Innholdsfortegnelse for No 133 June 2016 i NZV8

I read something on social media the other day about how the humble passenger car, as we know it, is simply absurd. I quote: “In almost every way imaginable, the car, as it is deployed and used today, is insane.” Of course, a statement as blunt as that about my beloved cars quickly got my attention. The article went into plenty of detail about how cars have become the cause of “quiet catastrophe” — more deaths annually on the road than in any war America had ever fought in and the leading cause of death for those under age 35. It was exceptionally well written; in fact, for a moment I even believed that cars really were bad, and we’re all doomed because of them. In part, the writer may…

THIS MONTH? The Motorhood is the online home of NZV8 and its sister publications NZ Performance Car and New Zealand Classic Car. It’s the hub for all things automotive, from news and reviews to event coverage and more. You can enjoy articles from the magazines on The Motorhood’s home page, themotorhood.com, or, if you want a purely V8-scene experience, just head to our old website address — v8.co.nz — to be redirected straight to NZV8’s part of the new site. MORE BEACH HOP! If the coverage of Repco Beach Hop 16 in this issue didn’t quite do it for you, and you don’t want to wait until the NZV8 Beach Hop Annual 2016 comes out in mid May, we’ve got good news for you! Head to themotorhood.com, search ‘Repco Beach…

“Sure, I’ve owned a few other cars,” states Steve Haddock, the owner of this jawdropping Chevelle, “but nothing like this.” It’d be hard to own anything like the ’68 Chevelle in question, as there simply hasn’t been anything “like this” built in the country. Like most builds, the plan wasn’t as involved at the start as it ended up becoming. In fact, there really was no plan at all to begin with, apart from purchasing the car and enjoying it. But after just a few weeks of driving it around, Steve realized the 396 big block under the hood was tired and plenty of other work was also required. It was when Steve decided to sort out the minor imperfections that things started to unravel. The usual story of “more…

The recipe cooked up year after year by the Beach Hop team is a good one — and, as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Traditionally, Beach Hop has been a five-day festival, beginning in Waihi on Wednesday, cruising throughout the Coromandel region over the week, and finishing in Whangamata over the weekend. But there’s always room for improvement, and when Repco Beach Hop 16 fell on the week after the long Easter weekend, the team seized the opportunity with both hands. With most people having the Monday off work anyway, the Whitianga Power Tour was thrown into the mix for Tuesday — hey, it’s only one extra day of leave, right? WHITIANGA (TUESDAY) The event organizers would have been happy with a few dozen entrants…

NZDRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2016 IHRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2016 Waikato-based driver Nigel Dixon is well known for pedalling his locally built Camaro top doorslammer, but that’s all set to change for the coming season. The Camaro has been put on the market as a roller, after the big block Chev engine was sold. The sale of the Camaro was inspired by Nigel’s desire to run a five-second pass, and his realization that, instead of modifying the already built Camaro to do it, he was better off to start from scratch. The replacement he’s sourced is an ex–Brett Stevens Ford Falcon, purchased from Marty Dack as a roller. Over the years, the chassis has been changed a bit, with the original swing-arm rear end being replaced with a four-link by Grant O’Rourke.…

With this year’s Classic Cover Insurance National Hot Rod Show being hosted by the NZHRA Zone 9 group of clubs, a huge amount of work went into making sure that the event was a success — not only for the entrants and sponsors, but also for the public. No one would have been disappointed. The venue for the event was the Riding for the Disabled complex, situated within the Canterbury A&P Showgrounds — chosen to give financial support to a great charitable organization, and to promote where it is based and the great work that it does within the community. With the show running over the Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend, Friday was set-up day. Over the course of the day, the riding arena saw a different kind of…

YOUR THOUGHTS ON LAST MONTH’S GASSEH CONCEPT Louis Sundar: YES, a gasser wagon. Has anyone in New Zealand done this? It needs to be done! Tony Mills: It’s an EJ unfortunately going by the front end. Would be better if it was an EH Guillermo Placencia: You know gassers look better with a blower Steve Haddock is a man who likes to use his cars, but that can’t stop them from looking the business. That much is evident in his ’68 Chevelle you’ve read about earlier in this issue, and it’s a theme he’s carried over into his Concept Corner idea, with this super slick ’56 Nomad. “I’d start with a ’56 Chev Nomad, and give it a two-inch roof chop” Steve explains. “To clean up the exterior, I’d shave…

When the local doctor in the city of Orange, New South Wales, got the keys to his brand-new, early production Commodore VB SL/E back in 1978, you can only imagine how excited he would have been. With a 253ci V8 under the hood and a shifter mated to a four-speed manual gearbox in his hand, the good doctor was likely the talk of the town in his high-powered machine. But, as we know, technology doesn’t stand still, especially in the automotive world, and, when Auckland’s Andrew Pratt got his hands on the very same car some 25 years later, it was well and truly deemed an out-of-date classic. Having always liked the early steel-bumper Commodores but never really been a hands-on car guy, the fitter and turner by trade decided…

01 TRACK PROVEN Designed to draw out maximum performance from your fifth-gen Camaro and transform it into a corner-eating machine, the Hotchkis Sport Suspension Race Pack is a balanced, complete suspension upgrade for any weekend track warrior. Developed from hours on the track, and engineered to deliver razorsharp handling performance, the Race Pack offers improved steering response and stability, eliminating unwanted understeer and subframe movement while allowing the driver to maintain precise control over the vehicle. Available at Eastern Automotive Performance Centre. Email paul@eapc.co.nz or call 0800 571 572 for further information. 02 POWER ON TAP There is nothing more frustrating than walking out to the garage only to find that your car battery has gone flat from sitting. Battery Town’s Eight-Stage Charger and Maintainer is designed for lead acid…

I don’t profess to be an expert in anything — that would be disrespectful to the people who are. I’d much rather remain an enthusiast than try, or pretend, to know everything — it’s the best way to learn, and I think that learning new things is both free and enriching. Imagine how boring life would be if you spent it trying to convince yourself, and others, that you know everything. One of my favourite ways of learning new things is through reading, and, while it’s hard to find the time for a good read, I recently purchased a brand-new book — something I hardly ever do, as secondhand books are far superior, in my humble opinion — titled Indian Larry: Chopper Shaman. As the title may suggest, it’s about…

HURST HEAVEN Good Morning, Todd A chance alignment of these two cars at the recent Americarna got me thinking … What if we could assemble all the Hurst cars in New Zealand in one place and compare them? Why? Simply because they all have V8 power, and are all from the same legendary stable, but they’ll all have subtle differences. That’s my ’09 Challenger Series 5, next to Maurice Doyle’s ’11 Camaro. We’re from Whangarei and New Plymouth, respectively, and I know there’s at least two other recent-model Hurst Challengers in the South Island — one’s a Series 2 (non-supercharged), but painted up to look like a Series 5; the other is black with a red Hurst logo, so is possibly a Competition-Plus model (he went past too quickly for…

FLAWLESS MONARO Karl Stanbra is no stranger to the pages of NZV8, and it always seems to be with orange Holden HQs. The last one was an HQ ute in NZV8 Issue No. 21, a car that was amazing then, and still is. However, being a family man, Karl needed something with more doors. Behold his gorgeous new project car: a ’72 Monaro coupe, finished in a mile-deep House of Kolor Tangelo Gold Pearl paint, with a fully detailed undercarriage. The interior is leather trimmed with colour taken from an Audi RS6, and should provide a showlevel finish that is still up to the task of hauling a family around when required. What’s certainly going to be up to the task of hauling, though, is the engine — 383 cubes…

Whenever the topic of ‘Canterbury’ is uttered on the news, you know that some waxing lyrical about southern resilience is just around the corner. But every cliché is steeped in truth, and it’s definitely no lie that they breed and build them a special kind of tough down the line. If ever a testament to that southern resilience is required, look no further than the masterpiece that is Mike Blackmore’s ’64 Ford Falcon. You see, despite the car’s outstanding presentation, the build process was a long and tedious one, punctuated by those Christchurch earthquakes that have become a grim topic of general knowledge throughout the country. Despite that, the end result you’re looking at must surely exceed even Mike’s initial expectations of the build. “I’ve always liked coupes, and thought…

Revolution! Now there’s a word that conjures up all sorts of mayhem, and it’s not something you’d normally encounter on your everyday sortie down to the local dairy for a loaf of bread. But the type of terrain I was about to discover had a tendency to switch one’s attention to high alert. I had long been seduced by those icons of anti-US imperialism — Fidel Castro and ‘Che’ Guevara. The 1957–’58 revolution in Cuba was a tremendous success, the guerillas regaining their country from the grip of a corrupt government supported by the US and the Mafia. Prior to that, the country — and, in particular, Havana — had become a den of vice for playboys, entertainment legends, business moguls, and American government officials, their whims being catered to…

The finishing touch to any project is without a doubt the paint job. It’s often one of the most expensive aspects of the build and the task that takes the longest to complete. The man-hours that go into perfecting those gaps and hammering and filing each panel, before layers and layers of perfectly glossy paint are applied, is a process that offers no shortcuts and no half measures if you are after a long-lasting, quality finish. But what if you’re not a fan of shiny, and you’re a little rough around the edges, but still want to give your vehicle a makeover? Your options here are limited, as cutting corners on a respray can mean all sorts of issues down the track, not to mention it looking cheap and nasty.…

Rubber paints are a relatively new product on the market, but have completely changed the way some people modify their vehicles — products such as Plasti Dip provide a spray-on synthetic rubber coating that can be applied to nearly any surface, and can be easily removed without leaving any residue or damaging the existing surface. We thought we’d try it out on a set of wheels, to see if it is as good as it’s made out to be. For this job, we used aerosol cans, although some brands are available in tins for use with a highvolume, low-pressure (HVLP) spray gun. The size and dish of the 22-inch wheels meant we grabbed four cans to ensure thorough coverage — the job ended up taking three-and-a-half hours. STEP ONE: PREPARATION…

RACE ONE A superb line-up of 26 cars fronted up to the grid for the final event of the of the 2015–2016 Enzed Central Muscle Cars Series at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo. The front row was filled by Andy Knight’s beautiful Chev Monza with Dean Perkins in the XD Falcon alongside. Behind them sat the youngest in the class, John Midgley, in the XE Falcon, with the experienced senior in the class, Bruce Anderson, in the ’69 Mustang next to him. As soon as Knight shot off the line, he had Greg Honnor’s ’69 Mustang on his tail, pole-vaulting up from the third row on the grid. Finding themselves in the unfamiliar position of being at the back of the starting grid with the prominent doctor, John Elliott, in…

WHERE IS IT NOW? 2000 CHEV CAMARO — KEVIN MCGREGOR When we featured Kevin McGregor’s Heat Treatments Camaro in 2006, the car was cutting edge, thanks to the build by Terry Bowden at Terry’s Chassis Shoppe and a 500ci big block that pushed the naturally aspirated car into the seven-second zone. After campaigning the car for many years, McGregor moved on to an all-new full tube frame car built by Jerry Bickel in America, and the Camaro was shelved. A few years ago, the Mahon brothers — Jarrod and Heath — purchased the car as a rolling body, as their first proper foray into competitive drag racing. Power is now provided by a single-carbed 618ci big block, built by Steve Schmidt over in the USA. Schmidt is helping the Mahons…

NEW FALCON SPRINT Arriving this month is the limited-edition, high performance Falcon XR6 and XR8 Sprint models. The Falcon XR8 Sprint has already sold out in New Zealand, and, at the time of writing, less than a dozen XR6 Sprints remain available. Ford Australia has drawn on its illustrious performance heritage to launch the Falcon Sprint series. A total of just 1400 limited edition Falcon Sprints are being built with 550 being XR6 Sprints and 850 XR8 Sprints. New Zealand was allocated 150 cars – 50 XR6 Sprints and 100 XR8 Sprints. Both variants will each receive numbered build plates – located on the engine. The first publically available Falcon Sprints arrive in May and will continue to arrive through to September. MUSTANG MANIA! As of March this year, 2016…

RODS BY REID TEAM EXPANDS It’s not easy churning out the top-quality work on which Rods by Reid has built its reputation, but demand is steadily growing. Therefore, a new team member, Shaun Walters, has recently join the ranks. Shaun did his trade as a heavy diesel mechanic, and has worked in the hot rod industry in Australia and Canada. More recently, he spent 16 years in the New Zealand Air Force. Having had several of his own cars featured in magazines, and having a few more personal projects on the go at present, Shaun sounds like just the man for the job. Shaun told us, “I am excited to start a new challenge with Rods by Reid. I look forward to working with John and Nakija, and being a…

The annual Nostalgia Drags hosted by Bay Rodders is well known to be one of the best drag meetings of the year, and, once again, was held on Easter Sunday. If you are into old cars going stupidly fast, the Penske Commercial Vehicle Nostalgia Drags 2016, as it was titled this year, was the place to be. For once the day was fine and clear, and while the racer numbers were down a little on previous years, there was an air of confidence that a great day of racing lay ahead. Sadly, that bastard Murphy had other ideas, and qualifying had no sooner started when down came the rain. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, but was enough to temporarily dampen spirits as well as the track. Undeterred by the downpour,…

Dave Blyth’s been into cars for as long as he can remember. “I won my first Tonka toy in a colouringin competition when I was eight,” Dave remembers, “but Mum hid it from me because she knew I’d wreck it. She gave it to me when I turned 30!” Not only is that red Tonka concrete mixer one of Dave’s most prized items, it can also be seen as the symbolic beginning of Dave’s ongoing collection of cars — both big and small — and automotiverelated memorabilia. Dave grew up in Christchurch, and, with a natural penchant for art, he eventually started his own business: a custom paint shop. In ’87, he emigrated to the USA. When he came back to Christchurch, he found it a little too quiet for…

World War II was a pivotal moment in the history of humanity, when, for a time, almost the entire world was united by division; it really goes without saying that nothing would ever be the same again. While that era will always be defined by the war, the dusty footnotes of history will also reveal a hive of activity in the southern California automotive scene. Young servicemen returned home to families, day-to-day life, and the hot rods they’d brushed aside for their time in uniform. Armed with the cutting-edge skills and knowledge that only the lucrative business of war could provide, the evolution of hot rodding was inevitable. As brands like Edelbrock, Weiand, and Moon sprang up and took root throughout mainland America, young men were getting an easily accessible…

SALAMANCA SPECIAL With the 2015–’16 Enzed CMC season now done and dusted, Dr John Elliott can now focus more time on completing his L34 Torana project. The vehicle has recently left Moselle Panel & Paint, where it received a gorgeous new coat of Salamanca Red paint, and is now back in the care of Wayne and Tony Anderson at AV8 Motorsport. Despite John being one of the 26 local vehicle owners who will be competing at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 this year, the decision has been made to take his old six-cylinder LJ over to Australia, as opposed to the new one. As such, the build will continue to come together with no time pressure or rush, allowing John to work on the vehicle himself. We can only imagine…

As I pulled out of the driveway, I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of the 2016 Can-Am Spyder F3-S; after a short ride, I still wasn’t quite sure. The first thought that came to mind was that I felt like a naughty kid taking a borrowed farm quad up the road illegally. You’ve really got to experience the Can-Am Spyder first-hand to understand it. Even then, it almost needs to be described in a category of its own. Sure, sitting in the driver’s seat, it feels like a quad, but with a motorbike-style hand-twist throttle and right foot brake, it feels almost like a two-wheeler that’s missing the clutch and front brake. Then there’s the jetski look to the rear of it — and with the family connection, whereby…