When it comes to hotted-up Valiants, the VC has always been under-represented. While a few of them have graced these pages over the years, they’ve generally either been mild cruisers or completely over-the-top race cars such as Danny Makdessi’s insane ‘Devil’s Taxi’. The stunning example you see here, though, sits right in the middle.

First published in the April 2025 issue of Street Machine

Built by Victorian Andrew Katrakazas, this VC is equal parts concours-restored original and tough street machine. The striking colour combination of Spanish Red paint, black vinyl roof and Imperial Mauve interior is not only classy, it’s super-rare as well, as it’s how the car was optioned from new.

The VC came into Andrew’s life after he entrusted his VG Pacer to a dodgy panel shop and got burned. Having owned the Pacer since he was 17, he was understandably not in a hurry to go through that heartache again, so he went on the hunt for something he could get on the road pretty quickly. “I always wanted a VC, and I bought this one off the original owner in 2010,” he says. “The old guy who owned it had stopped driving it in 1983, so it hadn’t been on the road for over 25 years. When I got it home, I sprayed the bonnet, boot and one of the lower rear quarters, because it was damaged.”

After doing those repairs, it became obvious to Andrew that the colour wasn’t quite right, and he knew he’d never be happy with it if he left it like that: “You know what happens: ‘I’ll go a little bit more into the quarter, a little bit more into this back door; I’ll just go to the front door’ – all of a sudden, it’s a full strip-back, bare-metal, every-nut-and-bolt job!”

Before long, Andrew found himself undertaking a full concours restoration on the Val; after all, it was a rare car that came fully loaded with a 273ci V8, bucket seats and full-length console from the factory – all the stuff you’d normally add if you were modifying it – so it made sense to do the job properly.

Fortunately, the body was completely rust free apart from some dodgy old repairs on the right-hand-side rear quarter and front guard, so, despite not being a panel beater by trade, Andrew felt comfortable undertaking the bodywork himself, with some help from a few good mates. As that work was mostly done on the weekends, it took almost four years to get the VC ready for paint.

Once the body was finally shipshape, an original sample of the Spanish Red paint was supplied to the boffins at the DuPont Technical Centre, who mixed up a perfect match using the latest formulas. The paint was then applied by Andrew’s mate Bruno.

“The car returned home from the spray booth in 2015, and I then spent the next 3.5 years restoring all the components and reassembling it in my garage at home, including the driveline, electrical, trim and panels,” says Andrew. “That’s why it took so long to complete.”

Chris Dinos at Chris’ Porting Services in Keysborough was tasked with rebuilding the original V8 engine. “The only upgrade was some head work to the factory heads, camshaft and some Commando-style dome pistons to bump the compression,” Andrew says. ”The engine was a little screamer and kept me excited for a while.” Until it dropped a valve seat, that is – suddenly, that old 273 was no more, so Andrew decided to turn the beautifully restored Val into something a bit tougher.

A virgin-bore 318 was duly sourced and Chris Dinos once again worked his magic to turn it into a stout stroker. He added a Scat four-inch crank – up from 3.31 inches – and 30thou-over pistons to stretch the little 318 all the way out to 390 cubes. The top end features Steven Sun head castings, a custom-grind solid flat-tappet cam, Victor 340 intake and an APD billet 950cfm carb. For some extra bottom-end stability, the block was partially grout-filled.

All of that goodness is backed up by a Paul Rogers-built 904 Torqueflite that’s been fully manualised and features a custom valvebody from Rick Allison at A&A Transmission in the USA. A narrowed nine-inch with 4.11 gears and a Truetrac helps get the 500-plus horsepower from the motor to the ground, and so far, the car has run a best of 11.3@119mph.

“I have to give a massive thanks to Michael Ryder from MR Fabrication. Not only did he do all the fabrication, but he also gave me heaps of advice and technical guidance at the track, especially with the suspension set-up,” Andrew says.

Those three manualised gears are swapped through a Quicksilver shifter that’s been neatly integrated into the factory console, so it looks right at home in the beautifully restored interior. It took Andrew four years to find a roll of NOS material in the one-year-only Imperial Mauve colour, which was more than enough to re-cover the front seat and part of the rear, with a little left over for an emergency. The door cards were in perfect condition already, but Andrew did add some new grey carpet. The gauges and cluster were restored, as was the steering wheel, while some additional Auto Meter dials were installed to keep an eye on things.

After all the years of hard work, Andrew’s reward came when his beautiful home-restored VC scored a Top Five placing at Chryslers on the Murray in 2020 – and did so again in both 2023 and 2024! An 11-second streeter with all the class and style of a top-of-the-line Valiant – it’s a combination that’s tough to beat.

ANDREW KATRAKAZAS
1966 VC VALIANT V8

THANKS
Chris Dinos at Chris’ Porting Service; Michael Ryder at MR Fabrication; Paul Rogers at Paul Rogers Performance Transmission; Steve Issa at Regal Tek Services; Nick Papasergio at Pedders Moorabbin; Angelo Galluccio at Superbird Enhancements; Jim Leontaris at Terry’s Motor Trimming; my good friends Jim Lambas, George Bouzoukis, Tony Kamarinos and George Katrakazas; my wife Tina and daughter Penny for their support and understanding; anyone else I have forgotten for their help throughout the two builds.