The Pro Street Man
If you were around Pro-Street racing in the 90s, you would definately know who Mick Varney is. And if you don't, then let me introduce you. Mick was one of the top Pro-Street racers of that era, and you are about to find out why. Mick drove a 1977 Torana hatchback. Mick no longer has the Torana, so we couldn't take any fresh photos, but we dug up some old ones for you to have a look at. Mick's is a great story of a true street car man with a passion for this sort of racing as strong as the car he built, so take a read of how Mick took his Torana to the top.
Mick bought the car in 1993 with a good body, but it was not the best under the hood. His first outing at Willowbank got him a 12, but he smashed the gearbox and diff in the process, so he scrapped the lot for a 500hp 350 Chev set up. The Chev was good enough to get Mick into the 10s, and made it's debut at Lakeside in Feb 94, where he took out 'Fastest Car of the Day' and 'Top Burnout', as well as winning the meet and running the first 7 second 1/8th mile pass by a street car in Qld. The 350 copped quite a hiding, and a few rebuilds, but after the 3rd, Mick decided it was time for another upgrade to get some more reliability and speed. A 407 Chev was purchased, which was good for 648hp and 560 ft/lbs of torque. The Torrie also got a Powerglide and a 9 inch and on it's first outing at Lakeside ran a 6.84. His best ever at Lakeside was a 6.69, second only to Steve Leerentveld's MK2 Cortina who ran into the low 6 seconds(Redcliffe Dyno Steve). If 6.69 for an 1/8th doesn't impress you, then think about this. Mick used to use 80kg of sand in the boot for traction....DAMN
Steve Leerentveld's low 6 second 1/8th mile Cortina
The first attempt on a 1/4 mile was at Willowbank Raceway in May 96. Mick was really hoping for low 10s, and got the shock of his life when his 4 runs for the day were 10.30, 9.96, 9.90 and he finished the day with 9.83 @ 137 mph. In June 97, Mick ran his fastest time of 9.75 @ 135 mph.
Around this time, a guy by the name of Chris Hollingworth had a tough orange one tonner that was running the big numbers, and there was a big race on to be the first car in Qld to run 8s, and Chris seemed to be leading the race. Mick was keen to challenge Chris and had just discovered the wonders of nitrous. Mick got a narrow heads up win over Holley, with a 9.29 getting him home over Chris's 9.34. Mick decided to throw away the original cam for a nitrous cam that had come from the U.S.A. and he got a dominator converter. While Mick was waiting for the parts to arrive, Holley was getting closer and closer to the magic 8 second zone.
Chris Hollingworth's One Tonner
On Oct 4, 97, it was on. Mick didn't have the setup right on the Torrie and it wasn't running well. The safety solenoid was causing flow problems. Mick decided that the remedy was to, as Mick described it " Set it to kill mode". It was going to be an 8 or an engine, whichever came first. Mick got the Torana down the Willowbank strip in 8.80 @ 155 mph. The 9 second barrier had not just been passed, it had been smashed. That pass earned Mick the title of the fastest untubbed street car in Australia, and the quickest car in the world on 10 inch tyres. He called the guys at NOS in the U.S.A., and told them he had run an 8 with a single plate system on a 10 inch tyre and standard suspension. All they had to say was " You Aussies are crazy"
After that, it was time for another upgrade. Old faithful was removed in favour of a 383 cuber with 825 aspirated horsepower and a 400hp nitrous kit. Unfortunately, Mick never got this combination sorted out properly and it never reached it's potential, but it was good enough to register the Torana's fastest ever pass, an 8.76 @ 155 mph, albeit on only 6 pots for the last 320 feet. Mick Varney and his Torana are icons of Qld street car racing. Mick says he just loved to drive it. Unfortunately, due to financial issues, Mick had to part with his beloved Torana, and has been missing from the street car scene ever since. One of the most notable things about Mick's old red Torana, is that it actually saw quite a bit of street use, although it would get trailered to the race track.
So where is Mick today. He did buy a Trans-Am with the intention of making an assault on Pro-Street, but Mick has changed his mind and the Trans-Am is getting sold off in favour of another car for Modified Street. I asked what the car was, but got no answer....................
Now direct interviews are not something I usually do at Street Cruising, but with a guy of this stature, I had to ask him a few questions about racing today compared to when he was racing 10 years ago.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES NOW TO WHEN YOU RACED?
The rules. They get chopped and changed too much. We need a solid set of rules that are here to stay. You build your car to suit a set of rules and have no fear of them changing in the near future, much like Gup is doing now. (ASCAR)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE IMPORTS COMING ON TO THE SCENE NOW?
The imports are definately getting faster. I remember racing a rotary that rolled up to the line with massive wheelie bars on. It left the line at 10,000 rpm and ran 8.50s, beating the Torana.
WHAT ARE YOU AIMS FOR THE NEW CAR?
I am looking at challenging the likes of Rob Bertalacci. Rob has a real street car and runs radial, so I would like to race in Modified Street and the radial class, much like Rob does.
Talking to Mick, you get the impression he is a real racer from an old school breed. He used to race on the edge with nothing in mind but getting that 1320 foot behind him as quickly as possible. He remembers racing guys like Warren Appleby in his tough big block UC Torana, and when Craig Thompson was a young 'shitkicker' with a NOS XY Falcon. One thing you can be sure of, no matter where Mick decides to race or in what class, he is going to be a major player and have some big horsepower under him.
