NZV8 181 preview

REBUILDING A 4000-PLUS HORSEPOWER NITRO FUNNYCAR

TURBO VK + + ALGIE ALFETTA

SLICK FOR D FALCON

JUNE 2020 ISSUE 180–181

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ISSUE 180–181 ∞ JUNE 2020

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IMPALA

on Boost 9

LOW-RIDER

Blue Meanie

HIGH G ROLLIN ’64 PLUS: NINE-SECOND CAMARO, GASSER WARS T-BUCKETNATIONALS, DRIVING ZL1S WITH MURPH

MUSCLE GARAGE

E V E R Y

S U N D A Y

O N

contents JUNE 2020

The Cars

24: STRAIGHT SHOOTER — BLUE MEANIE ON BOOST 32: SOCIAL DISTORTION — HIGH ROLLING ‘64 74: MR AND MRS QUICK — LATE-MODEL LOVE AFFAIR 82: THE CONVERTED — SLICK FORD FALCON 112: THE ALGIE ALFETTA — SPORTS CAR MADNESS

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Events

44: CHROME CHRISTCHURCH 106: T-BUCKET NATIONALS

The Other Stuff

02: FROM THE ED. 06: WORLD NEWS 08: LOCAL GOSSIP 12: IN THE BUILD 14: DAILY GRIND 40: SUBSCRIBE AND WIN 42: STRAIGHT TALK 56: DRAGGED UP 58: NZ’S QUICKEST 60: AEROFLOW RACE DIARY 90: SOCIAL SCENE 92: CONCEPT CORNER 120: CMC NEWS 122: CARGO 126: LOCAL SPECIALISTS 128: COMING NEXT MONTH

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60 Special Features

16: HOLDENS WE’VE OWNED — OUR HOLDEN TRIBUTE 50: THE ROAD TO GOON — THE PERFECT ROAD TRIP 62: PAYING THE PRICE — NITRO FUNNY CAR REBUILD 94: CUTTING AND BUFFING — YOUR HOW TO GUIDE 100: ZL1 DREAM DATE — ON TRACK WITH MURPH

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FEATURE 1985 HOLDEN VK COMMODORE CAR

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WORDS: CONNAL GRACE  PHOTOS: STRONG STYLE PHOTO

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THERE’S AUSSIE MUSCLE, AND THEN THERE’S THIS. ZAC WILKINSON’S NONONSENSE BLUE MEANIE–STYLE DRAG WEAPON IS AUSSIE MUSCLE REDEFINED

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SPECIAL HOLDENS WE’VE OWNED FEATURE

WORDS: NZV8 PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

THE MIGHTY LION MAY NO LONGER BE ROARING, BUT THE MEMORIES AND THE PASSION LIVE ON. HERE’S THE NZV8 CREW’S PAST AND CURRENT HOLDENS

KEVIN SHAW LC TORANA

THE CAR QUICKLY GAINED A REPUTATION FOR WHAT WOULD NOW BE CALLED ‘SUSTAINED LOSS OF TRACTION’

The earliest car memories I have are of GM vehicles that my folks owned, starting with an old Cresta that had the magic ribbon speedo that went from green to orange to red as speed increased — it was fascinating for a young fella.

The Vauxhall made way for a mint EH Holden, which was probably only five years old at the time.

It was the family transport and hauled many tons of building materials over the Kaimais during the years the folks had it. It was the first car I tried to drive, too, aged about 10. That car made an impression, but, when I found a mint EH sedan with a 179 to buy at 15, I got steered by the folks into something less powerful (but boring!).

My love for the early Red motors continued through various mates’ cars, and, a few years later, I bought the most boring — but cheap — LC Torana on the planet: brown with a vinyl roof and an asthmatic 138 and three-speed. It quickly received a 186 backed by a Celica five-speed, a Yella Terra head, triple 45mm Dellorto carbs, and a TAM cam that let it rev to 8000rpm with ease. A great little sleeper that looked like a nana’s car but was anything but.

HT KINGSWOOD The next Holden was a sleeper at first, too — an HT Kingswood fitted with a 350hp small

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block that ran 14 flat at 100mph on 185x14 Dunlop Aquajets through a whisper-quiet single two-inch exhaust. That car evolved over a few years, with the engine rebuilt and improved a few times and ultimately making 420hp, which was plenty for a daily-driver 30 years ago. A Jag fuel filler was grafted in the rear guard to stop the fuel stains on the left rear from the stock filler, and the rear was mini-tubbed to accept BF Goodrich 295s with ease despite being lowered front and rear.

The car quickly gained a reputation for what would now be called ‘sustained loss of traction’ and was a blast to drive. It was a great street/strip car that was driven all over New Zealand, got into the high 12s at Thunderpark, and won best burnout awards at pretty much every eighth-mile event in the North Island as well as at the Blenheim ³/₁₆mile drags. The hot engine ended up in my T, with another 350hp 350 going into the HT, which became the daily-driver and tow car for a number of years.

It’s been all downhill over the past couple of decades, with a manual VS wagon being the last Holden I owned. While I still yearn for another HK/HT/HG, or even an HQ/HJ/ HX/HZ, I just can’t see it happening with the prices they are going for now.

TODD WYLIE 1992 VQ HOLDEN STATESMAN While my earliest memories of Holdens go back to my grandfather’s new VK in the mid 1980s and a family friend’s VL Walkinshaw in 1987, it wasn’t until I took over the reins of NZV8 that I’d actually own my first one. Having stepped out of NZ Performance Car, I knew I needed a car with at least a bit more credibility than my Toyota Hilux Surf daily. However, I’d just bought my first house, so money was scarce. After looking at

various options, I figured that buying a longwheelbase Caprice or Statesman would actually get me a whole lot more car for my money than a regular Commodore.

What I ended up with was a VQ Statesman, which, before long, was dropped on a set of King Springs

and rocking later model Commodore wheels. I drove the car daily for a few years, and it never gave me any grief. Sure, it wasn’t the fastest thing out, but you could put five people in it comfortably, and it still wouldn’t be any slower. It was a great car, and, in fact, I’d almost own another.

2003 VY II BERLINA INTERNATIONAL When my wife and I got an English mastiff puppy, a change of daily-drivers was needed; we knew he’d get up to about 95kg, and he did. It needed to be a wagon, as there was no way I’d be lifting him into a four-wheel drive — and, let’s face it, a ramp would be pretty pathetic for a big dog.

I found a VY II Berlina International wagon — the International model offering the best of Calais luxury with SS suspension. A set of super, super low King Springs went on, along with some wheels, and I had plenty of fun in it. I drag raced the car a bunch of times at Meremere Dragway’s

Winter Drag Wars, with countless grudge races against my wife. Once we had a kid on the way, I had to raise it back up to a more sensible height for fear of shaking the baby’s head off — although, looking back, I think shorter shocks may have helped. We only sold the car last year. When our mastiff passed away early, we downsized to a slightly more sensible 85kg St Bernard, so still needed a big wagon. There really was no vehicle on the market that works as well in our situation as a Commodore wagon — apart perhaps from a people mover, but I’m not dead yet, so there’s no way that you’ll be catching me in one of those.

1984 VK COMMODORE I was in the right place at the right time when a good friend’s family members were selling a stalled VK Commodore project. The car had been sitting for some time, and had a mix and match assortment of parts with it. It looked like a simple enough project to get together as a bit of a cheap hack. Shortly after I bought it, a combination of things happened, including my buying another project that I’d wanted for longer, getting sick for a few months and being unable to work on it, then selling up in Auckland and moving to Wellington.

Moving five cars was enough, so something had to give, and it was the VK. Mind you, I kept enough parts, so perhaps I’ll get another shell one day and get it finished this time.

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SPECIAL CHEV CAMARO ZL1 ON TRACK FEATURE

WORDS: LACHIE JONES PHOTOS: LARRY BENNETT

SOME DAYS ARE JUST BETTER THAN OTHERS. A DAY IN THE OFFICE — MEH. A DAY ON THE BOAT — AWESOME. A DAY AT THE TRACK — BRILLIANT. HOT LAPS WITH MURPH IN A 640HP ZL1 CAMARO? F*CK YEAH!

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t the time of writing, the world is falling around us. COVID-19 has closed borders, schools, and entire industries.

The world’s economy is in for a rough ride. So in the midst of all this terror and angst, there’s the odd moment of welcome relief and escapism. For some, it’s a beer at the end of the day with a juicy steak and a good movie. For others, it’ll simply be spending time with family … Indoors … So much time with family indoors.

Then there’s us, the petrolheads. We’ll have our moments in cars now that traffic has cleared and fuel is getting cheaper by the day. For us, life has a certain sweetness right now. And the pinnacle

of a happy moment in cars may well be what I experienced at Hampton Downs in early autumn, thanks to HSV New Zealand. A day on the track with Greg Murphy in HSV’s ZL1 Camaro. F*ck yeah!

You might remember that NZV8 (more specifically, Todd) spent a week or so in the ZL1 a few months back. At the time, he used the ZL1 as a commuter, a family car, a tourer. The odd squirt (that’s all, he assures us) on the gas, enough to rouse the heart but also enough to hand the keys back to Andrew at HSV safe in the knowledge there would be no pending speeding tickets or lamp-post-shaped holes in the side of the big Chev.

This time around, however, we were invited to

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FEATURE 1978 ALFA ROMEO ALFETTA CAR

WORDS: STEVE HOLMES PHOTOS: STRONG STYLE PHOTO

ALTHOUGH ITS CRAZY ENGINE LAYOUT IS THE FIRST THING PEOPLE NOTICE, THE ENGINEERING WORK ON THIS HISTORIC SPORTS SEDAN IS REALLY WHERE THE FOCUS SHOULD LIE

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erhaps more than any decade before or since, the 1980s spawned some of the most outrageous and eccentric cars to ever grace a New Zealand race track. And Ian Algie’s mad Alfetta was perhaps the most outrageous and eccentric of them all.

This creation was first given life around 1978, when Ian Algie, of Auckland, and his older brother Barry, travelled to Italy to purchase a brand-new Alfa Romeo bodyshell, suspension components, and transaxle. Ian had been wanting to design and build a modified racing saloon and studied motoring annuals to determine what model offered the best overall weight, front–rear weight bias, wheelbase, width, length, and drag coefficient. He concluded the new Alfa Romeo Alfetta provided the best package.

When Ian began planning the car, and even when he began building it, there wasn’t actually any class in New Zealand in which he could legally race it.

So he just designed and built it the way he wanted.

Shortly after construction began, a group of racers

in the upper North Island, headed by Graeme Addis, established the Sports Sedan Association for heavilymodified racing saloons.

The Sports Sedan Association was formed because big-bore saloon car racing in the North Island had been killed off in early 1977 with the death of the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship (NZSCC). In the South Island, the long-running Open Saloon Car Association (OSCA) catered to those who wanted to build fast and wild sedans that weren’t heavily weighed down by regulations. But after the NZSCC was culled, North Island racers had nothing.

The Algie brothers were invited to early Sports Sedans discussions, and already the Alfetta was causing issues. Ian’s plans included fitting the car with a twin-turbocharged Porsche 935 flat-six race engine, which would have spun to around 800hp with the wick turned up. But when finding one proved too difficult, he purchased from the Halliday brothers a five-litre fuel-injected small block Chev V8 — an ex– Formula 5000 unit from Ken Smith’s Lola T332.

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