Part drag car, part show car, Heat Treatments Racing’s new Pontiac GTO is without doubt the best-prepared car to ever hit a New Zealand drag strip.

Nope, this isn’t the story about a lonely old carpenter who carves himself a race car out of pinus radiata that wouIdn’t go until a fairy granted a wish, and which turned into a rotten little sod whose nose kept growing every time it told a whopper about how quick it could go. Nope, this here story might be told in a Mickey Mouse fashion, but there are very few magic kingdoms, fairies or singing crickets in this yarn. It’s more a tale of drag racing dedication, careful planning and an investment in drag racing that beggars belief almost as much as that story of the little wooden boy.

The Heat Treatments team is serious about the sport, that’s for sure. This stunning, Jerry Bickel-constructed Pontiac GTO is Kevin McGregor’s third straight-line time machine, and each one has been a technological leap forward from its predecessor. The 2000 Camaro previously run by the team was an incredibly trick piece of kit, originally constructed for Super Stock competition. But it never ran in the class, as some racers feared it would dominate and threw up as many objections to the car as they could come up with. Not wishing to make waves, the team directed its efforts elsewhere. Ironically, Super Stock died through lack of participation.

Oddly enough, Pinocchio here has stirred up a bit of conflict over in the wide-open world of Kiwi Top Doorslammer, but more on that a bit later.

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What could be tougher than a ’66 Pontiac GTO running 8-second quarter miles? Not much, if you ask us.

You know you’re onto a winner when your wife calls you to see if you want a drag-spec 490ci big block Chev engine. However unlikely that may sound, that’s exactly what happened to Michael Franklin. It was, he says, “The start of the never-ending empty wallet.”

At the time Michael had a pretty tough street-spec HQ ute, into which the 490 was dropped. With the big block in place the ute was running easy high 10-second quarters. Add a 300hp shot of nitrous oxide and the time card read 9.90. All was good and well with the ute until Michael’s brother-in-law, Darren Saunders (a familiar name on these pages), offered him a 540ci engine built by Huntsville Race Engines USA.  With the bigger motor in place the ute ran 10.0 naturally aspirated, and slid its way to 9.3 on the bottle. The problem was, with the ute still being relatively small-tyred, those nine-second quarters were run using both sides of the drag strip, and with some white knuckles on the steering wheel.

Package Deal

The Huntsville engine had arrived in New Zealand to go into the ’69 Chev Camaro that graced NZV8’s cover back in December 2006 (issue 19). Not long after the Camaro’s appearance in the magazine, it was sold to Darren Saunders. Darren already had a similar engine in his second generation Camaro, so the Huntsville was up for grabs, with Michael the first person in line.

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A larger, more interactive Castrol EDGE display zone will take a starring role at this year’s Speedshow at the ASB Showgrounds over the weekend of 24 and 25 July, 2010.

Highlighting the range of incredible racing cars backed by Castrol EDGE in New Zealand and Australia, the Castrol EDGE display zone epitomises what Speedshow is all about, according to Speedshow organiser Keith Sharp.

“If it’s cool and it’s fast, it’s at Speedshow — and that certainly applies to the Castrol EDGE display this year, which showcases racing bikes and cars, from V8s to dragsters, rally to rotary,” says Sharp.

Castrol New Zealand’s marketing manager Jayne McEwan says: “Plans for the Castrol EDGE display zone are progressing well and I’m delighted we’ll have the top New Zealand Mazda rotary RX2 drag-car from Matamata’s Curran Brothers Racing alongside a replica of Greg Murphy’s new V8 Supercar, the Castrol EDGE Racing Holden Commodore. This will be one of the few times the exact replica of Murph’s new Castrol EDGE V8 Supercar will be seen in New Zealand.

“We also welcome the awesome McGregor family from Heat Treatments Racing with their 1200 hp Pontiac GTO door-slammer and the world’s fastest Nissan Skyline, the 1600 hp Castrol EDGE Nissan Skyline GTR which has an official best time/speed combo of 7.57 and 190.7 mph,” says McEwan.

“Rounding out our drag racing line-up will be the nostalgia nitro funny car of Invercargill’s Karl Boniface. The 3000 hp Nitroflashback car is based on a 1970 Chevy Vega with a supercharged, injected 438 cu in big block Chevy — it’s impressive in the Castrol EDGE colours!”

McEwan will announce more details on the Castrol EDGE motorbike component when confirmed, along with details on a planned customer promotion they’ll be running at Speedshow.

Castrol EDGE is a range of engine oils designed to perform in today’s most highly tuned engines, adds McEwan. “Our products are dedicated to those who are passionate about their car and unwilling to compromise on quality and performance, no matter what, where or how hard they drive.”

The fourth annual Speedshow motorsport and automotive extravaganza will again feature the very best race cars of all descriptions alongside fantastic performance cars to delight car fans of all ages. News and details are updated on the Speedshow website on a regular basis; see www.speedshow.co.nz, or find Speedshow on Facebook.