Table of contents for September 2023 in Street Machine

VICTORIAN paint and panel guy Craig McKenzie has been making a name for himself of late by saving old show cars from neglect and giving them a fresh lease on life. The lord’s work, we reckon. For starters, Craig and his wife Kristie restored the Auto Salon-starring ‘Green Ghost’ Nissan 200SX, and also owned the SQIZME Hyundai S Coupe for a time. More recently, Craig treated the ex-Ditch Jones HR ute dubbed 1FATHR to a makeover that landed him on the cover of Street Machine last issue. Now, Craig has taken on one of the most famous cars in street machining history: Alan Cooper’s BLOBAK 2 Holden ute, winner of the very first Street Machine of the Year in 1988. So far, Craig only has the chassis to start with…

SNAKE & MONGOOSE 2013 FAST FRIENDS, ARCH-RIVALS! IF YOU’RE like me, you’d be aware of American drag racers Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme and Tom ‘The Mongoose’ McEwen, but I have to admit I didn’t know much about their life stories as they rose through the sport’s ranks in the latter half of the last century. The pair were close mates and fierce rivals right from the get-go, and 2013’s Snake & Mongoose is a dramatised chronicle of their exploits between 1958 and 1978 – from Prudhomme (Jesse Williams) and McEwen’s (Richard Blake) humble beginnings in the sport in southern California, clawing their way to class wins despite almost insurmountable financial hurdles, through to Nationals wins and international acclaim. The melding of Prudhomme’s staunch racing dedication with McEwen’s showmanship and promotional…

AT JUST 32 years old, Heath van der Waerden has dedicated a quarter of his life to this stunning Torana build, and it’s fair to say he’s done it entirely his way. “I think I was born about 20 years too late,” he says. “I love the individuality you see in hot-car builds from the 1980s and 90s, so I wanted to apply that mindset and styling to the Torana while integrating some Jap and Euro cues and a smattering of modern inclusions, but not have them clash.” Cars like Howard Bell’s LITRE8, Craig Parker’s TUFFXY and Mark Sanders’s Torana are obvious inspiration points for Heath – builds reflecting an interest in circuit racing over the more usual pro street. The result is a Torana hatch for all seasons –…

Conditions apply, see www.streetmachine.com.au. Commences 31 August 2023. Ends 23:59 AEDT on 16 October 2023. AU and NZ residents 18+. Only one entry per person. Drawn at Wheels Media, Unit 9, 3-5 Gilda Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170 on 1 November 2023 at 11:00 AEDT. Prize: $5000. The Promoter in Australia is Wheels Media, a division of Are Media Pty Ltd (ABN 18 053 273 546) of 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 (phone: (02) 8268 8000), and in New Zealand is Are Media Ltd (8042050) of Level 1, 317 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland City 1021. TP 23/01479 WIN A COOL $5000! SINCE 1988, Street Machine of the Year has been one of the most prestigious and sought-after awards in our sport. Beyond collecting $20,000 in prize money courtesy of…

FOR some, the old adage ‘Mopar or no car’ is more than just a catchphrase; it’s a way of life. These are the kind of folks who came out to mark the 20th-anniversary celebration of Queensland’s Mopar Sunday event. Willowbank Raceway hosted 1500 spectators on 30 July as more than 100 Chryslers raced down the quarter-mile. “It’s pretty special,” said event organiser Sam Tatton. “I never expected to be doing this for 20 years! It goes to show that crowds may come and go, but the hardcore grassroots Mopar guys will always be here.” Roughly a quarter of this year’s participants were newcomers to the event, and you would be hard pressed to find a more like-minded group. Passion runs deep among Chrysler fans, and Sam said that many of…

RYAN Tanaskovic is a name that’s known and loved in the Canberra car scene, thanks in part to his work with Discount Towing. When Ryan copped a shock leukaemia diagnosis last year at just 28, his wife Regan dropped everything to look after their young family. To help ease the burden of treatment costs and living expenses, Ryan’s mates and his brother Mitch organised the Cruise for a Cause fundraiser. The hallowed Exhibition Park in Canberra would play host to a show ’n’ shine on 16 July, with a cruise through the streets of the capital planned to top things off. “From the hype, I was going to be happy with two or three hundred cars,” Mitch said, “but by 9am we had to open up the next plot of…

WHILE a turbocharged LS may be the GM engine of choice at Street Machine Drag Challenge, Matt Murphy’s HQ Kingswood defiantly kicks it old-school, rocking a big-block Chev, carby and a good ol’ shot of giggle gas. Thirty-year-old Matt has owned the orange dynamo since he was 15, and they’ve been taking on Drag Challenge together since 2019. “I got it as my first car and drove it around on my Ls, until we did a bigblock swap over four years on apprentice wages,” Matt says. “I’d been around cars like this growing up and fell in love with my neighbour’s HQ Statesman as a kid, so I wanted to build my own 80s-style street machine out of an HQ as my first car.” Matt says that much of the…

BRENTON WATKINS FPV GT-P “IT’S BEEN four years since my FG FPV GT-P was last in Street Machine, and I have spent that time upgrading it. It’s been converted to run E85 fuel, with 1500cc injectors and twin StreetFighter fuel pumps, and I’ve replaced the 1.9-litre supercharger with a Harrop TVS2300 and added a Mishimoto oil cooler. All this complements the Ford Racing twin 65mm throttlebodies, tuned ceramic headers and three-inch StreetFighter exhaust with high-flow cats. These mods have resulted in a very healthy dyno run of 1012hp and 848lb-ft of torque, with all the work done by KPM Motorsport. The rear guards have been cut and widened by 70mm on each side, enabling huge 295/30R20 tyres to be fitted. It has been completely repainted in Kinetic Blue with blue…

THE small-block V8 made by GM prior to the Gen III is often overlooked these days, but it’s still a pretty handy thing if you know how to tickle it. This example was pieced together by the team at BG Engines, and it’s a stout little pump-fuel, street-and-strip/Powercruise engine that’s destined for an LJ Torana. The block is a Dart SHP Pro item, which comes with a number of upgrades aimed at high-rpm applications. “The block comes with 50mm big-block Chev cam journals, billet steel four-bolt mains caps, and .904in lifter bores,” explains BG’s Damian Baker. “We run the Dart PRO1 227cc cylinder heads on this engine too, which we’ve given a bit of a tickle-up.” The engine is a healthy 434ci in capacity and uses a Scat crank, Eagle…

THE entries are in, and all over the land, sheds are full of Drag Challenge competitors madly swinging spanners to get their rides ready for the toughest torture test for Aussie street cars. Let’s see how each of the classes is shaping up. TURBOSMART OUTLAW BLOWN THE blown big-tyre class has a stack of super-quick cars ready to rock, starting with two-time Drag Challenge champ Harry Haig and his POP666 HQ. Mark Whitla is back in the BBC-powered Capri that won Outlaw Blown at Drag Challenge Weekend last year. Word is that the team have made some big changes to the car since then, but the lack of opportunities to test in Tassie will make it hard for the guys. Fellow Taswegian Alexis Margaritis will also return with his stunning…

CLINTON KELLY MOOLAP, VICTORIA CLINTON Kelly is lining up for his second crack at Street Machine Drag Challenge in October in his ballsy HT Premier, so we caught up with him to find out more about the angry Holden and his goals for this year’s event. Have you always been a Holden man? Yeah, pretty well. I had an EH as my first car. I then started messing around with V6 Commodores, and I had both a supercharged L67 and a turbo V6 in my VR ute at different stages. I grew up around building cars; Dad and I have been doing it since I was young. How did the HT come about? It was a six-cylinder car we heard about through a friend of a friend, and I was…

Write to: Your Stuff, Street Machine, Unit 9/3-5 Gilda Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170 or email streetmachine@wheelsmedia.com.au. Make sure you include your address (not necessarily for publication). Keep it short and sweet! LETTER OF THE MONTH VARIETY SHOW I JUST finished reading my July issue of Street Machine from cover to cover and felt compelled to congratulate you on an excellent edition of the magazine. I have been a subscriber for 12 months and became bored with the never-ending stream of 70s Toranas, Monaros and Falcons that seem to follow the same build formula. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate a good build, but there are just so many other fabulous builds out there, so why be so narrow in your coverage? And then the July edition hit me with…

655-PIECE DOUBLE TOOL CHEST AND TROLLEY HIT THE QR CODE TO GO INTO THE DRAW TO WIN THIS STUNNING 655-PIECE GEARWRENCH TOOL CHEST AND TROLLEY FOR FATHER’S DAY! IF YOU'RE AN EXISTING OR NEW SUBSCRIBER, YOU GET TEN BONUS ENTRIES FOR NIX! SCAN THE CODE FOR YOUR Free ENTRY! T&Cs: Conditions apply, see https://www.whichcar.com.au/terms-and-conditions. Commences 12:00 am July 31 2023. Ends 11:59PM AEST/AEDST on September 24 2023. AU and NZ residents 18+. Only one entry per person. Drawn at Wheels Media, Unit 9, 3-5 Gilda Court, Mulgrave VIC 3170 on 27th of September 2023 at 11:00am AEST. Prize; 1 x GearWrench trolley tool kits, Total price pack valued at $6119. The Promoter is Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546) of 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Authorised…

WE SPOTTED Taner Dede’s VH Commodore at Motorvation 37 and were instantly impressed by the panel and paint – not to mention the tough-sounding engine. The reverse-cowl bonnet was a pretty big hint that something was going on underneath, and the distinct mechanical whine had us thinking it wasn’t boosted by exhaust gases. Taner lives on the west coast these days, but he grew up in Melbourne and was pretty heavily involved in the car scene there, starting off with a hand-me-down VB Commodore from his parents before getting obsessed with VL Turbos. But what he always wanted was a VH SL/E, and after moving to Perth, he found one for sale. “I knew the sickness would start again, so after buying it, I’ve spent the past five years getting…

HD-HR Holdens seem to be having a moment. We’ve featured a stack of them in the past couple of years, and now we’ve had two stark-white HR utes within a couple of months. But while Craig McKenzie’s cover car from this past July was an unabashed trophy hunter, the HR you see here is all about smashing tyres. It belongs to West Australian Reece Regan, and we suspect the ADHD number plates might just explain something about his attitude to building cars. In January 2020, Reece dragged a candy gold blown VK Commodore across the Nullarbor to skid at Summernats 33. He then sold the VK and built the HR – which was then painted lime green – in time for Motorvation 35 in 2021. Then, after a year of…

DIESEL-powered rigs are not commonplace in these pages, but Reece Wooldridge’s Dodge Ram is such a bad-arse we had to feature it. This all-wheel-drive monster is a real standout, and I’m not just talking about the paintjob. Under the hood lurks a 5.7-litre Hamilton/Cummins diesel mill with a solid block and water-cooled head, capable of absorbing 100psi of boost. The Dodge had already run an 8.80 quarter-mile with a previous combo, and the truck’s new mill is set to better that. “I’ve always been in love with trucks,” Reece says. “I started with Land Cruisers when I was younger and got heavily involved in four-wheel driving. Back then, everyone had a lift kit and the Leyland Brothers were still a big thing. “I slammed a 5.7-litre Gen 3 in a…

GAG OF THE MONTH TALL STORIES THREE writers, Al, Ben and Carl, were attending a writing convention, and were staying in a three-bedroom suite on the 75th floor of a hotel. When they arrived back at the hotel after the convention, the receptionist told them, “I’m terribly sorry, but all the elevators are out of order. In the meantime, you will have to take the stairs.” Now, Al was a writer of funny stories, Ben was a writer of scary stories, and Carl was a writer of sad stories, so the three of them agreed that, to make the climb less boring, Al would tell the other two his funniest stories while they climbed from floors 1 to 25, Ben would tell his scariest stories from floors 26 to 50,…

MATT ROBERTS BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND THE Roberts family – and the wider hotcar community – lost a great man with the passing of Matthew Roberts on 26 April this year. Eldest son of Rick and Wendy, big brother to Ian and Tim, and loving dad to Aiden and Page, Matt shared the family passion for cars and was an avid Street Machine reader stretching right back to his short-pants-wearing days. “Matt was always the showy brother when it came to cars,” Tim says. “Ian is the artsy one, and I’m all about going quick, but it was a combination of these different ideas and skills that just worked for us, not only as brothers but as great mates, too. Please make sure you take the time to check in on family…

Tayla Harris TAYLA Harris is known for kicking footies and punching heads. But what many folks don’t know is that she’s also got a thing for stomping throttles. The AFLW and boxing superstar is a bona fide revhead, having purchased two tasty XB Falcon coupes, one for her and the other for her dad, ex-QAFL player Warren Harris. At just 26, Tayla is already a certified Australian sporting icon. The former Young Victorian of the Year emanates the strength of a champion, and yet carries herself with a humbleness that belies her incredible list of achievements. Read on, and you’ll see that the title of ‘legend’ could not be more fitting. What sparked your interest in muscle cars, Tayla? Dad has always been passionate about Aussie muscle cars, specifically XB…

DARREN Bonnici’s love affair with this XP Falcon hardtop began when he was just a little tacker with big muscle car dreams. “I used to ride past it on my way to school every day,” he recalls. “One day I knocked on the door and asked if it was for sale, and the owner said yes! I raced back home and rang my dad, who was still at work, and together we went and grabbed it later that day.” That was back in 1986. Darren was 16 years old and bright-eyed, while the XP was 20 and getting tired. Alongside his dad, young Darren took two years to rebuild the car, finishing it just in time for when he got his licence at age 18. “We fixed the rust, put…

WITH its nitro-snorting EFI Hemi, crazy suspension system, extensive body mods and left-of-field colour, Rhonda and John Zelukovic’s Studebaker Hawk floored the establishment when it rocked up to Summernats 10. From there, the HOWBZR Stude went on to be the number-one star attraction at numerous Aussie shows, picking up no less than 11 trophies at the 1997 Melbourne Hot Rod Show and loads of other tinware during its travels. The Zelukovics even thought about shipping it across to the US of A, as they felt it was more than capable of taking on the Yanks at their own game. All these years on, the Studebaker has made a few guest appearances here and there with the assistance of the Zelukovics’ son Ben, but it mostly just takes pride of place…

WITH its fat rubber, hunkered-down stance and eye-popping Red Pepper paint, it’s little wonder Lorry Gatt’s XA GT hardtop is still so fondly remembered nearly 40 years after we featured it in the February-March 1984 issue of Street Machine. The photo in that feature of the car diving into a corner is one of the most iconic images in the mag’s history. Back when we published that story, it was believed that the car was an RPO 83 – those highly desirable XA GTs fitted with Phase IV goodies. However, while Lorry’s XA does have some similar options to the RPO 83s, it isn’t one. The RPOs didn’t start rolling down the production line until August ’73, while this car was built in September ’72. That said, it’s still a…

RHIANNA Lougher had little chance of escaping the wonders of car life. Her Iron Maiden appearance means that the whole Lougher family – Rhianna, dad Gareth (SM, Oct ’19), mum Alison (SM, Apr ’13) and brother Reece (SM, Oct ’18) – have now had their cars in Street Machine. With that sort of pedigree, something mild was never going to cut the mustard for 17-year-old Rhianna, and her iron lion-powered sleeper LC Torana is anything but. Rhianna, I reckon it’s pretty obvious where your influences came from. Yeah, I’ve been around cars my entire life – I think it started in the womb! I remember going across the Nullarbor a few times for shows with Dad or Mum’s cars. And after being surrounded by old-school cars, I knew I wanted…

SEND your photos of fun with cars to: Sunday Too Far Away Street Machine, Unit 9/3-5 Gilda Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170, or email high-resolution images (1mb+) to: sundaytoofaraway@wheelsmedia.com.au. Please send copies of prints as we are unable to return your photos.…