BRENDAN Akhurst, one of Australia's leading illustrators and cartoonists, passed away earlier this year after a brief battle with cancer. He was 73. As BJ Akhurst, he was best known to Street Machine readers as the creator of the long-running Wayne & Vicky comic strip and countless other illustrations. His iconic image of Wayne's XP Falcon and a souped-up A9X hatch facing off at the lights (pictured above), which appeared on the cover of our 30th-anniversary special, is as recognisably Street Machine as our masthead.
The adventures of Wayne Clodpole, his voluptuous girlfriend Vicky and their Holdenbaiting XP coupe were the perfect reflection of our homegrown modified car lifestyle, viewed through a screen of healthy, self-deprecating humour. The cars are beautifully drawn, instantly recognisable, but stupidly tough. You can almost feel the ground shake and smell the fuel. And who didn't see themselves in the couple's relationship - the car-obsessed bloke and the spunky sheila who loves him anyway?
"None of us really knew where Brendan got his inspiration from, but some of the characters were based on real people," Brendan's widow Michelle says. "Wayne and Vicky were based on Brendan's neighbours when he lived in western Sydney in the 70s. He changed Vicky's name so as not to offend."
Wayne & Vicky debuted in black and white in the Dec '81/Jan '82 issue, edited by Geoff Paradise, and went full-colour in Feb/Mar '83. The duo's last appearance first time around was in Oct/Nov '83. Perhaps BJ knew it was the last one: the strip ends with Wayne's hands turning into breasts mid-drag race and then crashing into the offices of the Australian Women's Weekly.
In 1984, Wayne & Vicky reappeared in slightly raunchier form in the Bruce Flynn and Mac Douglas-produced Street & Custom mag and, later, Super Street.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2022-Ausgabe von Street Machine Australia.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2022-Ausgabe von Street Machine Australia.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
ANIKA HODGES
THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8
STAGE FRIGHT
IT TOOK OWEN SCOTT MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO BUILD A TROPHY-WINING, 600HP EH HOLDEN UTE THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE
FULLY UTILISED
HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
PEOPLE POWER
WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT 36 YEARS OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS - AND MOST DEMOCRATICALLY AWARDED - HONOUR IN OUR SPORT: STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR
OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM
STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE IS ALREADY A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME, BUT WHAT CAR EVENT CAN'T BE MADE EVEN BETTER BY ADDING A BURNOUT COMP? INTRODUCING OUR INAUGURAL RODS OUT!
BAD TO THE BONE
THANKS TO HIS SON, ANDY, THE LATE MARIO COLALILLO’S 39 PLYMOUTH COUPE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AND STILL ONE OF THE BADDEST HOT RODS IN THE COUNTRY
THE CHALLENGE IS REAL
FROM TRACK DRAMAS TO SOARING TEMPERATURES, DRAG CHALLENGE 2024 THREW US SOME OF ITS TOUGHEST TESTS YET, BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE QUICKEST TIMES THE EVENT HAS EVER SEEN
