http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/ RSS feed of Street Fords News Room en-us sBLOG 0.7.3 Beta (Build 20060309) Thu, 17 May 2012 01:51:40 GMT Thu, 17 May 2012 01:51:40 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=392
Archive shot of the Bullas Mustang at Phillip Island

Dual Touring Car Masters Champion, Gavin Bullas, was yesterday at Phillip Island to test his Mustang ahead of next weekend’s Shannons Nationals event, round two of the Touring Car Masters season.
With crew on hand, the Rain City Racing BOSS Mustang was prepped and ready to go, looking to hit the southern track and set Bullas in a challenging position come race day as the fight for race wins and the title lead heat up.
Bullas took to the circuit for a couple of hot laps, the Mustang settled, and Bullas confident of punching out competitive times, but come lap five of the 4.4km circuit, Bullas charged through the final turn, and that’s where the day’s highlights came to an abrupt and shocking end.
Wildlife has always been a factor at the Phillip Island circuit, the local geese often wandering out to the tarmac edge for a closer look, seemingly not fazed by the machines roaring past. Having noticed the geese on the outside on first passing, Bullas had certainly not expected the well-known pair to be standing right on the track inside the ripple strip as he came around the final turn, accelerating towards the main straight.
The geese and the Mustang didn’t have a chance to react and sadly, those geese will no longer be seen standing at the side of the circuit watching the race action just metres away.
Bullas was taken back by the situation, the heavy impact being heard down pit lane as talk of the Mustang’s fate spread. Sent into a spin on contact, Bullas continued backwards down the main straight still doing some 140kmph as he kept the Mustang off the wall and brought the 580hp muscle car to a stop, the front end destroyed by the impact.
While the #16 BOSS was spot repaired and went back out to post some impressive times given the understeer and damage now in place, Bullas was greatly disappointed with the story of the day explaining;
“I’d seen the geese to the side when I first went out, but hadn’t expected to come around and see them standing right on the circuit leaving me nowhere to go. The thoughts race through your mind on how to get around the situation without destroying the car and injuring yourself, especially with those geese being know to us as racers, to the fans and the locals, but there was no time to react and change lines, and as it was I was lucky to keep the car off the wall and avoid major damage.
It was a big impact, you really felt the shock through the car. The Mustang will be repaired before next weekend’s event, but it’s going to take some searching to find all the parts we need. It’s just sad that we went back to Phillip Island to set up for a great weekend, and to come home having been involved in something like this.”


]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 01:51:40 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=392#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=392 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=391
International contender in the Touring Car Masters, Keith Kassulke is bringing the famed Jim Morton Ford XB Coupe back to life at Phillip Island next weekend after eyeing off the stunning entry last season during Glenn Seton’s short but successful race campaign.
Getting the XB back on the tarmac, Kassulke has completed two successful test days at Winton to get his eye in with his new purchase, one accompanied by reigning series champion John Bowe. It is expected that Kassulke will use this season as a long term test, before completing a full 2013 campaign, when he hopes to be fighting for outright victories, explaining;
“While I am ecstatic with my results in the past year with the HQ, I feel that I can do better and with this new car, I hope to be able to work with it to improve my driving skills and, ultimately, my finishing position to hopefully one day, have a podium finish. I’m now going to debut the XB at Philip Island, no doubt one of the best circuits in Australia, so this next week will be going by very quickly, even with another trip home to PNG before we go racing.
I was impressed from the outset at the build quality of Jim Morton’s XB Falcon so, when it became available for sale, I thought about it for a few months then went to inspect it, and it really is a beautifully built car so full credit to Jim for that.
We had a very good test again yesterday, and after my second day in it, I’m getting a feel for the way it handles now, being quite different of course to my Monaro. With some minor set up changes and with overnight seating, pedal box and steering wheel position changes, I managed a best time of 1.32.4 which I think rates fairly well.”


Kassulke has also been proud to announce support from Air Nuigini, the national airline of this home, Papua New Guinea, meaning things are certainly moving forward for his third season with the series.]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 01:43:53 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=391#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=391 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=390
Here is one that Matt prepared earlier. There are lots of detail pics and a vid.
Just for interest's sake, the story is about the teams, but the actual cars pictured are DJR chassis 4 and TLR chassis 5, both from the Bowden's collection.
DJR4's debut was the Bathurst 1000 in 1988 as car #17. In qualifying before the Top 10, Johnson was over a second faster than Bowe in a sister car (#28, DJR3) and 1.5secs quicker than Longhurst (who went on to win) in 3rd. DJR4 also led the early stages of the race before the diff failed on Conrod. Incidentally, the #18 car at this race (that finished 2nd) was DJR1.
DJR4 was also car #17 in 1989's ATCC for Dick Johnson's 5th title. This is the livery that it wears today, including the Shell ATCC sticker above the number on the door.
Tony Longhurst Racing's 5th and final Sierra was only used at the end of 1990 before they switched to BMWs. As you can see in the pics it was LHD, and it is easily identified as it was the only one with a gold interior.
Go to the Performance Garage blog post now;
DETAIL PICS AND VID: SIERRA RACE CARS

]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 23:55:33 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=390#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=390 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=389
Carroll Shelby has died aged 89. He passed away in Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas last Thursday (10th May).
Born Jan 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Texas, Shelby was a US Army pilot before becoming a racing driver. He retired from driving for health reasons (a leaky heart valve) at the age of 37 and in 1962 he dropped a Ford V8 in an AC Ace to create the AC Cobra.

The AC Cobra launched Shelby on a 50-year career of modifying cars from the original Ford GT40 and the first generation of Mustangs through to other makes including assisting on the development of the Dodge Viper. The AC Cobra is also one of the most regularly-replicated cars of all time, and genuine Shelby machines are extremely collectable, especially the very rare 1965 427ci S/C (semi-competition).

The Shelby name will continue to appear on special Mustangs through Shelby American and their association with Ford. There's a new one on the way that will live up to the legendary performance of even the twin-supercharged AC that Shelby created for himself and comedian Bill Cosby. The track version of the Shelby 1000 Mustang makes 1100hp from its supercharged V8 and costs almost US$200,000 by the time you've bought a "base" GT 500 and put the 1000 package on it.
]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 04:30:22 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=389#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=389 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=388

This past weekend Street Fords' Production Editor Sam Hollier and his mate Brett from Fordmods continued their campaign in the Non-Log Booked Road Registered Over 2500cc 2WD class (NLRR O2.5L for short) of the NSW Hillclimb Championship in their modified E-Series V8 Fords.



The venue for this escapade was Mount Panorama for a double-header that saw Round 3 use a climb up The Esses on Saturday, and then a run from the hump on Mountain Straight to Sulman Park at the top for Round 4 on Sunday.



The pair camped in McPhillamy Park for the weekend and had an awesome time, despite the bitter-cold mornings. They left with new friendships, a couple of trophies, more points towards the championship and the ability to tick "Going flat-out on Mount Panorama" off their bucket lists.

For lots more pics and more of a report from both days, head here;
STREET FORDS DOES MOUNT PANORAMA;
WEEKEND WARRIOR THREAD UPDATE]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 04:20:47 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=388#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=388 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=387

Roy Velardi (editor of both Street Fords and Super Fords) and Matt Ludgate (editor of The Aussie Muscle Enthusiast) headed out to Sydney Dragway with the New South Wales Muscle Car Association last weekend for a private drag day.
Follow the link for the day's pics and the vid;
VIDEO: MUSCLE CAR DRAGS]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 06:28:06 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=387#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=387 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=386
Street Fords' Editor Roy Velardi and his brothers Frank and Tony open the doors of their family shed to reveal a stable of tough cars. Click on the link for an inside look at their very own Performance Garage.
THE VELARDI FAMILY GARAGE]]> Tue, 01 May 2012 23:48:02 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=386#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=386 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=385
Here's a post that Street Fords' Production Editor Sam put together today paying tribute to the tributes that are race car replicas;
REPLICA RACE CARS]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:13:30 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=385#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=385 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=384
If you were watching our facebook group wall last Friday you'd have seen a sneak peek at an upcoming feature Mustang. It doesn't matter if you missed it though, because today we have a full blog post for you with pics and a video of Mark Sullivan's impressive fastback and the lovely Georgia posing in front of it.
VIDEO: ELITE STANG DRIVEN]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:40:58 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=384#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=384 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=383
This year's Sydney All Ford day will be on Sunday July 29th, and as always it will be preceded by the Ford Super Swap Meet on Saturday the 28th. Both events that weekend will be held at Eastern Creek Raceway.
For Sunday's AFD there will be displays from more than 20 different Ford car clubs as well as individuals, a pit lane full of trade stands in the garages, including ours, rides for the kids, and more than enough parking for the general public.
To find out more, whether you wish to enter your car for display, hunt for something specific at the swap meet, or simply attend the largest one-make car show in the southern hemisphere, visit THE SYDNEY AFD WEBSITE]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:06:03 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=383#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=383 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=382

Last Saturday night's Harry's meet up centred around fundraising for a good cause. The NSW Muscle Car Association invited Performance Garage down to Harry’s over the weekend to support the Cancer Council’s Relay For Life, and the event drew an excellent mix of tough cars.
Several car clubs supported the cause and a multitude of methods were employed to raise funds. The tally at the end of the night was a noteworthy $3406. See the full story and more pics at PERFORMANCE GARAGE
READ MORE HERE]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:40:25 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=382#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=382 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=381

The V8 Supercars Championship Series is destined to return to Eastern Creek in 2012 after a calendar shuffle that saw Winton move to the TBA slot in November (which V8SC were trying to find an international venue for) and the permenant Sydney race track take the August 24-26 slot for round 9.
It will be the first time the series competes at The Creek since 2008 and the first time most people will see the new layout broadcast on TV. As for which layout they will use, there has been no mention, but it's a safe bet that it will be one of the longer ones (the near-original GP or the new Extended).
The facility is currently being upgraded to the tune of $11million with a co-funded effort between the ARDC and the NSW Government. The event itself will recieve no government funding, unlike Homebush, as the ARDC will be promoting it themselves.]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:30:27 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=381#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=381 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=380
Weekend Warrior has completed another competitive motorsport task this past weekend as Production Editor Sam Hollier and his daily-driven silver EB made their supersprint debut at Eastern Creek Raceway.
The event was held on the new North Circuit, and many drivers agreed that the link road is a fun section of track. It's undulating, and the right hander has a crest that sees the car get a bit light in the tail on the way out if you pick the throttle of a RWD up a bit too early. It also makes the approach to the last three corners faster than it is when you do the full circuit (because turn 9 is tighter and therefore the exit is slower).
Overall the car coped with the stress and behaved itself with the only issue being the power steering fluid getting so hot that the pump would groan and the reservoir lid let some fluid out. A power steering cooler should fix that for next time. The car was still good enough to not only drive home, but for Sam to drive it to work this morning.

For a more detailed account of how things went, and to see more pics, have a look at the latest WEEKEND WARRIOR THREAD UPDATE]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:28:08 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=380#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=380 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=379
On the subject of Performance Garage, if you haven't been keeping an eye on it here are nine more reasons why you should have. This list contains some rather interesting Ford-specific posts;
1100HP DRAG ROD!
295KM/H XY CIRCUIT RACER
THE 50 BEST FORD MODS
BONUS MUSCLE CAR DVD!
WILD! TTV8 STREET FORD
VID: TWIN-ENGINE ROD!
ONE OF ONE XY GTHO
VIDEO: GT-P W2A COOLER INSTALL
STAINLESS WRAPPED XY

Head here to see lots more from the wider car scene;
PERFORMANCE GARAGE

And to give us some feedback, head to our Performance Garage discussion thread here;
Street Fords' Performance Garage discussion thread]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:31:14 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=379#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=379 http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=378

Street Fords' Editor Roy Velardi has shared his twin-turbo XY build, Project Wild Violence, with the online world.

PROJECT WILD VIOLENCE, PERFORMANCE GARAGE BLOG POST

There are heaps of pics of the build, as well as a few from the car's past, so make sure you take a look.

You can also get interactive and watch for project updates in the new thread on our Street Fords forum;
PROJECT WILD VIOLENCE FORUM THREAD]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:02:03 GMT http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/comments.php?id=378#comments http://www.streetfords.com.au/news/blog.php?id=378