Unapologetically bright pink, Shenade Austin’s LS-powered 1987 VL Calais has the shove to match its presence. Shenade spent her childhood perusing car shows, but her conversion to full revhead came after being introduced to Summernats as a 16-year-old.

First published in the September 2025 issue of Street Machine

How did you come to own your VL?

My hubby Ryan and I were headed home from Powercruise in 2017 when I decided I wanted a VL Calais, so I found one on Marketplace shortly after. It was a swap deal – the first I’d done – as I changed out my running and registered VZ Commodore sedan for the Calais project.

What condition was it in then?

It was light blue with a girl in a bikini airbrushed on the bonnet, and had no interior. There was a home-built RB30 with some average welds in the engine bay, and bird’s-nest wiring. The deal included a few tubs of mostly unusable parts, so I still needed to source a lot of items. The car sat for a bit, but by October 2020, Ryan and I had sanded the car back in readiness for a bare-metal respray.

It’s a bold colour choice!

I’d always loved black cars, but I saw a pink car at Summernats that looked really good. My friend Josh at Harts Automotive Paints mixed different shades of pink, and I’d get Martin at Aitken Autobody to paint test pieces until I finally found the one. And I love the custom pink – it’s stunning in the sunlight.

Sweet smoothed engine bay, too.

My friend Dan at FABLAB got the bay looking beautiful. It was a bitch of a job, with a lot of excess holes, and plates that had been poorly welded in. Now he’s boxed the chassis rails, tidied the firewall and smoothed the tubs.

What about the go-fast stuff?

I wanted a cruiser, and I’ve always loved loud, lumpy V8s, so the VL runs a cammed, 6.0-litre L98. The trans is a Paul Rogers-built TH400 manualised auto, and behind that is a VL Turbo diff. I’ve upgraded to Wilwood brakes and coil-overs throughout. It runs on 98 and makes 380hp at the rears, which is enough – it really goes!

The trim is unique, too.

It’s from my own inspiration, with ideas from Summernats cars, too. Chris from Trim FX did the interior, working with what I wanted and adding some of his own thoughts. He was perfect to deal with. I’ve used Kirkey fronts and a VL rear, all done in leather and suede with pink side stitching. The rooflining, dash and console are all suede, too. Black is perfect; it’s very versatile.

How long has the Calais been back on the road?

Since 2022, after taking 18 months to build. Ryan and I did a lot of things ourselves – I really have to thank him for all he’s done. Since then, I was lucky enough to be in the City Cruise at Street Machine Summernats 36, and I won Best Engine Bay at the 2023 Jamboree, but mostly I’ve attended lots of local events. Now I’d love to add tubs and swap out the 20in MOMO Stars for dished, chromed Walkinshaw or Simmons wheels – that’d really make the pink pop!

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!