WE LOVE a long-running muscle car rivalry. Ford diehards, for example, still argue over which model marked the peak of the third-generation Falcon - XA, XB or XC? W For Ashley Bell, it's XA all the way, which is why in 2021 she sold her XC to build this gorgeous, Summernats Top 60-certified XA Fairmont as a counterpart to the XB GS built and owned by her partner, Michael Stivala of Hoon Customs (SM, Apr '15). "Some people think it's Michael's car with a new paint scheme, which is funny," Ash says. "We wanted them to match, but I like XAs more, so we built my car as a GS to complement the XB!"
Ash and Michael spent about a month scouting for the perfect starting point for the project. "We were literally about to buy one in Sydney that was pretty good, but it was just a Falcon 500 six-cylinder," Ash says. "If it was going to be a sixcylinder we started with, I wanted it to be a factory Fairmont." A two-owner gem in Tasmania ticked all the boxes - a sixpot survivor still wearing its original Pottery Beige paint. "The car came with the original sales receipt, logbooks and handwritten notes of everything ever done to it," Ash grins.
Body-wise, Ash reckons this XA was one of the straightest unrestored cars around. "It was pretty much rust-free; there were a couple of tiny specks, but you're never going to find one with nothing in it," she says. "So many people begged us to leave it alone or buy a rusty shell or project car. We didn't want something we were going to strip back and find a wreck underneath. We may have upset a few purists and past owners, but I think we've given the car the justice it deserves!"
Bu hikaye Street Machine Australia dergisinin March 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Street Machine Australia dergisinin March 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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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
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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
