THE COVER FEATURE — 2000HP STREET LEGAL SKYLINE
After years of drifting a 1000hp Silvia and a little bit of circuit racing a 650hp Evo, JD Jefferies decided it was time to try going fast …
For Wellington roofer James ‘JD’ Jefferies, the journey to owning one of the country’s fastest Skylines started with a ferry trip and a few too many bourbons. Fresh off a disappointing trip to Blenheim to inspect a rougher-than-advertised R32 GTS-4, JD and his mates found themselves killing time before the ferry home. A few drinks later, the conversation had escalated from needing to fix the car to “we could build something cool” to “let’s build the fastest GTS-4 in the country”.
ONE WILD WAGON – 13B SEQUENTIAL RX-3 WAGON
When you think of fast rotaries, the word ‘relaxing’ doesn’t usually come to mind; but with age and wisdom, Johnny Ellis (‘Sausage’) had a crack at creating something a little more liveable, and we think he’s cracked it
Johnny looks at his immaculate 13B turbo, RX-3-faced Mazda 808 wagon, chuckles to himself, and tells us, “We used to jump them over speed bumps back in the day.” Things have changed since then, haven’t they? Many readers, we’re sure, would be able to relate to this memory, with ’70s Mazdas having been easy pickings for young lads scouring the pages of Trade and Exchange for a deal, in what many tend to call “the good old days”.
CHASING PERFECTION — 2JZ-SWAPPED CHASER STREETER
Buying an unfinished project sight unseen from the other side of the Cook Strait is usually a recipe for a massive headache. But for West Auckland sparky Brad Aitchison, a rolling non-turbo automatic body and a loose engine package became the perfect excuse to turn a grandpa-spec cruiser into a 400kW, 2JZ-powered weapon!
To the average bloke, the JZX100 trio — Chaser, Mark II and Cresta — could pass for a slightly sportier Camry, the kind of car you’d expect to see pulling into the supermarket car park on a Sunday afternoon. But to most enthusiasts, that ’90s big-body sedan is one of the greatest sleepers to ever roll out of Japan. At first glance it’s harmless, but it can effortlessly shred rubber sideways the second you plant it, and that’s before you even throw any go-fast bits at it. It was exactly that blend of factory luxury and JZ grunt that caught the eye of West Auckland sparky Brad Aitchison.
THE SECRET SAUCE — NZ’S WILDEST FL5 CIVIC?
Fuelled by burgers and a 20-plus-year Honda addiction, Lucky Gs’ Tony Kang has cooked up one of New Zealand’s finest FL5 Type Rs, proving that when it comes to cars and food, following your own recipe is always the way to go
Mention the name Tony Kang around West Auckland and most people won’t immediately picture a petrolhead. They’ll know him as the bloke behind Lucky Gs, the Avondale-born burger joint that’s built a tight-knit following, slinging some of the best smashed patties and fried chicken in the city. But underneath the apron, Tony’s been quietly piecing together one of the most complete FL5 Civic Type Rs in the country. The whole obsession traces all the way back to 1997, a shed in San Francisco, and his old man’s EK9.
DANGER ZONE — 2GR TURBO SWAPPED MR2
Over time, the SW20-chassis Toyota MR2 has developed a notorious reputation for placing itself, and its hapless pilots in somewhat compromising positions. Does switching out a mere two-litre four-pot for a stonking great V6 go some way to resolving this ill-attained attribute? Tune in below to find out!
On first impressions, Napier’s Tom Clarke – the bloke who’s two hands and debatably stable mind are responsible for this thing – doesn’t seem like the sort of fella who’s at home hanging on to over 320kw of boosted, torquey 2GR-FE wedged in the middle of an MR2. In actuality, he speaks deliberately and calmly about the build process, clearly a fella who lets his boost do the talking.
1JZ-SWAPPED SUBARU FORESTER?!
A Subaru Forester with a 1JZ? Rebuilt in the home garage after inheriting it from his mum, Wayne Coffey gave this wagon a 457kW wake-up call.
SLAMMED GX61 MARK II
Deep in the Waikato sits Mike Borrett’s slammed ’84 GX61 Mark II, a shakotan-inspired build bringing authentic Japanese style to Kiwi roads.
BLAST FROM THE PAST — NYCNLO IS BACK!
Once an icon of the Christchurch street scene, this show-spec Series 5 is living out its retirement in another hotbed of rotary activity
STREET LEGAL — BOOSTED BEAMS ALTEZZA
Packing a boosted Beams 3S-GE and a stack of rare Japanese parts, Zac Tate’s street-legal Altezza is built to drive to the track, send it all day, then cruise home.
CHROME HORSEPOWER FESTIVAL 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Chrome Horsepower Festival returned for its 15th instalment, with Premier Events bringing together the country’s best builds for one of the biggest weekends in the event’s history.
FENIX COOLING — BEHIND THE SCENES
Since 2004, Fenix Cooling has been keeping performance builds running at peak operating temp. We caught up with the Kiwi team behind the brand to find out how a local operation became a go-to name for performance cooling worldwide, get a peek behind the scenes at their product development, and learn why a proper cooling setup is crucial when you start pushing big power.
TORQUE PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENTS
We catch up with TPD owner Jon-Paul (‘JP’) Ferguson to uncover the story behind NZ’s first Mugen-tuned Civic Type R, exploring the collaboration behind the build and how TPD is pushing the latest Honda performance platforms forward.
FRASER CARS
Fraser Cars has been building lightweight sports cars in New Zealand for almost 40 years, but there’s far more happening behind the workshop doors than just Seven-inspired machines.
AND MUCH MORE!
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