While many of us spend years bumbling our way through the build of our dream car, making mistake after costly mistake along the way, there are others out there who take the smart approach from the get-go. Stu Trinnaman is one of those ‘other’ guys. He’s the first to admit that he’s got very specific tastes, but has neither the mechanical aptitude nor the time to spend toiling away on building a car himself.

So when he sold the family boat a few years back and decided that finally the time had come to own the car he’d been dreaming about since his teenage years, he set about formulating an impressive plan.

Spending hour after hour researching on the internet, discussing with local car owners and workshops, his plan developed into one in which he had a very good overview of everything that would be involved.

The dream was to own a (more…)

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the best Mustang possible. Spec it with whatever engine you like, dress it how you would if the options were unlimited and set it up with the optimum road-handling wheel/tyre combination. Now open your eyes and take a good hard look at this Mustang built by Auckland company International Performance Classics (IPC). I bet it’s not too dissimilar to the car you were just dreaming of.

For the last few years IPC has produced some amazing vehicles, the 1967 Eleanor replica being the latest and greatest. I say replica, not because it’s a replica of an Eleanor, but because it’s a replica of a Mustang. There isn’t a single piece on it that was built back in 1967; pretty much everything was manufactured in 2009 or 2010. How’s that possible? Dynacorn, the American company that produces brand-new old car bodies and panels, and that is what was used as the basis for the build.

At the outset the car was commissioned with a view to being the ultimate Eleanor. Specifications were agreed with a mix of the owner’s detailed knowledge of the movie Gone in 60 Seconds and IPC’s extensive knowledge and relationships with specialist parts and equipment suppliers.

For classic appeal, there’s no beating an Eleanor-style bodykit, so that’s what the team asked its in-house panel shop, Accent Panel and Paint, to fit. Those familiar with the Eleanors will realise the kit is not just a stick-on job, with the whole tail
light panel having to be replaced. The Accent guys took it one step further by tubbing and flaring the guards in metal to help blend the kit into the body, and topped it all off with a billet grille.

To add to the billet feel there are brushed alloy mirrors and billet bonnet and boot hinges. The latter are now CNC-machined in-house and available for purchase.

With the Eleanor kit, there was no other colour than the traditional grey with black stripes, Spies Hecker being the paint brand of choice.

IPC is an arm of New Zealand’s biggest race team and race vehicle preparation company — International Motorsport (IMS) — which has a long history of winning in every category it races, so vehicle setup and driveability were even more important to the build team than aesthetics.

While most of us will only ever be able to appreciate how great the car looks, IPC managing director Lyall Williamson assures us it drives even better. He was recently in Las Vegas at the aftermarket trade show known as SEMA, and was surprised by how few car builders bother about the way a vehicle drives. “There were some amazing cars there, but when we asked how they drive, most companies would reply along the lines of, ‘Oh no, we don’t drive them,’ or they explained that the way they look has compromised the vehicle’s driving abilities,” Lyall says. “We’ve managed to set this one up just right, even with the wide wheels on the back. It doesn’t have a horrible stance like a lot of the American ones do either.” And he’s right.

The Mustang was set up using a full complement of RRS suspension along with rack and pinion steering and a rose-jointed three-link rear end, and was tweaked by IMS’s top race car engineers. The result was so impressive that the owner decided to take the car to Hampton Downs for his first drive, and even though he has driven many dedicated race cars, he came back raving about it.

With wide 10-inch rear wheels and 18×8-inch fronts the car has a good hold on the track. Not that it was intended to be used as a race car. Then again, with larger than life AP callipers and rotors working away from a hidden master cylinder, there’s no reason why it can’t safely see track time.

No expense has been spared on the build, but at the same time everything on the car is there for a reason and was a considered purchase, rather than an open chequebook buy. Every little CNC machine fitting, hidden part or braided line is of the utmost quality and, thanks to IPC’s attention to detail, has been fitted flawlessly.

That sort of precision was learned over years of working on cars for the likes of Denny Hulme, among many other drivers. It placed IMS at the top of the motorsport field, and now that skill is being used to create street cars. There are few — if any — other workshops in this country or the world that can offer that type of expertise.

The engine is a World all alloy 427 block. With forged H-beam rods, Mahle pistons and an internally balanced forged steel crank, the engines run 10.25:1 compression out of the crate. Rather than the stock carby, IPC has upgraded the setup to run a Morrison V8 Supercar cross-ram injection system.

Besides the quality of the World engines, the Vintage Air serpentine system and unique offset distributor setup completes the look. Of course the IPC guys, being as fastidious as they are, made sure the engine was pulled apart and checked over before it was dropped into the hole.

With regular trips to the United States, Lyall and his team are kept up-to-date with the latest and greatest offerings from a huge range of manufacturers. One of those they found at SEMA 2009 was Isis and the company’s three-cell wiring system. Rather than the single fuse box of most aftermarket wiring harnesses, the Isis system uses three separate boxes that are designed to be easy to install with simple plug connectors.

On a car such as this, where no wiring is visible, a great deal of auto electrical knowledge is still required, for which IPC called on the services of Carl and the team at C&M Performance. The setup of the four-speed Phoenix 4R70W Ford AODE controllers and tuning of the Fast ECU was also left in C&M’s capable hands, and the Mustang made an impressive 650hp at the flywheel on C&M’s dyno. Not bad for a car that will sit nicely in traffic and is as smooth to drive as any modern luxury exotic.

The interior is also as you’d expect to find in a brand-new Italian machine. However, there is enough Mustang character and custom touches — such as the leather console and LED shift indicator knob from TVK industries, another SEMA sourced product — to let you know that you’re certainly not sitting in an off-the-shelf vehicle.

Ian Goodwin is the man responsible for sewing in the glorious black cow hide and fitting the plush custom carpets. Beneath the fabric is layer upon layer of Dynamat sound deadening, to prevent both noise and heat from entering the cabin.

With the side pipe exhausts, there’s still enough sound to let you know what you’re driving, but it’s never overbearing.

An Alpine sound system has also been hidden away: you’d never know it was there unless you’d seen the car in bits. Still, with that glorious exhaust note, the stereo may never be switched on.

It’s not only the use of entirely new componentry that sets the car apart from anything else on (or off) the road — anyone can buy parts. It’s the exquisite attention to detail and functionality, plus the knowledge gained from years of setting up race cars, that really make the car something special.

IPC assures us this is just the beginning, and currently there are two more Mustangs in the build, one a Dynacorn shell, another a genuine ’68. Whether the projects are as extensive as the Eleanor will be up to the vehicles’ owners, but having seen what is possible, and the plans IPC has, you have to hope the clients’ minds — and cheque books — are wide open.

2010 Ford Mustang Replica – Specifications
Engine: World 427 crate motor, Morrison cross-ram injection, Fast ECU, Fast fuel system, custom headers, twin 3-inch exhaust, custom radiator, custom billet caps, hidden booster and reservoirs, MSD ignition, custom drop tank, billet hinges, billet tower brace, Vintage Air serpentine system, custom caps, bottles and hoses
Driveline: Uprated Phoenix 4R70W AODE transmission, FAST trans controller
Suspension: RRS coil-overs, RRS 3-link, RRS lower front arms, RRS struts, oversize swaybar, RRS rack and pinion steering
Brakes: AP 6-pot front and 4-pot rear callipers with floating alloy hat two-piece rotors
Wheels/Tyres: 18×8-and 18×10-inch Shelby replica rims, 225/40R18 and 295/30R18 Yokohama tyres
Exterior: Full Eleanor bodykit, metal flares and tubs, billet grilles, billet fuel filler, insulated drop tank casing, custom engine bay, full underbody strengthening and floor mods to allow cast alloy through sill exhaust exits
Interior: Full Custom Classic Design Concepts interior, custom seats, leather trim, suede rooflining, Autometer gauges, B&M shifter, Alpine audio system, carbon dash, leather centre console, TVK sureshifter LED Trans Indicator, Vintage Air A/C with billet controls.
Performance: 650hp

Owner Profile
Length of ownership: 18 months
Build time: 12 months
Dream car: The next one
Why the Eleanor: To showcase what we can do, and that a car like this can be made to drive every bit as good as a high-end new vehicle, yet have the character of old
IPC Thank: The owner for commissioning the Eleanor, C&M Performance, Ian Goodwin, our team at International Performance Classics, Accent Panel & Paint and all our custom component suppliers.

Words: Todd Wylie Photos Adam Croy

For many Ford fans there was one concept car that really captured the imagination – the GT90. First shown at the 1995 Detroit Auto Show this sharply styled coupe took the best of 90′s sharp-angled design and teamed it with a 537kW quad-turbocharged V12 engine. It was the type of machine that schoolboys had posters of and the Ford faithful prayed would go into production. But it never did.

That just wasn’t good enough for one man – Adam Pintek and he has set out to build a GT90 of his own from scratch. So Pintek is putting together a supercar in his suburban garage and when it’s finished it will resemble the GT90 concept car. His goal isn’t just to build a replica, but a performance machine in its own right. Pintek has teamed up with a formula race car builder to create the chassis and has fabricated around 80 percent of the body using moulds designed on the GT90. (more…)

What is it about the Batmobile? No other TV/movie car seems to make men go to such extraordinary lengths to recreate one for themselves.

Sure, having a real-life Batmobile parked in your driveway would be pretty sweet, but the reality may not live up to expectation. Most Batmobile replicas ride on a rough junkyard chassis and are powered by a rusty old GM-sourced 350 V8. It’s hard to emulate the Caped Crusader when there’s black smoke spewing out the back of your ride and you have to stop every 3km because the cabin overheats and you skimped on the air-con.

But not all try-hard Batmans are created equal. A man by the name of Casey Putsch decided he wanted a Batmobile to call his own, but he wasn’t ready to settle for anything second-rate, he wanted the real deal. Much like Bruce Wayne, Mr Putsch has the hard cash needed for the job, mainly because he’s the owner of Putsch Racing, an outfit that restores and builds all sorts of automotive machinery. To make his replica unique, Putsch has built what he claims is the only turbine-powered Batmobile in the world. (more…)

Bo Matenga’s big block Falcon proves that with a little bit of time and effort anything is possible.

It won’t fit”, “It can’t be done”, “It will be a nightmare”, “It’s not worth the hassle” are all familiar comments for Bo Matenga. Once he announced he would drop a 460 big block into his XW Falcon, that was the common response he got.

But, as is common with many people in the motoring scene, it’s comments like that which drove Bo even harder to make sure he achieved his goal of owning a big block Falcon.

In saying that, it wasn’t originally going to be this Falcon you see here. Instead Bo bought a white XW with the intention of building a Bill Bourke 428 replica. Complete with 302 Cleveland and four-speed manual, the white car was and still is a good car. However after he’d got it home and set about removing the engine to install the big block, the current blue XW came up for sale. Torn between spending more money, and continuing with the white car (which was really too good to go hacking up), eventually he made the decision to buy the second car.

What made it appealing was that the bodywork had been completed, it was essentially ready for paint, and of course as it came without a running engine, the price was right. (more…)

The fourth installment of the Fast & Furious movie franchise showed off some seriously mean cars in various action sequences, but few could compete with the 1973 Camaro F-Bomb replica. For those trying to place the car in the film, the military green Camaro was driven by the character Dom -played by Vin Diesel- through the underground border tunnels.

The replica movie car has been equipped with a 350HP V8 engine and the current owner claims the Camaro F-Bomb replica has been restored “into a show piece for exhibition” and that “unlike most movie cars, this one is fully functional as a normal driver with working gauges, heater, wipers, etc.”

The selling price for the 1973 Camaro F-Bomb has been set at $39,998 USD.

Check out images of the famous movie car by clicking the link below. (more…)

It may have taken 18 years, but Tony Perkins’ childhood dream of owning a GT40 has finally come true.

Eighteen years is a long time in anyone’s language. Just think back over your own life and how much has happened during that period. But that is exactly how long it took for Tony Perkins’ dream to become a reality.

Back in 1990 Tony was a young single chap, and after returning from overseas he was going to invest the money he had saved in a house. Until he stumbled upon a GT40 replica in the newspaper, that is. From that moment on, life would be different ” thanks to a move that he’s very grateful for, though he no doubt regrets it somewhat when he looks at property prices these days.

Over the 18-year build period the car has taken a back seat to many of life’s ups and downs ” a wedding, three kids, various houses, businesses, you name it ” but Tony knew that one day the car would be completed.

The fact that, according to Tony, he has no automotive ability might not have helped, but what really caused the long build time is that the kit wasn’t so much a complete car in parts, but a body shell and a few pieces of chassis. Actually, Tony’s self-professed lack of knowledge probably helped with the build, in that he was able to think outside the square to complete difficult tasks on the car.

The Classic Lines

Thankfully, the fibreglass body didn’t require much work to fit to the mild steel chassis Tony and friends put together. The only minor headache (almost literally) was the addition of the Gurney Bubble to the roof above the driver seat. Named after legendary driver Dan Gurney, the bubble allows tall drivers to fit in the car. After all, with a roof height of just 40 inches, interior space is extremely limited.

(more…)

Silhouette S40 Ferrari F40 replica built in New Zealand, seen here at Pukekohe Park Raceway, south of Auckland, New Zealand