Table of contents for No 228 July - August 2025 in NZV8

Holding this magazine, you’ll notice that it feels a bit heavier — that’ll be because we’ve managed to cram more cars into it, and upped the page count a bit, so we’re happy to be able to say we have more room for more great content now, with five full-length feature stories to rip into. Starting from the top, if you consider yourself a muscle car aficionado, you’ll want to play ‘spot the difference’ with John Gamble’s fully custom, extensively modified ’69 Chevelle. Painted in a pure eye-candy, difficult to describe shade of blue (or teal?), countless hours have been poured into its full-steel body modifications. It’s one of the best-looking modern takes on the Chevelle we’ve ever seen. Next up, we have the twin-turbocharged LS3, 1956 Bel Air Sports…

In a massive win for V8 fans everywhere, GM’s recently dropped a bombshell: they’re pumping a massive US$888 million into their Tonawanda Propulsion Plant in New York, to build an all-new sixth-generation small-block V8. That’s right — a new V8 from GM is on its way, being penned for production in 2027. This beast will power GM’s full-size trucks and SUVs, and while GM is keeping the more specific details close to their chest for now, they’re promising better fuel efficiency and lower emissions; thanks to new advances in combustion and thermal management tech. As environmental regulations tighten up gradually, it’s great to see that V8s are still able to find ways to keep up with testing demands. At this point, there’s no mention of displacement or power figures, or…

Simply by chance, almost exactly 10 years ago to the issue, John Gamble’s red big block 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle was featured in NZV8 Issue No. 121. Very different to the car you see here today, this was a serious oldschool build — with an original 454ci stroked to 496 cubes, featuring beefy carbs, a grumpy cam, and a manual box to keep you on your toes; as you unleashed however many of its 622 pissedoff horses that you dared onto the tarmac below. Some of you may remember it as Lester Davis’s old Chevelle from the 1980s, although essentially the only part of it untouched by John since then would be the vinyl roof. John built a serious, angry car back then in 2015 — a car that became part…

Mid-April saw Round 5 of the NAPA Auto Parts Dragway Competition Meet Series fire up at Meremere, and while most of the usual suspects were back on track, one standout made a surprise appearance — the iconic ’37 Chev Coupe of Steve Hardcastle. Long-time fans would’ve done a double take as the faithful recreation of Steve’s original car rolled into the pits, looking every bit like the legend it once was. It’s a brand-new build, so it was out for observation passes only this time around — just enough to gather some data and allow the driver to get comfortable behind the wheel. With a screaming small block topped by a 14–71 blower, the coupe made its presence known. It didn’t take much imagination to picture the memories flooding back…

It’s been a huge few months for us at Fitzroy Motorsport. Between ‘NUTOUT’ in Australia and a packed schedule of events across New Zealand, things have been nonstop. Staying on top of it all has definitely been a mission. Rapanats 2025 turned out to be the biggest and best yet, with over 65 entrants, record-breaking crowd numbers, and the wildest party skids we’ve seen so far. Every year this event gets better, and it’s hard to imagine how they’ll top it in 2026! Events like Rapanats are a major boost for the New Zealand burnout scene. While there’s definitely a competitive side to it, the overall vibe turns into a full-on Easter weekend party. People come from all corners of the country — from the top of the North Island…

Almost 70 years ago now, Burt Munro set his first New Zealand open beach speed record, clocking 131.38mph on Invercargill’s deadflat Oreti Beach. This beach was something like a local test track for the Invercargill local, who had been modifying his Indian Scout to make it, as he put it, “3¼mph faster every year since 1926”. The moment that he started modifying his iconic motorbike is touching on 100 years ago now, but the intoxicating flatness of Oreti Beach still manages to draw Kiwi petrolheads into its 26km span. The blokes in this club, GROG, don’t manage to go quite as fast on their local Oreti Beach as Burt did back in the day, although the age of many of their vehicles would be at that 100-year mark. What they’re…

NZ motorsport’s found its voice — and it sounds a lot like Angus Fogg and Steve Noyer trading yarns over a set of slicks. Talkin Torque, proudly backed by the legends at Mount Shop, is a new Kiwi podcast out now that goes full throttle into the world of racing, from Manfeild to Monaco. Highlights from the first episode include a lively discussion on Liam Lawson’s fantastic recovery and performance in Monaco, insights into SVG’s NASCAR adventure, and a heartfelt tribute to the resilience and growth of young racers facing the cutthroat nature of Formula 1 and motorsports at large where fun vouchers (read: money) still make the wheels go round. The guys also share their views on the changing landscape of New Zealand motorsport, including the decline of certain…

The Repco Supercars Championship will proudly bring racing to Christchurch from 2026, with Ruapuna Raceway set to host the first-ever Supercars event on New Zealand’s South Island, part of a groundbreaking NZ double-header. The announcement marks a major moment for Supercars and Kiwi motorsport fans alike, as the category locks in a two-event presence in both the North and South Islands from 2026–2028. The inclusion of Ruapuna Raceway is a milestone moment — a proud, club-run venue with deep local roots and a passionate motorsport community, with Supercars CEO Shane Howard noting: “We’ve always wanted to race in the South Island, and thanks to the commitment of the New Zealand Government, ChristchurchNZ, Christchurch City Council and the incredible work of the Canterbury Car Club, that dream will become a reality…

Brent Shipman’s ’56 Chev was never intended to be this good. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the success of his wife June’s Chev Cameo, the build may not have even happened. We’re not saying that he was out to one-up his wife, not at all; it’s just that he did such a good job building her pickup that there was no way he could ever be happy with how bad the ’56 drove in comparison. The key to the Cameo’s driveability was the Art Morrison chassis that was used, so Brent came up with a plan to purchase another one for the ’56. We’re unsure if he was kidding himself or trying to convince June when he says that he was thinking of sliding the chassis under the…

Southern Dragways, established in 1980, is New Zealand’s southernmost drag racing club, based in Invercargill. The club has been pivotal in promoting drag racing in the South Island, organising events at Teretonga Park Raceway and other venues in the region, while the track itself has been instrumental in the development of drag racing in the south, providing a venue for street cars, bikes, and competition cars. It’s a small club based on strong merits, located in the home of the world’s fastest Indian, delicious cheese rolls, local celebrity Tim Shadbolt (depending on who you ask, an icon in his own right!), and the destination of the Goodbye Pork Pie Mini. Over the years, Southern Dragways has introduced events that are innovative to the region’s drag racing scene. Notably, it brought…

Well, after the last column, where I talked about spending eight of nine weekends away at the racetrack, weekend 11 was back to Dragway at The Bend in Adelaide with the big show cars. We had won the last event at Willowbank, putting us only five points out of the championship lead, but for this new combination, it was not the result that we were looking for performance-wise. So, a few more tweaks and some new ways of thinking had us once again going into the event with no real idea of how things were going to go. We also had our spare body on for the first time in the Boosted by Aeroflow livery — gone was the familiar yellow and black of Aeroflow, replaced with a chrome red.…

ISSUE NOS. 118 AND 119 MARCH/APRIL 2015 WHERE IS IT NOW? WARREN BLACK — HOLDEN HQ MONARO Warren Black’s Monaro was one out of the box. Show-winning looks and power to match make the car legendary even today, a decade after it was featured. At the time, Warren was working his way towards running the car into the nine-second zone, and it did get there, although an engine failure saw the motor replaced with a new Big Al’s–built package. During the engine swap, the 8-71 blower was replaced with a 10-71, which required the distributor to be crank-mounted for clearance. Not too long after, Warren switched attention to his more sedate family cruiser, an HQ sedan with a 572ci big block under the hood. We featured that car in Issue…

Eat that, McLaren. The latest Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is now the fastest street-legal, factory-offered rear-wheel-drive car in the race to reach 100kph. The 1064hp American monster also minces its closest competitors — the McLaren 750S and Ferrari 296GTB — all the way down the drag strip too, hitting 160km/h in 4.5 seconds, and 210km/h in 7.1 seconds. It rounded its Car and Driver testing session out by finishing a quarter mile in 9.5 seconds, at 240kph. In classic US fashion, the Corvette ZR1 does all of this while being priced at less than half of what the McLaren and Ferrari ask. For the US$205,265 price Chevrolet demands at this record-setting trim level, you get a twin-turbocharged 5.5 litre flat-plane crank V8; christened the LT7. This engine revs out to 8000rpm,…

From the late ’60s through to the mid ’70s, one of the world’s most unrestricted motorsport series ever was played out on road circuits in North America. The Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) has been described by some as the most insane thing to happen in international motorsport. Big horsepower, big aero, minimal rules, and circuslike showmanship meant Can-Am was as American as apple pie. This was a playground where cubic displacement was king, speed was high, and the Americans would shine. Can-Am seemingly couldn’t get any more American, and let’s be honest, it isn’t often that Americans get outdone at being … well … American. However, in 1966, a young Kiwi came knocking at the Yanks’ door with his own car and would show them up like nobody had done…

The Kiwi drag racing scene did us proud this May, with Top Doorslammer pilots Steve ‘Cowboy’ Carlsen and Nigel Dixon heading across the ditch to take on the Aussies — and not only did they both crack into the fives, they brought home some serious silverware too! Cowboy’s Aussie adventure kicked off in Sydney, then down to Adelaide, and back to Sydney just in time for the Nitro Champs. His ’65 Falcon Sprint, along with an F250 tow rig, made the trip thanks to CFR Line shipping. After a few days of testing, the car was already looking sharp with a string of six-second passes and a new PB. Some tweaks from Bronson ‘Chickenhawk’ Dunn helped shave that time down even more before the team packed up for Adelaide. At…

Oakland Avenue, St Johns Hill, Whanganui. Now, that’s an address. But I’ll come back to that. In the mid 1980s, just on 40 years ago, Glynn Hurley and Sandra Wilson (now living in Brisbane) were members of the Wanganui Road Rodders hot rod club, and Glynn had already made quite a name for himself as a very clever car builder. He was well known for his ’34 Chev two-door sedan, and then a Chev Vega, both as fast as they were beautiful. The ’34 Chev started out green with black mudguards, running a 308 Holden engine. It was a damn good car in its day, but in 1981, it underwent another rebuild when Glynn obtained a genuine, ex–sprint car fuel-injected 355ci Chev engine and decided to chop the roof. This…

You’re looking at the first Mustangs to Fear Mustang ever built for New Zealand, and the only one that will ever exist on Kiwi roads. Why is that, you may ask? Well, to answer that, we need to start our story 13,000km away, in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in 2014, when Kiwi Craig Borland travelled to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to attend the 50th Anniversary Mustang Celebration. There, Craig saw iconic Mustang-meddling outfits like Roush, Saleen, and Shelby showing off their top new models, and, being the 50th anniversary event, there were even original concepts like the Mustang I and II on display. But cutting through all this Mustang fever for Craig was a small stand for a small shop named ‘Mustangs To Fear’ (MTF). MTF had created a top-notch…

LSA-PACHE Patch and Kerri’s 1959 Chevrolet Apache has come a long way from its humble roots hauling rubbish around Fort Bragg, California. For the last few years, it was used as a beater by its last owner Brent, who was often seen cruising the streets with his dog riding shotgun. The truck caught Patch’s eye in late 2019 when he saw it up for sale, and, after inspection by one of his mates in Sacramento, he brought it back to New Zealand. Now, since 2024, Patch has given Real Rides the task of turning it into something a bit more deserving. The team’ve thrown a cammed (and supercharged, of course) LSA into it, and paired it with a six-speed manual, with a fabricated nine-inch diff out the back. They’ve heavily…

WALKINSHAW REPLICA WHEELS Looking for the perfect set of wheels to compliment your Commodore? Rare Spares have now restocked brand-new Walkinshaw Replica wheels after the first shipment sold out! Available in 18x8, 5x120 to suit early commodore VB–VZ. P42 offset, centre cap decals and wheel nuts are included. Stop by our showroom at 43 Shands Road Hornby, Christchurch to have a look, or give our team call on 03 366 5982. RRP $1795 incl. GST or $2395 incl. GST with tyres (235/40ZR18). KYB SHOCK ABSORBERS Are your shocks old or wearing out? Worn out shocks can bring premature vehicle repairs by reducing the lifetime of your vehicle’s steering and suspension products. So, when replacing shock absorbers, it’s wise to fit the best affordable quality brand you can, especially with the…