Your eyes aren’t deceiving you – this 60 Series LandCruiser isn’t some tow rig that got lost on its way to drop off a trailer in the pits at Drag Challenge. It was actually 20-year-old Josh Abela’s weapon of choice for DC 2023, and it rocks a stock-bottom-end 6.0-litre LS and a juicy shot of nitrous!

First published in the July 2024 issue of Street Machine

Josh is the son of Adrian Abela, who himself has taken on Drag Challenge several times in their now-sold Barra turbo XH panel van. With that moved on and his old man’s next machine still under construction when DC ’23 rolled around, Josh turned to the Cruiser to take on our five-day drag-and-drive marathon in October last year.

Josh picked up the neat 60 Series just a few months before the event, purchasing it with the LS swap already done – or so the ad said. “It was advertised as 95 per cent done, but really, the engine was just sitting in there,” Josh says. “We ended up re-doing the whole lot; all that stayed was the LS it had.”

That engine is an alloy-block 6.0-litre L77 from a VF Commodore, which has been treated to nothing more than a baby Crow Cams stick to delete the factory Displacement on Demand. “We would’ve gone bigger with the cam, but that’s all that was in stock at the time,” Josh says.

Using the Marks 4WD LS conversion catalogue, a 6L80E GM gearbox has been mated to the standard Toyota transfer case and 4WD system. The rear diff uses an Eaton ELocker with 4.11:1 gearing, and in race trim, the 33-inch all-terrain rear tyres are swapped for a pair of PSR 275 drag radials. However, even with those 33s on the rear, the LS stabbed out 475rwhp with the 150-shot of nitrous!

Josh, sister Nat and dad Adrian opened their DC ’23 campaign at The Bend with a 12.13@114mph, followed by a 7.97@92mph at Mildura’s eighth-mile.

The Cruiser was one of the few cars unbothered by the 30-plus-degree heat on the drive route from Mildura to Heathcote. “We had the air con going, so it was nice and cool, and the car had no issues at all,” Josh says. “It’s definitely the comfiest we’ve ever been on the road for that event; it loved it! All we did was change the plugs and tyres.” At Heathcote for Day Three, the team posted a 12.13@115mph.

A rained-out Day Four at Portland’s South Coast Raceway meant the LandCruiser didn’t hit the track again until the final day back at The Bend, where Josh and the crew got to scratch the high-pressure nitrous itch they’d had all week. “We changed to a fresh bottle and really upped the pressure, so that 150-shot was probably more like 180-200,” says Josh.

It worked, though, with the Cruiser running a fresh PB of 11.81@115mph. That’s bloody quick for two tonnes’ worth of 80s brick and wouldn’t be far off where a VF Commodore rocking the same drivetrain mods would end up.

“I haven’t done much to it since Drag Challenge, but I do drive it around like a daily when I want,” says Josh. “We might bring it back this year; we’ll just see what’s ready to go when the event comes around.”

JOSH ABELA
1988 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER GXL

THANKS
My dad at Body Clinic Smash Repairs; my family for moral support; Andy at AutoMotion Performance; Race Parts Melbourne.