As you can see here, Joel Sykes’s SINNER HG Kingswood cuts an imposing figure. Slammed on 14-inch-wide rear wheels, rocking gorgeous candy paint, and boasting over 2000hp of blown, injected big-block barely contained within its front chassis rails, it’s a mean-looking machine indeed.

First published in Street Machine’s Yearbook 2023

However, for all its brawn, SINNER actually has quite a humbling story behind it. Although Joel’s the current owner, it was the HG’s previous custodian, Colin Robbins, who got the build rolling and oversaw most of it. He was dealing with a terminal illness, and the HG build gave him solace and kept him going during a difficult time.

Brad Lowe and the boys from Warhorse Motorsports in Rutherford, NSW handled the build for Colin. “When the HG came to us, it was a roller with some fab work like the tubs and ’cage done,” says Brad. “We only had around 10 months to get it ready for Summernats, so we got stuck straight in.”

Brad worked with Colin on his vision for the car. “It was basically his last enjoyment thing he wanted, because he knew he was up against it,” Brad says. “He wanted a big motor for burnouts, and a car he could cut laps in at the ’Nats and have fun.”

Warhorse got in deep with the HG, taking it from a shell to a stunner. Underneath, a Rod Shop IFS kit got the front end mobile, and airbags in the rear allowed Colin to sack SINNER at will on the 20×14 Intro billets. Plenty of man-hours went into perfecting all the panel gaps, smoothing the body and laying down the custom-mixed Candy Apple Red paint. “People wouldn’t believe just how many hours went into painting that ’cage; it’s a big undertaking,” says Brad.

The interior was also a sizeable job, as Brad and Colin didn’t want another boring new-old-stock deal. With that in mind, Brad enlisted the help of CDY Motor Trimming, who deleted the rear seat, trimmed up the Commodore fronts and hand-crafted the beautiful centre console.

As for the big donk, that was sorted by Damian Baker at BG Engines. “Colin got in touch because he saw that we did Rod Waters’s KRANKY HQ (SM, Apr ’11), and he wanted something as bad-arse as that,” Damian explains.

Starting with a Dart Big M block, Damian set cubes at 565 with a Callies Magnum crank, Callies Ultra rods and custom Diamond forged pistons, with comp at 9.5:1. A BG Engines-specced solid-roller bumpstick operates the valves. Sucking air and methanol is a pair of Brodix Sweet 16 heads, force-fed by the TBS 14/71 blower. The mill is dry-sumped with a Peterson five-stage system, something Damian says is critical for burnout engines of this level. “You’ve gotta have a minimum of 16 litres when you’re this big; that and the valvetrain are key to making them take the abuse,” he says.

On the engine dyno at BG, the big-block Bowtie made a peak of 2033hp, spinning to 7200rpm and on 22psi. “It’s definitely one of the baddest engines we’ve ever built, which is exactly what Colin was after,” Damian enthuses.

Behind the monster mill is an Al’s Race Glides Powerglide with a 4500rpm SDE converter, which shoves power along to the nine-inch rear.

During the build, Colin was on hand at Warhorse to see his dream come alive. “He’d often come down to the workshop and hand me tools while I was working on it,” Brad says. “He was really invested in it.”

Unfortunately, Colin passed not long before the car was due for its final push to get to Summernats. “We were about to begin that mad 24/7 run to get it done, but he passed right before,” says Brad. “It was sad for all of us; I had become quite close with him during the build, and he just didn’t quite make it.”

The HG sat about 90 per cent finished in the Warhorse showroom for a while, before current owner Joel expressed interest in buying it. Joel already owned the blown small-block-powered LETSGO HK Belmont and a Corolla burnout machine called IMPACTN, so SINNER was a natural step up for him. Joel had his auto electrician complete the wiring and plumbing and got the big beast up and running.

Since then, the HG has made a tilt at Grand Champion at Red CentreNATS 8 in 2022, and was also crowned Tuff Street Champion at Street Machine Summernats 34. “That was a cool moment,” Joel recalls. “I’ve never had a car this nice, so to win an award like that was very cool.”

Joel plans to take the HG to other shows around the country to try for some more silverware, along with some runs down the drag strip and fun on the burnout pad. Although Colin never got the chance to enjoy the completed HG himself, we’re sure he’d be happy to know that SINNER lives on in his honour.

JOEL SYKES
1971 HG HOLDEN KINGSWOOD