A second-generation Iron Maiden is in the making thanks to Serena Channing and her hot-pink XD Fairmont Ghia. Serena’s seven-year-old daughter Laura is a go-karting champ, and the colour of Serena’s XD was decided upon by way of a mother-daughter agreement. In fact, the entire project has been a family affair for these dyed-in-the-wool Ford fanatics.

First published in the May 2025 issue of Street Machine

Sounds like your whole family are keen revheads, Serena!

Yeah, we have quite a few cars – all Fords and all V8s or turbocharged. Even my daily is a BF Typhoon. My daughter has now claimed the XD as hers, along with a couple of our other cars. And while I was pregnant last year with my son, he would move around in my belly when I’d go to the go-karts or be around our cars when they were started. He loved it!

When did the XD build kick off?

Back in February 2020, when my then-two-year-old daughter and I were pestering my hubby Chris for a pink car. I’ve always liked XDs; it’s the boxy shape. We found a rolling shell on Gumtree for $1650 and we all helped to strip it down – even Laura got in there turning spanners. Once sandblasted, we realised the body needed new rear quarters and sill panels, so Chris spent the next 10 months on panelwork, including smoothing the engine bay. He then finished it in hot pink fuchsia candy paint. It’s a good thing he does panel and paint for a living!

And you’ve opted for a white trim. With young kids, that’s very brave.

Pink and white just go together. People see my daughter in the car and worry about the light interior, but it’s marine vinyl, so it’s really easy to clean. As our trimmer Rob Toohey said, “You don’t see dirty ski boat interiors, do you?”

And while the original stereo doesn’t work, the gauges do. We had them calibrated, which was well worth the money. Also, we changed the shifter to a B&M Pro Ratchet; all of our cars have them, as they’re nicer to change gears with when I’m drag racing.

What motor’s in it?

The XD is built from spare parts that we had lying around. We always use Clevos, and this one is a 351 with 2V closed-chamber heads and a big cam running on E85, built with the help of Bob Gurskie. Dave Gilroy built the manualised C4, which uses a 5000rpm stall. And the diff is a BorgWarner with 4.11s, LSD centre and 28-spline axles. It currently has around 370hp at the hubs on a driving tune.

Any plans to race it?

It’s built for both street and race. I’ve gone grocery shopping in it before, which can be a bit expensive on E85! I’ll eventually race it, but I currently have a four-week-old baby (I was pregnant during the photoshoot), so for now we’ll continue to do shows, cruises and events. It should do 11 seconds over the quarter, and later on we might even add some nitrous.

Girls — wanna be famous? Become an Iron Maiden! Email car details, pics (2MB+) and contact deets to gday@streetmachine.com.au. You and your ride could appear in the mag!