If you were trying to build the fastest race car in the country, what would you build? Nick Chester chose a heavily modified V8 Supercar.

Regardless of whether you’re a huge circuit racing fan or not, you’ve just got to love the GT1 race class and the cars that compete in it. GT1 is best described as an anything goes, unlimited budget class, in which the cars are only limited by the builders’ imaginations.

Despite being younger than much of the competition, Nick Chester has been racing in similar classes for many years before the forming of GT1. With backing from the family business, Chesters Plumbing and Bathroom, he had huge success in his old Mitsubishi Evolution.

Around two and a half years ago the competition really stepped up, and although the Evo could keep pace, it was getting to a point where it was no longer safe. As he’s a vital part of the family business, and had a new wife as well as a kid on the way, Nick couldn’t risk anything happening, so he decided to build a new, safer car. Of course, there was never any chance that the car would be slower than the Evo, nor for that matter slower than the current front-running cars.

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Late-model Commodores are like belly buttons ” everyone’s got one. Well okay, maybe a few of you Ford guys don’t. But I bet you know someone who does. There are almost as many mean-as HSV Clubbys on the roads as mid-’60s Mustangs at Beach Hop.

So how do you make a late-model HSV stand out and separate itself from the suit-wearing corporate lease crowd, while keeping intact the HSV style and spirit that caused you to buy it in the first place?

If you’re Gilbert Pritchard, you blend original body style with a big dose of supercharged LS2 power, mix in a handling package, add a set of huge wheels, and for good measure put some eardrum-splitting sounds in as well.

Having owned a few Clubsports before this one, Gil knew his way around his Commodores; he knew what he wanted done and how to get it. And luckily for him ” and us ” he was in a position to throw time and money at the project to get it done right.

The late 2004 VZs come with an LS2 engine, and they are a pretty stout piece, taking what the LS1s have been giving us for a few years and mixing in a bunch of torque, a few more kilowatts, plus some enhancement from HSV. By Gilbert’s own admission the car wasn’t too bad to start with.

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Take one standard SS Commodore. Add a dose of Harrop¦

It’s 1am in the morning and it’s been a fruitful night fishing. Having distributed the haul I now have to drop off a couple of fishing buddies back home. As we are travelling down the motorway we notice that the west-bound lanes have been totally blocked off for, you guessed it, ‘road works’. Now this would normally send me into a tail spin, as I am not the most patient of people at the best of times, particularly when all I want to do is get some shut-eye. However in this case I was remarkably calm, and it may have had something to do with the fact that I had just taken delivery of a Holden Commodore SS — and not any old SS but a Harrop Enhanced SS, complete with a supercharger, upgraded brake package and an upgraded differential. Having to take the alternative (longer) route home suddenly wasn’t such a chore, and a 10-minute journey down the road turned into a 30-minute trip back, but hey, who’s counting.

Having been for a ride in Harrop Industries general manager Ken Nunn’s car in Melbourne, I had an appreciation of what it would be like driving a Harrop supercharged V8, but you wonder what it would be like owning one. Or in this case living with one for a couple of weeks. The short answer is, it’s a lot of fun. This car is just like any other SS on the road, and other than a discreet Harrop badge on the rear and red Harrop callipers tucked behind the alloys, you would not pick it from the crowd. In fact it doesn’t even have a big-bore exhaust. This is the type of performance car that can quite happily trundle down to the supermarket and can be used as a daily runner around town.

S is for Supercharger

The only time there is a hint of what lies beneath is when you depress the accelerator ever so slightly, and you notice that you are accelerating slightly faster than you thought you would, as the supercharger is quietly doing its job from the word go. Push the throttle a bit further and you start to hear the whine of air being forced down the scroll. Floor it and all hell breaks loose as Clark Kent turns into Superman in an instant.

S is for Stunning

The supercharger turns a fast car into an impressively fast car. Whereas the standard 5.7-litre Gen III struggles a bit down low, this car has power constantly on tap. It is quite happy to pull at low revs and so it’s not as critical to be in the right gear. The torque allows you to use sixth gear more comfortably on the open road, even for overtaking. More often than not, with a six-speed LS1 you find yourself having to drop down from sixth to fifth for hills or slower traffic, but not in this car. If you need to overtake quickly it is just fantastic. Chop down to third and floor it, and you feel the instant torque pull you past the obstacle in front and you are back in the safe zone in no time, especially good for avoiding stone chips from fully laden trucks leaving a trail in their path. You do have to be judicious with the accelerator when engaging the clutch as the accelerator is quite sensitive, and to be honest, it did take an hour or so to get used to the electronic throttle/ supercharger combo.

S is for Short Shift

Harrop has also fitted its short shifter upgrade kit, which is designed to reduce the dreaded ‘missed gear’ problems associated with the Tremec T56 Holden six-speeder. The throw for both forward and rear from neutral has been reduced by approximately 30¯per cent, making the gear shift feel more positive but without reducing the height of the standard gear lever. Combined with the extra torque, gear changes become effortless and happen more rapidly.

Having spent a week driving around town, the fuel computer was displaying 15.1¯litres per 100km which, considering the type of conditions, was a reasonably good figure. You find yourself using the supercharger all the time, whether it’s to merge comfortably with traffic or to get out of a hazardous situation, and it’s nice to know the extra torque is there when you need it. On a day trip out of town this figure dropped to 12.1¯litres per 100km and was showing a total distance to fill up of 700km, which is exactly what you would expect from a standard SS.

This article is from NZV8 issue 11. Click here to check it out.

The Holden Monaro began its burly life as an Australian muscle car back when drugs were as abundant as big hair. The year was 1968. Johnny Cash sang live at Folsom Prison, Martin Luther King Jr was shot dead, NASA launched the first manned Apollo mission and those zany French let off their first hydrogen bomb.

Amidst all of these headlines you might not think something as subtle as a two-door coupe version of the Kingswood, based on the Opel Commodore, would make much of an impact. But then you should remember that good old saying: less is more. And in the case of 48-year-old farmer Peter Schimanski’s 2005 VZ HSV GTO, that is certainly the case.

Peter’s VZ is lavishly subtle ” okay, that might sound like an oxymoron, but don’t be too quick to judge.

Upon first glance, this Sting Red two-door might look as standard as the acting on Shortland Street [um, weren’t you Nick Harrison? Ed] but take a closer look and you’ll see some serious hints of Robert De Niro and perhaps even slight glimpses of Scarlett Johanssen. This car is silently stunning.

From the only vaguely visible Holden lion head artwork (an idea concocted by Peter’s wife, Delilah) on the subtly widened rear haunches to the chromed rollover bar, this HSV-spec Monaro emits personality through minimal use of performance aesthetics.

Add Blower, Add Power

Peter laughs in the face of the rice rocket-owning teenagers whose Lancers boast flight deck rear wings, ugly bolt-on side skirts and drainpipe exhausts. Of course, Peter has let himself loose with a little bit of bling in the form of some sexy Foose 20-inch rims, but hey, they look better than a cold beer in summer.

Under the hood you’ll find a slightly less aggressive approach to the less is more theme. The GM block has been hit hard with the horsepower hammer and as a result it thumps out a decent 360kW. That may not sound extreme but it’s the torque that impresses: 1493Nm at the wheels. That’s more than enough to rip the faces off any roadside onlookers as the red rocket thunders by. Peter has also put the numbers to the test, recording a quarter-mile run of a supercar-fast 12.4 seconds with what he casually describes as “a lot of wheel spin”.

To ensure the car had more than enough power to match its stunning looks, Peter dropped it in to Paul Manuell and the team at Eastern Automotive, where they fitted an intercooled PWR supercharger with 14lb overdrive pulley kit. Pete’s also made sure the car gets plenty to drink by way of 43lb, 700hp high-flow fuel injectors with a pump in the boot that has enough grunt to drain Lake Taupo. The GTO also likes to breath quite heavily, so Peter has helped it out with an over-the-radiator (OTR) intake system and full DiFillipo 3-inch twin-exhaust setup mated to stainless 1.875-inch extractors.Making sure that the power gets to the hind rubber is the rebuilt automatic transmission, thrown together to race box spec courtesy of parts from the US of A. This is then linked via a standard driveshaft to a Diffgears 3.9:1 differential that sends the torque through to those Foose rims shod with Falken 285/25R20 rubber. Peter has opted to continue his less is more approach when it comes to the suspension and brakes, as the HSV stockers are more than up to the job of negotiating sweepers and stopping on a 10-cent coin.

Knockout Interior

Jump inside the cabin and you’ll probably hit your head on the shiny chrome rollover bar that bends its way across the headliner above the two front seats. Best not to jump then and just sit down as normal people do. Once your bum is rested in the comfy leather HSV rump wranglers, you’ll notice that not a lot is different to the standard car. Peter has again decided that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In fact, apart from that rollover bar, nothing has changed. There are those big, red leather rib-gripping seats and the HSV lion head-emblazened leather steering wheel. Perhaps Peter could just spend a little more and at least get some fluffy dice. Nah, those are for Ford owners.

Back outside and again true to form, little is different from the standard-trim car. The rear guards have been fattened slightly by Kruzin Kustoms in Palmerston North, which also added the semi-visible HSV lion’s head emblem to the rear guards (so subtle it’s almost impossible to see in photos). This idea came to Peter’s wife Delilah in a dream. Apparently God said, “Let there be a barely visible lion’s head on the arse end of a red Holden coupe,” and there was. It’s this attention to detail that really sets the car apart from your run-of-the-mill GTO. It won’t make people’s heads turn like a modded Japanese pocket-rocket but let’s face it, that’s a good thing. What this car will do is make you stand back away and say, “Wow, look at that, I never noticed that before”. It’s a little book of secrets, with each morsel of aesthetic appeal uncovered slowly and tastefully. Except it’s not a book, it’s a car. A car with more than enough power to crush small Third World nations.

Then there’s the feeling you get when you wind the ignition key to the right and experience the almighty chest-punching thunder that comes from the mound of metal muscle under the hood. This GTO is a proper Australian muscle car. It hasn’t been ruined by the overzealous use of add ons, nor has it received so much engine treatment that it is unruly and barely worthy of street use. Peter’s GTO is an understated, immaculately presented box of wonders that keeps the viewers occupied as it slowly and seductively unveils each of its not-so-factory options ” all without whacking you in the face with vulgar use of carbon fibre and vinyl flames. It’s a bit like a good stripper, only with fewer plastic enhancements.
In 1968 Holden offered the world the Monaro. But it took until 2008 for Peter Schimanski to do it right.

Specs

2005 VZ HSV GTO Coupe

Engine: Chevy LS2 V8, ported and polished head, high-lift valve springs, race camshaft, 43lb high-flow injectors, OTR cold air box, PWR supercharger with intercooler, 14lb pulley kit

Driveline: Rebuilt automatic transmission, standard driveshaft, Diffgears 3:9 diff ratio

Suspension: Stock

Brakes: Stock

Wheels/Tyres: 20×8.5 and 20×10-inch Foose 20 rims, 245/30R20 and 285/25R20 Falken tyres

Exterior: Mild rear guard widening, custom HSV emblem paint, tinted windows

Interior: Stock with chrome roll bar

Performance: 360kW, 1493Nm, 12.4-second quarter mile

Driver Profile

Peter Schimanski

Age: 48

Occupation: Farmer

Previously Owned Cars: ’69 Bathurst Monaro

Dream Car: ’69 Monaro, 850+ BHP

Length Of Ownership: 3 years

Build Time: 3 years-plus

Peter thanks: Eastern Automotive, Kruzin Kustoms, Simpson’s Tyres and wife Delilah

Story: Karl Burnett | Photos: Adam Croy