AY back when VL Commodores were brand new, Farnsey had an epic mullet and Crocodile Dundee was showing off his weapon in New York, Canberra’s Brett Russell bought a very sad LX Torana hatchback. The young bloke had a thirst for speed, and he spent the next 36 years evolving it into the big-block Chevy-powered monster you see on these pages.
“The Torana was a weekend race car that was due for the crusher,” he explains. “I found out it was for sale through word of mouth, so I went to have a look at it. Everything ahead of the firewall was gone and its entire floor was cut out, I think to get the diff mounting locations. There were no panels, and the only thing on it was the Panhard rod, which is still on the car.”
Young Brett’s original intentions for the trashed hatch were for a strippounding monster, but his local ACT drag strip was in the process of being shut down. This led to a rethink, which gave us one of the first street-legal, big block-powered hatchback Toranas.
“I got it for $500, and because Summernats was coming up, I decided to build a tough streetcar,” Brett says. “The firewall was 25cm back, so I pulled that out, unpicked the bits of the factory rails left, and then I got a front-cut from the wreckers to repair it. I decided to go full-chassis, which was all engineer-approved.”
Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Street Machine Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Street Machine Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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
