First published in the January 2003 issue of Street Machine

Do you reckon your Commodore is tough? Be prepared to cower in your boots when Chris Hollingworth’s blue VR ute rolls into the staging lanes. The ute’s massive Chev big-block, measuring up at 582 cubic inches – that’s 9.5-litres kids! – is force fed by huge 8/71Hampton supercharger, producing some 1500hp.

The car’s playground is Queensland’s Supercharged Outlaws class, a crowd-pleasing dial-your-own category that pitches blown V8s of any type – sedans, funny cars and dragsters – against each other. But while the ute has undeniable race track credibility, it retains some substantial links to the street. Unlike most, it runs both an alternator and a radiator, meaning it’s quite happy to tootle around the pits under its own steam – handy for out-pysching opponents.

Chris, who is boss man of Brisbane’s Holley Performance, knows plenty about going fast in Holden utes. Back in the late 90s, he transformed his HJ one-tonner into the fastest streetcar in Queensland. With 12-inch rear tyres and a nitrous-injected small-block Chev, the amazingly-streetable HJ ran as quick as 9.00-secs down the quarter. Chris then tubbed the car and fitted a 582-cube big-block, resulting in a PB of 8.32@168mph.

By 2000, he was keen for a change, to build something with fresh looks, less weight and a well-sorted chassis. Enter the Commodore, originally built and raced in the mid-90s by legendary Sydney-based street machiner Chris Hillman. As the NSW drag scene began to bleed to death from the lack of championship racing at Eastern Creek, the car passed through a number of hands, until it found a happy home with its present owner.

“A lot had been done to the car but there was still a lot to do to set up the car to how I wanted it,” Chris says. “I raised the floor to give it some extra ground clearance, fitted a flat firewall, tied the roll cage up a bit better and joined the front chassis rails to the rear rails.”

Chris raced the car for six months on nitro before the hand of fate intervened. The ute hit a wall at Willowbank doing 120mph. “I was bruised, but the car was stuffed.”

There was nothing for it but to commence a full rebuild, during which Chris took the opportunity to review exactly what he wanted from the project. “With the rising cost of C16 fuel and nitrous, I decided to go supercharged and switch to alcohol to bring the running costs down,” he says.

What’s more, he decided to retain the 582-cube motor with its nitrous build specs. “I didn’t even pull the tappet covers off. I basically ripped the intake manifold off and fitted the blower manifold and even keyed the crank in the car – I drilled it with the engine together,” he chuckles.

Our man was well aware that running any sort of forced induction on a high-compression motor would be tricky. When using methanol you can’t go any higher than 24:1, so with a huge static compression of 13.5:1, boost had to be limited to just 10psi.

“Tuning was my biggest headache, but with the help of Dave Rioli from the States, we got a handle on it,” he says.

Blown or not, this motor is a beast. The Bowtie block is fitted with a Lunati crankshaft with a 3.75-inch stroke and 4.60 bore. Rods are alloy, Manley nitrous specials, swinging Venolia pistons. Like any big engine the oiling system was overhauled, with a Miloden system and Clevite 77 micro-babbit bearings, and at the heart of the combo is a Competition Cams roller with Crower roller lifters and Crower pushrods. Up top are a pair of Dart 360 heads with 2.3-inch Manley valves while the air/fuel mix is fired by a MSD Digital programmable computer.

Take a look in the engine bay and it’s a mass of plumbing, alloy bits, tanks and racing hardware. The front chassis rails have been replaced with the cagework running through the firewall and down to the front rails, tying in the front coil-over struts.

The radiator area had been filled with a large-alloy fuel tank and the radiator reduced to a 40cm by 40cm version mounted behind the front driver’s headlight with a thermo attached. An engine plate replaces the factory mounts and the Commodore steering rack has been lowered to clear the front blower hub assembly.

Local race-box guru Bob Grant screwed the Powerglide transmission combo together with all the toughest gear. Internals include a Vasco input shaft, Vasco planetary set, billet twin piston servo, extra clutches in the top gear pack and all the other refinements required to handle the 1500hp produced by the big Chevy.

The Converter Shop in Brisbane built the 5000rpm stall 11-inch converter four years ago and while Chris admits it’s probably a bit on the big side, it’s still going strong.

A three-and-a-half inch shaft runs back the nodular Moser case fitted with 35-spline Moser axles, full spool, 4.11:1 Mark Williams gears and Commodore disc brakes. The diff is suspended in a chrome moly half-chassis with four-link, coil-over shocks and massive 33×18.5 ET Streets swinging on 15×14 Gliden Stars under the rear.

Apart from the Commodore dash there’s not much left of the original car. A set of Autotechnica seats address the controls and the alloy floor and firewall provides a real Pro Street feel. Take a look around the interior, past the extensive bar work, Auto Meter instruments, RCI harnesses and Bandit shifter and at the back of the blower and injector hat and you’re in for the view of the century and the ride of your life.

Does it go? Shit yeah! How about 8.1@172mph on nitrous? And Chris is confident he will get the ute into the 7.60-7.70s over the quarter mile and with his top team of supporters he is sure to get there. Chris thanks Holley Performance, Noyzworx, Petrie Automatics, DuPont paints, Monty’s Competition Engineering, mates Chris and Matt for repairing the car, HPC at Brendale, PLR Engineering, brother Pete, wife Linda, his two kids Tenelle and Danialle for their patience and Village Holden for supplying the new panels at cost price after the crash.

THE BODY BEAUTIFUL

Just in case a blown 582-cubic inch big block Commodore isn’t enough to grab your attention, Chris’s ute has enough body mods to confuse the casual passer-by. The bonnet, front guards, grill and bumpers had to be re-done in carbon fibre to reduce weight, so Chris decided to go for a VU SS nose to update its look. VU doorhandles, tailgate and rear bumper ensures that everything matches, while a Maloo ‘sailplane’ and filled in sides keep the whole shebang smooth. The tonneau cover is in lexan, with some subtle flames for good measure.

CHRIS HOLLINGWORTH
HOLDEN COMMODORE UTE