VIDEO: TURTLE THE VAUXHALL VICTOR BURNOUT CAR AT SUMMERNATS 29

Chris Degering’s Turtle takes the four-cylinder burnout crown at Summernats 29

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CHRIS Degering’s Vauxhall Victor was one of the more interesting cars to hit the Summernats burnout pad this year. Dubbed ‘Turtle’ this little mint-green car packs a hell of a punch. But before you start thinking it’s just another LS-swapped skid pig, it actually has a 1.9-litre Holden Starfire four-pot and a 3/71 blower up front – and if it all fitted under the bonnet Turtle would be one serious sleeper, especially considering she makes 220rwhp.

Vauxhall Victor Turtle 2If you’re not familiar with Holden’s Starfire Four, you’re probably not alone. It was actually Australia’s first locally conceived and built four-cylinder engine, but with only 80hp it wasn’t exactly high on anyone’s list of desirable engines. Basically it was a Holden 173ci inline six-cylinder engine with two cylinders cut off and it found a home in many 70s Toranas and Commodores.

Chris’s highly modified donk runs on methanol and there’s a Quickfuel 500cfm two-barrel on top of the little GM blower feeding 15psi boost into the cast iron four. Chris has also gone right through the drivetrain and changed pretty much everything to get the car setup for burnouts, including swapping in a full spool 3.7 geared Borg Warner diff and enlarging the trans tunnel to suit a Trimatic slushbox.

Vauxhall Victor Turtle 1It did a pretty decent skid too. Obviously it lacked the sheer aggression and theatre of the big blown and injected V8s, but Turtle crept into and around the pad making heaps of smoke, right up until the engine gave out. Chris gave her a few too many revs (around 11,000rpm) and ended up lifting a rocker pedestal off the head. It didn’t sound too healthy, but Chris still managed to drive it off the pad and he was stoked to end up taking home the Best Burnout by a Four-cylinder gong! Check out the video to see Turtle frying some tyres and our interview with Chris before his final skid of the weekend.


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