I decided to drag my lazy ass out of bed at four in the morning for the long trek up to Nanango.  It was a long drive and I wanted to do the shoot at dawn, and there was some yawning going on, but I knew what was at the other end of my two and a half hour drive.   I had the priviledge of shooting 3 awesome cars.   This was the first, but keep your eyes out over the next few months, because the other two will be featured.  One very tough, and the other very rare and original, but to start with, I have one of the nicest VH Commodores I have seen in a while.

The owner is Russell Perrett from Nanango.  The funny thing is Russell doesn't have a license to drive it, so he has to be chauffered around in the car.  It has made the trek down to Powercruise more than once, where Russ's brother Brad has had to drive it for him.  The VH was rolled out of the Holden factory in 1982, and that gorgeous paint in Cordoba red which is a BMW colour.

The VH is packin some heat under the bonnet.  A C.O.M.E Racing 355 stroker engine, with SCAT H-Beam rods and SRP forged pistons are stacked in the bottom, and a good set of heads that  flowed 580 hp are up top, with Ferrea stainless steel valves and 1:6 Yella Terra rollers getting the air/fuel in.    The cam is a Crane C288 solid.  The fuel comes in through a Barry Grant 750 Mighty Demon and a Harrop single plane manifold.  The gases get out through DeFilippo stainless steel extractors, and a twin 3 inch exhaust with Hooker mufflers.  An MSD6AL keeps the spark strong, working with a Blaster 3 coil and Billet distributor.  On an engine dyno, this setup made 512 horsies at 7000rpm.

The full manualised turbo 400 has a 4500 Red Diamond converter, and the gears get changed by a B&M Pro Racthet shifter.  The rear end is a Ford 9 inch with 3:89 LSD gears, and Moser billet 31 spline axles.  It all sits nicely on Monroe shocks and King springs.  The wheels are Simmons FR17s, and are 9s on the back and 8s on the front, shod with Nankangs - Rear 255/40/17 Front 235/45/17.  The brakes are VT commodore twin piston calipers and slotted rotors on the front and standard on the back.

The care taken under the bonnet of this car has been continued on the inside, with the front seats being removed to make way for a set of retrimmed OBX Racing seats, with full customised interior including trims, roof lining and dash.  The Holden gauges have been ejected in favour of a full dashful of Autometer gauges, and it has a Momo custom steering wheel.  There is a fairly good Alpine sound system inside as well, but it rarely gets used.  The purr of this thing going down the road is enough music for the boys.

 

Russell's dad worked in the local Holden dealership, so he grew up around these beasts, and turning into a revhead was probably unavoidable.  The boys from up around this place all seem to like their tough cars.  Russell would like to thank CF Performance, brother Brad for all the wiring work, Barry Francis for the paintwork and his Mum and Dad..........Look at that - He is even a good son.  The car is a 350rwhp, very well built, very nicely turned out car that is Russell's first car.  Now Russ, you just have to get off your arse and get your license so you can drive it..........