I was photographing Powercruise 97 at Queensland Raceway when I was approached by a young lad named Koby Waddington, who took me straight over to see his dad’s Barra-powered XE Falcon ESP. There, I met Koby’s father, David, who had a timeslip in his hand and a huge grin on his face. Clearly, this pair had a cool story they were keen to share.

First published in the April 2025 issue of Street Machine

It looks like you guys have been busy.

We just ran an eight over at the drag strip!

Hold on, you’ve been racing over at Willowbank as well as here at Powercruise?

Well, we actually drove the car from Redcliffe for the Monster Street Cars Club track day we had booked [at Willowbank] and weren’t planning on coming to Powercruise. But my mate tagged me in a competition and I won a free entry. So, we’ve gone back and forth, baked a couple of tyres here, and we’ve just run an eight at the drags – a PB for the car and me!

Tell us about the car.

It’s a 1983 Ford Falcon XE ESP, which I built about 18 months ago with the intention of making a fast street car but keeping it looking stock. We went down the rabbit hole, and now it has 1247hp and is great to drive. I already have a couple of ESPs – a blown XE and a naturally aspirated XE – and I’d always wanted a turbo one.

What’s the powerplant?

It’s a built Barra by All Street Performance & Fabrication. It has headwork, cams, rods and pistons. It runs a Garrett G45-1650 turbo on a 6boost turbo manifold, Plazmaman intercooler and inlet manifold, PWR radiator, and a Haltech Nexus R5 ECU. The transmission is a Powerglide.

Was the plan always to race it?

Not really. You always want to see how fast your car goes, but I like the no-prep stuff, so I wanted a quick street car without the rollcage. I have other cars purpose-built for racing.

Tell us more about those.

I’ve had the blown ESP for 25 years. I’ve also got a silver ESP with a 427ci Dart in it, and it’s gone 10.0 at the drags. I’ve got a Mk1 Cortina with an SR20 that runs in the nines, and I also have a 1970 XW GS to cruise in with the family. There’s a ’65 Ford F-truck that my wife drives, an XY GTHO replica circuit car that I race, and a Mk1 Cortina GT that’s a historic touring car. I’m also doing up a stock Mk1 Cortina GT for my daughter for when she gets her licence, and I’ve jumped ship and just bought an R33 Nissan GT-R to mix it up a bit.

That’s a decent fleet! Have you spent much time racing?

I was into circuit racing for about 15 years, and a little bit of street stuff. My kids are older now, and they like to come cruising with me. Summernats is our annual car holiday event, which the whole family enjoys.

Cars are a family affair, then?

Absolutely. My wife and daughter are into their old-school V8s; Koby and I are into the turbo cars. Koby’s right into it and plays a huge part in getting cars ready for events.

It sounds like you’ve had a successful weekend.

Our goal was to drive here, run an eight and drive home. We’ve accomplished that, and now we’re going to go to tonight’s Redcliffe cruise as well!