N/A ALL THE WAY
Street Machine Australia|August 2022
CHRIS VASSILIS'S EIGHT-SECOND LX TORANA STREET CRUISER IS A NATURAL-BORN KILLER
LIAM QUIRK
N/A ALL THE WAY

CHRIS Vassilis shares a unique relationship with his good friend and childhood neighbour, Bill Kaglatzis, owner of BK Race Engines. "If it wasn't for Bill, I'd probably have bought a few houses by now," he laughs. "Bill is definitely responsible for my love of cars. As a kid, I rode my bike around to his house one day and saw him piecing together an engine covered in Speedflow fittings and with two giant turbos hanging off it. That day the Lamborghini and Mick Doohan posters came down from my bedroom walls; I fell in love with tough V8s!"

Even so, it would take almost two decades for Chris to snag a muscle car of his own. Easily distracted throughout his teens and 20s by rotaries and motorbikes, he eventually outgrew these toys and found himself staring at an empty shed.

"My dad owned a Torana hatchback before he had kids and always spoke about it, so I pictured myself owning one, one day," the Sydneysider says. "My wife and I were driving to Port Stephens and saw a convoy of Toranas heading to Toranafest. To my surprise, it was my wife who suggested I buy one she probably thought I was just going to slap some whitewalls and venetians on a stocker and cruise it!"

Striking while the Minister for Finance had the war chest open, Chris immediately jumped online and found a prospective project several hundred kilometres away in Mudgee, NSW. There was no point making the eight-hour round trip without bringing the car home, but the gravity of the situation quickly dawned on Chris. "It was literally just a shell - no wiring, no glass, nothing in the doors," he says.

Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av Street Machine Australia.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av Street Machine Australia.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA STREET MACHINE AUSTRALIASe alt
ROYAL CARRIAGE
Street Machine Australia

ROYAL CARRIAGE

BENNY ROYAL TOOK A FAMILY HEIRLOOM TOYOTA CORONA, SHOVED A 1JZ IN IT AND HEADED OFF FOR FIVE DAYS OF DRAG-AND-DRIVE

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
DEBUT TOUR
Street Machine Australia

DEBUT TOUR

WITH A SCREAMING HOLDEN SIX, DEAN TROUNSON'S HOME-COOKED HR STEERS WITH THE BEST OF 'EM

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
FULLY FRANKED
Street Machine Australia

FULLY FRANKED

A SNEAKY 670 HORSES OF FRANK MARCHESE POWER MAKES ROB GORGIEVSKI'S CONCOURS XW A PROPER TREAT

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
NOMADIC LIFESTYLE
Street Machine Australia

NOMADIC LIFESTYLE

DON'T BE FOOLED BY ITS DEMURE APPEARANCE THIS '57 CHEVY NOMAD IS A RAUNCHY RESTOMOD PACKING MODERN MUMBO

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
PERFECT 10 '!!!!
Street Machine Australia

PERFECT 10 '!!!!

THE SYDNEY HOT ROD & CUSTOM AUTO EXPO TURNS 10

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
VAN WILDER
Street Machine Australia

VAN WILDER

PETER MARRIOTT BUILT THIS TOUGH, 350 CHEV-POWERED HK PANEL VAN IN TRIBUTE TO THE LONG-LOST HT VAN OF HIS YOUTH

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
EXPRESS DELIVERY
Street Machine Australia

EXPRESS DELIVERY

IF YOU'VE ever been to the Bright Rod Run (and you damn well should've), odds are you've seen Joel Beatson lapping in an early Falcon.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
RED HOT & BLUE
Street Machine Australia

RED HOT & BLUE

A REBORN PROGM8 SHOOTS FOR THE TITLE OF AUSTRALIA'S BEST SHOW-AND-GO COMMODORE

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
PEOPLE LIKE US
Street Machine Australia

PEOPLE LIKE US

WHEN Michael Gonzalez isn't busy making eight-second passes in CHOCTOP, his street-driven, LSA-fed VC Commodore, or cruising one of the many other cars in his collection, he can be found managing Springmount Raceway, home to Far North Queensland's biggest horsepower hoedown, Northern Nats (see p. 48 for full feature).

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
DRIVING INNOVATION
Street Machine Australia

DRIVING INNOVATION

EVER WISH YOU COULD HAVE A BRAND-NEW VERSION OF AN ICONIC 1970s AUSSIE MUSCLE CAR, FULL OF THE LATEST TECH? DRIVE SOUTH IS WORKING TO MAKE THAT A REALITY

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024