First published in the February 2009 issue of Street Machine

Big-inch motors really seem to be the flavour of the month. Everywhere you look there seems to be a new street car with more than 600 cubes that makes in excess of 1000hp. You can even buy a 450ci small-block Chev for your streeter.

It’s hard to argue against the old adage that there’s no replacement for displacement, but there are a few six-cylinder combos getting about at the moment that are producing spectacular results.

The best horsepower-per-cube in a semi-streetable combination that I know of in Australia is Joe Gauci’s turbocharged 200ci TD Cortina. But please tell me if you know of anything better!

Built by Joe at his Wollongong-based business, ProFab, this little missile makes an astounding 4.5hp per cube to stand shoulder to shoulder at the race track with some much bigger combinations.

“I feel like I’m turning up with a water pistol to a gun fight,” the seasoned racer laughs.

Maybe, but Joe’s Cortina is tough. Not only is he taking on some big-cube opposition but also some seriously expensive race cars — on a far more conservative budget.

His car is currently sixth on the Modified Street Blown list, having run a personal best of [email protected].

After a valve let go and destroyed most of the engine a year ago, Joe has rebuilt the donk and is back on track, with the same tune-up. He’s run an 8.59 in early testing.

As you’d expect, the 200ci Ford six is highly stressed but it’s surprisingly simple. The block is a production XD item, modified to take roller lifters and grouted to stop bore-flex. A 3.3-litre XF crank has been nitrided and polished, and runs Crower rods and Ross pistons. The static compression is 8.2:1 with a lightly ported factory alloy head and sheet-metal intake manifold.

Why run the small-cube 200, when the 250 is available? “I tried the 250 initially,” Joe says. “They make lots of torque but they also like putting pistons through the block. The 200 has a much better rod ratio and ultimately makes more power.”

At full noise, the GT42 ball-bearing turbo pumps 40psi through the owner-made intake and exhaust systems. The sump is a fabbed alloy item and to protect everything at 7800rpm there’s a belt-driven oil pump.

The engine is run by an Autronic ECU, and a Pro Trans ‘glide backs up the combo. The car tips the scales at 2920lb ready to race; if you take that and the mph, the Moroso speed calculator gives you about 950hp!

While the maximum tyre size for the class is 29×12.5, Joe only runs on a 28×10.5 MT slick and has launched with a best of 1.30 in the 60-foot so far.

“I’m hoping that the car will run into the 8.40s with the current combination, though we’ve had some issues getting the car up on boost with this new cylinder head package. MSB is an exciting class, though I think some of the rules need to be tightened up, especially for cars with blowers and nitrous. There needs to be parity between the classes and I’m not sure recent rule changes will ensure that down the track.”

Despite his successes, after 20 years with the six-pot under the hood, Joe admits a new engine may be on the cards.

“I would really like to go to a twin-turbo Windsor but it all gets down to dollars and cents. If I can make 1000hp with a single small turbo, I’m excited about what I could do with two.”

2025 UPDATE:

After this article ran, Joe’s Cortina did indeed cop a twin-turbo Windsor swap and went on to dominate APSA Modified Street Blown competition. Joe then switched to radials, running as quick as 6.85-seconds.

Joe then moved onto an Outlaw Radial Mustang, but the twin-turbo V8 heart of the Cortina lives on! After a freshen up by Dandy Engines, it has now been transplanted into Dragos Bjelogrlic’s XE Fairmont Ghia ESP. Read the full story on that car here.