Sum of Parts

With a new generation of car enthusiasts coming through, and the rise of stifling ‘anti-hoon’ laws across Australia, it seems young people are less interested in performance and more interested in wheel fitment. It’s time for a revolution, to take back the horsepower, and the freedom and adrenaline that comes with it.

(Full disclosure: Brisbane Motor Imports thought Track Shun was so cool and knowledgeable, they asked us to write an advertorial on the benefits of engine swapping. Consider supporting a company that supports a grass-roots automotive blog.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good stance. But there’s a line between form and function, where choosing straight looks over how your automobile accelerates and handles makes you nothing but a poseur. It’s just a progression of the ‘VIP’ fad where kids would buy automatic E46 318i’s and stuff 21” chrome wheels under the car and two fifteen inch subwoofers into the boot.

When I was a teenager we used to laugh at them. They would call themselves car guys, but wouldn’t really have any idea about what it means to be a car guy. Cruising Chapel St or Brighton Le Sands or Cannon Hill Macca’s does not maketh a car enthusiast. There’s something about feeling the rush from a big turbo kicking in and propelling you down the road that you can’t get out of your bones. It’s twice as much fun if you’re in a car that wasn’t built to do such things. Three times as much if you happen to catch the look on the faces of the people in the other car.

This was how we spent our youth. There were countless days and nights preparing small cars for big turbo motors from defected donor cars that we would drive over from interstate. Or in friends’ driveways with gravel in our back, dropping high-compression Nissan engines into old Toyotas, Supra turbo motors into Bunderas, and Holden V8s into whatever we could find. Fitment was cool, but going fast was cooler. Come to think of it, it’s still how I choose to spend my weekends.

After years of experience, you quickly discover that Japanese half-cuts are the best way to do conversions. They come with the wiring loom, auxiliaries, mounts, and just about everything you would need to do a clean, quick swap. They’re also cheap. Buying a performance half-cut and stuffing it into your daily driver is significantly more fun and cost-effective than buying a pre-packaged performance car. Less unwanted attention from the boys in blue, too.

Waiting until you’re off your Ps before getting a loan and buying a fast car is fine. You know what’s better? Celebrating getting your full licence by dropping in a turbocharged Celica GT4 engine from a Toyota half-cut into the Corolla that your grandmother gave you when you got your Ps. Invite your mates around for the weekend and pay them in beer and barbeque. It beats the disappointment Nanna will have when you finally sell the car after having it on Gumtree for six months, and it’s cheaper than dropping $9,000 on a Celica GT4. You’ll have something unique, a package that you’re already familiar with, and a huge sense of accomplishment. Also, a very quick car.

I don’t even know why you would wait until you’re off your P-plates. Don’t tell me that you can’t have a fast car these days because of the restrictions placed on young drivers. You really need to drive pretty much any performance Honda to discover that an engine doesn’t have to have forced induction or eight cylinders or even much capacity in order to produce buckets of adrenaline. Buy an early-90s Civic, grab yourself a Honda half-cut from any Integra Type R or VTi-R, and watch the hilarity ensue. A revvy naturally aspirated motor in a light body will blow the doors off pretty much anything out there. Don’t like Hondas? Buy a classic 280ZX and a Nissan half-cut from a 370Z and get to work. Retro looks with kick-ass performance.

Maybe you’re already on your full licence and all your mates are driving V8 Commodores. You’re probably a bogan, but that’s fine. You don’t have to stray too far from the pack to have something decent. Find yourself the cleanest VL Commodore you can and pick-up a Nissan Skyline R33 GTR half-cut. For less than the price of a stock VL Turbo, you can have a VL Twin-Turbo that will destroy all those V8s that your friends spent way too much money on.

If the current trend is buying a slow automatic car and lowering it on some dished wheels with tyre stretch, then maybe drop an STi motor into a Subaru Brumby and put a set of semi-slicks on some ugly steel wheels. Stick a 20B into a 929 coupe and go to the Jamboree. Buy your uncle’s Cressida and install an Aristo engine. Go out to your garage and be a real car enthusiast. Be a trend-setter.


Brisbane Motor Imports have a bunch of really cool half-cuts available, as well as engines, transmissions, and new and used parts. Check out their website and get inspired.

2011 Australian International Motor Show

The 2011 Australian International Motor Show. The impressive-sounding name almost implies that our market is respected by international automobile manufacturers. The unfortunate truth is that we're not. We get the old concept cars that have already done the rounds for the past year, and if we're lucky, we might get a left-hand-drive version of some model we probably won't ever see on our roads. This year was a prime example.

Not only that, but we only get the Motor Show in Melbourne once every two years now, as we alternate with Sydney because of financial concerns the car makers had. I can deal with that, though, as an annual show of the same cars does get a bit tedious.

But when my most anticipated manufacturer, BMW, doesn't bother to bring any cars that are on sale, I get annoyed. Their special eco-hybrid concept car thing, which came out ages ago, is not particularly interesting. I'm not allowed to sit it in, I'm not going to be buying the thing in the next couple of years, so it's really only a study in car design. Yes, it's a nice concept car, but it's not real. And that's what the Motor Show should be about.

We all read the specs in the magazines, look at the pictures, and watch the videos on YouTube. But the Motor Show is where you get to sit in and feel what each car is really like. Of course, it's not quite as good as driving them, but you're able to experience the ergonomics, the seating position, the slickness of the gearshifter, and the quality of the leather and plastics.

The new Range Rover Evoque was impressive, and as it's based on the Freelander2 that I so enjoyed, I imagine will be a cracking drive, too. As cool as it was, with Recaro-esque seats (without the bolstering), leather-trimmed dash, and huge moon-roof, the price-tag is still far too hefty for my liking. The Sport we looked at had two doors and was $127,000. Poor value.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart was good value when compared to the Evolution that sat next to it (if you made it to the top of the stairs without a sherpa). But drop the extra $10k on a Volkswagen Golf R, with real, thigh-bruising bolstering, blows the idea of the Lancer right out of the water.

Audi's R8 Spyder continues to be one of the most beautiful supercars on sale. The Audi designers should teach the Lamborghini designers what a curve is.

Mercedes-Benz had their new C63 coupe alongside their new CLS63 and SLS. The CLS was the most striking in it's red bodywork with big black wheels and beautifully designed interior. However, the SLS didn't draw on my emotions like the original 300SL Gullwing at the other end of the building. Most people walked past the "new" SLK without realising it was there. Mercedes-Benz will have a hard time against the Z4.

Despite not having many models for sale in Australia, Skoda put on a good show, even allowing people to sit in their (real!) rally car, which was nice. They continue to surge forward in Australia with ever-growing confidence.

Holden and Ford continue to copy everyone else as well as themselves (both releasing Black Editions, really?). At least FPV is learning that the subtler, the better.

There were a number of things I took with me after I'd left the Show this year. The first was that I was utterly disappointed that there was no BMW stand. No M3 Pure, no 1M, no M5. The second was the feel of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, which, in my mind, won the award for best supporting actor. I loved how agricultural and secure the doors felt and how they didn't feel like doors on any other car at the show. My final thought was how I still yearn for a Maserati Quattroporte GTS. They are one of the most magnificently looking and sounding cars in the modern era.