If you’re any kind of petrolhead, you’ll be all too familiar with the Mad Max film franchise, not to mention the iconic ‘V8 Interceptor’ Falcon XB coupe. Like many petrolheads, Roger Whyte always wanted to build one for himself. Although it took him several decades to get there, the replica he’s come up with is nothing short of incredible.
If loud and agricultural isn’t your cup of tea, you may be more taken by Bradley West’s beautiful ’64 Impala ragtop. Built to a traditional low-rider aesthetic style, with modern influences in the airbag suspension and eight-stack injected LS1, this is the ultimate summer cruiser.
It may be the same year as Brad’s Impala, but when you look at Scott Coffin’s Dodge Polara, the two cars are chalk and cheese. Determined to hammer his quarter-mile PBs as low as they can go, with only massive cubes to propel the big old tank, Scott’s all-steel streeter is knocking on the door to 10s.
Somewhat less angry, although a whole lot nicer, is Brendon Armstrong’s stunning ’34 Ford coupe. The serial hot rod builder never really got over selling his old ’34, and the only cure was to build one even better. There’s no question that he’s succeeded, and the only remaining question is how he’ll ever top this one!
Last, but not least, is the complete antithesis to Brendon’s coupe. Rather than traditional influences in a traditional package, Kev Brooke wanted traditional influences in a modern car, with modern reliability. It may sound like a recipe for disaster, but the tunnel-rammed, throttle-body injected, and NOS-assisted HSV ClubSport R8 is a real-deal late-model muscle car.
Our event coverage is spearheaded by the Trans America Shipping Nostalgia Drags 2017, with a plethora of photos and information on what’s gotta be the coolest drag event on the local calendar. It’s joined by the high-revving and tyre-destroying Lack-A-Traction Burnouts Taupo, and the season wrap-up of the Enzed Central Muscle Cars from Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo.
In addition, our man from the Manawatu, Aaron Mai, went to the Manawatu 4WD Club’s Extreme 4×4 Trials to get a closer look at how the Biggs brothers campaigned their purpose-built, LS2-powered off-roader.
And if you’re hungry for knowledge, we managed to have a look at what the team at Sinco get up to, and the steps involved in crafting a set of custom headers. Get all that, and a whole lot more, in the latest issue of NZV8 magazine.
