WHEN IT comes to drag racing, the big engine in a little car idea works well, and it seems to do pretty well in the burnout scene too – take Jay Bloss’s TX Gemini for example.

Jay and his wife Carlie have had a long relationship with tough Geminis over the years, but a tragic car trailer accident on the way to Summernats 19 soured the experience, leaving their just-completed TF Gem show car damaged beyond repair.

But after a brief fling with a Clevo-powered Sigma, Jay decided to get back on the horse and build another tough Gem.

“It’s the whole big engine in a little car philosophy,” Jay confirms. “They’re a lot more aggressive to drive, and provide more of a thrill and a challenge, I reckon. You’re always fighting to keep control of the car.”

Carlie found the car at UBC3. “We were up at the Ultimate Burnout Challenge when Carlie came up and told me she’d bought me another Gemini,” Jay recalls. “It ended up being Phil Youlten’s old burnout car that did well back in the early 2000s.”

Jay did a few comps with the car before stripping it all out and going the full banana on the paint and panel. Good mate Jake Dougherty handled the bodywork and new mini-tubs, while Leigh Black from L&C Kustoms laid on the Morpheus Purple paint.

When it came to the engine Jay decided not to mess around. “I’ve had a few Holden V8s over the years and I had a lot of troubles,” he reckons. The guys from Sass Automotive were given the nod to trick up a standard-stroke LS1 with a blower and EFI – it produces around 750 horses. There’s a bigger 402-cube engine in the works, but Jay wants to get a handle on the current combo first.

Read all about the build in the December issue of Street Machine – out tomorrow 12 November – and don’t forget to watch the kick-arse video.