WITH shitloads of detail and a stove-hot 355 from Flowcraft Race Engines, Frank Darmanin's first incarnation of PROGM8 was more car than most of us will ever have in our sheds. Debuting in 2007, the VH SL/E became a staple of the show car circuit.
"I drove it a bit, but I didn't get to race on a slick with the old engine," Frank recounts. "Then I had a little mishap, so I tore it down and started again!" It takes proper 'nads to pull apart such an epic car to essentially start from scratch, but the result is one of the most beautifully finished Commodores we've ever seen.
The PPG BMW Blue Pearl finish has always been key to PROGM8's identity, so Frank's good mate and uber-talented painter Elvis Barbieri, the man behind Showcars Melbourne, was called upon to lay down a fresh coat. As Frank explains, he wasn't about to change things up just for the sake of it - in fact, he's leaned further into the vibe by colour-matching the upsized 22x8 and 22x12 Simmons FR wheels. "I definitely wasn't changing the colour," he says. "I think it became pretty popular because of the colour - a lot of people know it! It's striking, and it's been influential."
But the respray and big wheels are barely digging a nail into the flow-coated surface, because PROGM8 has been totally reborn underneath, thanks in no small part to Frank Vella at New Image Panel & Paint Restorations. A custom flat floor looks right at home around the John Lang chassis and tubs, sharing space with a tubular front end and parallel four-link, which holds a monstrous Pro9 sheet-metal diff. It's all coated in PPG blue, of course, which took Elvis 13 hours of paint-booth work to apply.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 2024-Ausgabe von Street Machine Australia.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 2024-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
