The first time Lee laid eyes on this car was in Just Cars. Back then it was a yellow BT1 package wearing an SV body kit packing a fair bit of grunt. With a COME twin throttle body manifold, MicroTech ECU and big fuel system it pushed a whole heap of go through to a manualised turbo 350 box and 4:11 gears in a VL diff while a DiFilipo 3 inch system creates plenty of noise. Inside saw HSV trim, a collection of AutoMeter gauges, B&M pro ratchet shifter and an aftermarket sunroof. Being built and painted by Bresciani Racing flagged it as being one of the better modified Commodores doing the rounds.

The only problem was at the time it carried a $17,000 price tag.

If that was the last time Lee saw the car this would be a short article, so thankfully it took the recipient of a sizeable payout to buy the car and bring it to their small country town. It didn’t take long before what was SV355 was thrashed and a shadow of its former self and sold off into Lee’s possession.

With his modified VQ sold about that time to make way for a new project, the plan was always to turn the VN into something capable of taking plenty of punishment while still being reliable enough for cruising.

The old, stressed donk was pulled out and over time a stout 304 was bolted together in the shed. The balanced 304 V8 features ARP studs top and bottom with 1:65 Crane roller rockers, ported and polished heads, a Crane 288 solid cam, Romac balancer, Torque Power hi rise dual plane manifold and 650 street hp carburettor. An ASR hi- volume sump holds plenty of oil while a full IC&E 7 amp ignition system provides the spark. A Holley black 125psi fuel pump plumbed with Earl’s fittings does its best to keep throwing fuel from the 52 litre fuel cell down the throat. A CVR water pump and PWR alloy radiator work hard to keep things cool.

A turbo 350 remains as the transmission of choice, built by Wholesale Automatics with a 3800rpm TCE converter and B&M Hi Tech trans cooler. With the transmission and diff subject to all kinds of torture during the skids the car was built for, it was decided the only option in the rear was a full spool. The 4:11s were retained but in the quest for more wheel speed and more smoke some 3:45s are on the cards.

For all the mechanical work it would be a shame if the body and interior weren’t up to scratch. The once yellow paint work has been replaced with a new hue by Atkins Autoworks as well as new window moulds and very dark tint with new light assemblies front and rear. Fresh glass and lights always give a good impression and help provide a clean finish.

The interior is now home to HSV Senator seats and a suite a Auto Meter gauges including a tacho, water temperature, oil temperature, transmission temperature, differential temperature, fuel level, voltmeter and oil pressure with a mini warning light. When you are spinning things up to 7500rpm you want all the early warning you can get your hands on! At the time of writing a half cage is in the process of being installed.

Although Lee tells me one of his favourite things about the car is all the heads turning as it lopes its way up the street, most of the VN’s time is spent at the Southcoast Raceway in Portland where it has taken out a couple of smaller burnout comps and also a 2 nd at the King of the Coast burnout competition. Lee will be hoping to go one better at the Ultimate Burnout Challenge at Avalon. As yet the car hasn’t been let loose down the track but when it does it’s sure to set a time for our Quick List.

As we all know, cars are never finished and this one is no exception. If anything was going to be done differently it would have been to build a stroker in the first instance, and that’s something that Lee will be planning to fix once the 304 has finally had enough. The jury is still out as to whether or not it will cop a blower and some mini tubs, but looking at the footage of the current combo you can be sure it will generate plenty of tyre smoke regardless.

Words by Mick

Pictures by Lee