holden red motor. Like The Phantom, he’ll never die.

PREM70 FRESH from taking out Top Street Machine at the 6th Street Machine Nationals, Ian Hazel’s HG wagon was a sensation when it appeared in the Jun/Jul ’84 issue of SM. Ian’s lessis-more approach influenced guys like Rex Webster and Ron Barclay and thousands more builders around the country.

READERS’ ROCKETS OUR editor’s favourite regular feature has long been our readers’ rides pages, and I reckon a fair few of you think the same. S T R E E T M AC H I N E

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REDMOND THE most prolific letter-writer to ‘Your Stuff’ of all time, Redmond has also contributed his wit as a guest editor and columnist before taking on the world of podcasting as one half of The Thongslappers.

STAN SAINTY INSANELY talented Aussie engineer who could make just about anything he set his mind to – including three-valve Top Fuel donks.

SHONKY

ROD HADFIELD

THE late Craig Brewer was the pilot of Australia’s toughest HR Holden van, a stalwart of the Pro Street scene and helped more cars go straight down the track than most of us have had hot dinners.

HANDS-down the most prolific creator of mind-blowing hot rods and street machines Australia has ever seen. Between car building, drag racing, salt racing on two continents, designing his own engine and creating a high-performance empire with wife Carol, you have to wonder if Rod actually ever sleeps. His biography – the Mad Scientist of Australian Hot Rodding – is mandatory reading.

STREET MACHINE SUMMERNATS THE single greatest automotive event in the world.

TONY RABBITTE STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR THE world’s greatest modified car award.

TAPPY GEELONG lad Chris Thorogood is the renaissance man of the Street Machine team. Besides photography, Chris dabbles in the arts of slow meat preparation, tortoise rescue, Volkswagen crash-testing and Weber restoration. We’d be lost without him.

ALONG with fellow photographers Bates and Guy Bowden, Tony helped define the look of Street Machine features for a couple of decades and influenced a new generation of snappers.

TWO HANDS ANOTHER essential Street Machine flick. Full of memorable quotes and starring the most bad-arse XA Falcon GT hardtop – later owned for a time by FM radio star, Merrick Watts.

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VAN WHEELS DESPITE criminal neglect by management and a revolving door of part-time editors, Van Wheels was enormously fun, gonzo magazine-making. Rising out of the ashes of The Australian Hot Rodding Review, Van Wheels in turn died so Street Machine could live. Poetic, eh? We brought the title back for an encore a few years ago, with issue 11 of Van Wheels embedded into the June 2015 issue of SM. Grab a copy if you haven’t seen it – it’s one of my favourite issues.

VICTOR BRAY ONE of the most successful Aussie drag racers of all time and arguably the most famous, Victor was our in-house drag racing columnist until COVID ended the party last year.

VOLVOS WE LOVED to take the piss out of the infamous Swedish brick, with Paradise writing one of his most memorable editorials about battles with Volvo-driving plonkers in his Chrysler By Chrysler in the Feb/Mar ’84 issue. He called it ‘Battleship Colossus’ – do a search on streetmachine.com.au for the yarn. Nevertheless, some of you figured out that Swedish bricks actually make good subjects for engine swaps, and we started featuring them in limited numbers in the mid-90s. And now we have a 1JZ-powered example as a Carnage car!

WAYNE & VICKY THE second-greatest automotive cartoon in the history of the world – first place must go to Fred Gassit of Australian Motorcycling News fame – ‘Wayne & Vicky’ was the brainchild of the awesomely talented and deadline-averse Brendan Akhurst. Wayne Clodpole’s ribald adventures graced the early issues of Street Machine before jumping ship with Mac Douglas to Street & Custom and later Super Street.

WILD BUNCH IF YOU think the current crop of radial racers are cool, try to imagine the impact the first generation of Wild Bunch racers had on impressionable drag fans. Particularly once John ‘Stomper’ Winterburn enticed the crème of US sedan racing royalty to matchrace with our boys Down Under. Not long after, Top Doorslammer racing was born.

WILLIAM PORKER THE nom de plume of Noel Tuckey, who remains an essential part of Street Machine’s technical think-tank and author of the immortal ‘Dirty Stuff’ column.

YOUR STUFF YELLA TERRA FOUNDED by ‘Dyno Dave’ Bennett, Yella Terra set new standards for what the Aussie aftermarket scene could achieve.

OUR letters page, where readers have been battling over age-old controversies – including what should be considered a street car – since the mag first lobbed. Your Stuff is also the place to celebrate the big milestones in life, call out excellent behaviour, and to generally philosophise.

ZB THE final, unloved chapter of the Commodore’s onceproud story.

ZAHABI AS IN Rob and Cooper, the boys behind Rides By Kam on the Gold Coast. Builders of multiple cover cars, at least two of which have been exported Stateside.

ZZ TOP ALONG with Motörhead, Queens of the Stone Age and AC/DC, the little ol’ band from Texas has got the Street Machine team through many a brutal deadline. s

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Story & Photos S M

STAFF

MOVERS & SHAKERS

2021 WE PAY TRIBUTE TO A BUNCH OF FOLKS WHO ARE MAKING THINGS HAPPEN IN THE CAR SCENE

HESE are some crazy times we’re living in, but despite it all, our scene keeps moving forward. While there’s no doubt many of us are doing it tough in a variety of ways, there are lots of folks out there in the hot-car scene pushing boundaries and getting things done. Some are making world-beating products and exporting them to the world; others are just making sure the people in their community have a space – either online or IRL – to gather to support each other. And then there are the event promoters big and small. Car shows and

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race meets are right up there with the things many of us have missed badly during COVID-19 lockdowns, so our hats are off to anyone who has the testicular fortitude to organise an event in the midst of such uncertainty. To pay tribute to these goers, we asked the Street Machine audience online to send us nominations of people they thought deserved a spot on our movers and shakers list. We got a great response and hereby present the results! Reckon we missed someone? Email us at streetmachine@aremedia.com.au and we’ll give them a shout-out on our socials.

LANCE WARREN FOR an IT guy, Lance Warren is having a massive impact on Aussie drag racing. Okay, so he’s an IT guy who races a seven-second R35 GT-R, but what Lance has achieved as owner of Heathcote Park Raceway in just a few months is staggering. Since taking over the central Victorian drag strip at the end of 2020, Lance and his crew have continually upgraded the track amenities, running events all the while. Heathcote’s calendar is booked out with cool grassroots shows, and it seems like it will only be a matter of time before the track will be able to host Group One racing for the first time in years.

TURBOSMART POWER is nothing without control, so said the Street Machine T-shirts of the 1990s, and Sydney’s Nic Cooper must have agreed. He designed the first Turbosmart blowoff valve in his suburban garage back in 1997, and the company has grown to boast a range of boost- and fuel-control products, with offices now in the UK and USA. Turbosmart’s CO2 -operated and even electronically controlled wastegates are changing the face of racing. The firm was rewarded with an incredible six awards at the 2018 SEMA Show for its GenV wastegate line, showing the incredible esteem in which Aussie-designed and engineered products are held.

STEVE & CHERIE KARAGIANNIS BRISBANE and cruise nights go hand in hand. A killer car scene and great weather have provided the raw ingredients for decades, but tensions with the constabulary has been a thorn in the side of meet organisers for just as long. Keeping the right vibe is hard yakka, but it pays off in spades, as Steve and Cherie Karagiannis have proved with their monthly meets at Joe’s Diner in Eagle Farm. By working with the police and the car owners, their event sees more than 1000 cars each month.

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