Well, the cold doesn’t appear to be easing up so far, but the hot-off-the-press NZV8 Issue No. 123 is packing enough heat to see you through the deepest, darkest depths of the season.
The headlining act is this incredible 1971 Chevelle, built by renowned tough street-car builder Mike Bari. Packing 598 cubes of nitrous-equipped big block under its shapely bonnet, incredible fabrication and engineering throughout, and a show-quality finish, this truly is a car that will turn heads at shows, the street, and the strip.
On the other end of the street–strip spectrum, we have Mike and Kim Gooding’s gorgeous 1948 Chev pickup, built to cruise. As their first car in the ‘hot rodding’ scene, it’s a masterpiece that managed to snag our attention at Repco Beach Hop 15 — if you know how many cars you see there, you’ll understand how hard it is for a car to properly stand out. This is one such car.
Similarly, Jason and Tarina Moorfield’s 1970 Dodge Super Bee is as spectacular in its understatement and lack of pretence. It’s a beautiful old cruiser, rebuilt to a standard far surpassing factory quality, for the sole purpose of getting out there and making the most of it — the bonus is that it’s got a pretty cool bit of history behind it, but you’ll need to grab the issue to learn about that.
On top of these show-quality cars, we’ve also covered some seriously cool home builds too. Andy Etchells, the man behind the Tauranga-based Falcon Innovations, has come up with this extremely cool Falcon XY, appropriately named ‘RADROO’. Without spoiling the story too much, it’s an old-school body grafted onto a new-school chassis — the best of both worlds, built almost entirely in his garage.
Wade Nisbet’s got this awesome ’27 Model T roadster, which has been built entirely — and we mean entirely — in his shed with his own two hands. Almost every last component has been painstakingly custom made by Wade over the course of the nine-year build. Don’t read this story if you don’t want to feel totally useless — this man is a true craftsman.
We know you wanted more of the achievable stuff, so how does this sound — fun on the street, strip, and circuit with change from $20K? Auckland’s Peter Withers has sorted this sweet all-rounder Commodore VK, which he abuses on the track and the road every chance he gets. Who says you’ve gotta spend moonbeams to have fun behind the wheel?
Of course, we’ve got all the tech and special features that you want too. We speak to the fastest female on the planet, Jessi Combs, about speed, danger, and being a high-profile lady in an industry dominated by men.
Keeping things action-packed, we look into the science of drifting and how the sport may be losing its Japanese stigma and properly entering the sphere of big-cube V8s. And, if fun in a straight line is more your kinda deal, look no further than our coverage of the Australian Winternationals — all the action and destruction that top-tier drag racing is known to deliver!
Tech-wise, we look at superchargers and all you’ll need to know to become the neighbourhood guru on crank-driven forced induction, as well as a look into the maths of speed — all the calculations you’d need to get an idea of power, speed, ETs, and the things you’d otherwise be guesstimating. Well, now you can kinda guesstimate a tad more scientifically.
On top of this, we’ve got all the usual columns, news, and features that you can expect from your trusted NZV8. Pop into the shops for a copy, or jump online to giveamag.co.nz to pick up a subscription and get it delivered straight to your door — just what the doctor ordered.
