DRAGGIN' WAGON

DANNY LANDSDOWNE’S 2JZ-EQUIPPED VL WAGON IS HEADING FOR THE SIX-SECOND ZONE

- MARK ARBLASTER

JUST when you thought you had seen every possible combination in a firstgen Commodore, Danny Landsdowne and the boys from Brisbane’s Spot On Performance knock it out of the park with this 9000rpm, 2JZ-powered VL wagon.

“This car kind of chose me,” Danny begins. “It started years ago when a mate had this VL wagon and then bought a 2J and lost interest in the whole deal. We got it going with just a set of mini-tubs in it and a six-point ’cage, back in the days of Modified Street rules and racing.”

The VL was a quick car for that time, running into the mid-sevens on a 10.5-inch tyre. Then, when X275 Radial became the next big thing in drag racing, Danny campaigned the car in that class.

“We could run 5.50s all day on radials,” Danny recalls. “We were not so much interested in chasing round wins as having fun, so if we couldn’t run to the index, we’d just crank it up and run 5.20s. Unfortunately, X275 finished, so we went to Jambo and Kenda events, eventually running a best of 4.83 to the eighth at 3180lb, and 7.50 over the quarter at 185mph.”

The wagon was a handful, and loved to wheelie; eventually, it went into the wall at Sydney Dragway. The Spot On crew took that as a sign to step back and reassess the car, as it was getting dangerous at those speeds with just a six-point rollcage.

“I took the car home, cut the whole lot out except for the sills, roof and quarters and bolted it to a chassis table,” Danny says. “I bought the Tim McAmis plans for building a 25.5 car and adjusted the bar sizes to suit the VL. It was pretty easy, as they give you the bar lengths and angles and off you go.”