If you grew up around Sydney’s underground car culture, you’ll know the name Ned Sassine. A true legend of the city’s street and strip scene, Ned’s shop, Hercules Competition Engines in Campsie, has been a powerhouse for decades.

First published in the December 2025 issue of Street Machine

“Back when we started, we leased an old Ampol servo in Marrickville,” Ned explains. “There were three Ampols around then, each with its own name. We ran ours for 16 years until the lease ended, and we were out of work for a year before opening the new shop in 2000. There are four of us – Tony, George, Norm, and me. Hercules isn’t just a name; it’s family.”

For Sydney racers, Hercules Competition Engines epitomises a golden age of Aussie performance – Monaros, Toranas, V8 Cortinas and Capris roaring through the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. But despite Ned’s stellar pedigree building hot engines for these cars, his own model of choice is a humble EH Holden. “Even though I was always surrounded by Falcons, Monaros, and Camaros, my heart’s always been in an EH,” he says.

The Sassine family have a long history with the model. In 1970, Ned’s dad and older brother Tony bought an EH from a local bank manager. “It was grey with a white roof – just like they all were back then,” Ned laughs. “That car became a family symbol. I fell in love with EH Holdens right then.” Since then, the Sassines have owned between 20 and 30 EHs. Ned’s had four himself – three V8s and one hot XU-1-spec six.

Around 2010, Ned tracked down the EH that has since become his signature street brawler. “It was a big decision back then,” he says. “You couldn’t just scroll through 100 listings like you can today. My plan was to fit a Chev V8 and work on it at least half an hour every day – before work, after work, whatever it took. I had an engineer document the build, and it passed with the small-block.”

Initially, the EH wasn’t meant to be a race car; Ned just wanted a tough street machine with a Muncie Rock Crusher four-speed. “I took it roll racing and probably made 250 passes,” he says. “Every month I’d go out and make 10 hits a night throwing gears. I can count on one hand how many times I got beaten. This thing’s a rocket ship!”

Three years ago, Ned decided to see how the EH fared at the drags. Despite having the wrong gearing – a 3.08:1 final drive and a 2.2 first gear on a 26-inch tyre – the car ran 10.9@130mph, with Ned crossing the line in third.

The next stop was the Coota 400 drags at Cootamundra Airport. Barely getting into top gear, the EH clocked 139mph to win Fastest Naturally Aspirated Car.

The racing bug had now well and truly bitten Ned. “I decided to pull the Powerglide out of my brother Norm’s eight-second Torana,” he says, grinning. “I was chasing nines, but I was mindful of the 10-second rule for non-teched cars.”

On the EH’s first outing with the ’Glide, Ned pedalled it to a 10.1, before running 9.8 on the next run, which saw him booted from the track.

Clearly, it was time to step things up. A year later, the EH returned with a rollcage and slicks. “I crawled off the line – walked it out – and then got on the noise,” Ned says. “It belted out a 9.34@145mph, even with a backfire. Local racer Mark Hayes helped sort the limp-mode issue in the MSD Grid, and I went back out. I smacked the pedal and it pointed at the sky – it was wild – but I still couldn’t get a clean run.”

At the Bangers & Mash meet at Sydney Dragway in September (SM, Nov ’25), ignition gremlins bit again and the car torched a head gasket, but Ned was unfazed. “I reckon it’s got a high eight in it at 150mph,” he says. “But remember, this car’s primitive – it has no aero; it’s dangerous as hell. It still has the kingpin front end, stock leaf springs, homemade traction bars; there’s nothing fancy under there except HQ brakes – if you can call them fancy!”

The EH’s heart is now a 400ci Chev based on a Bowtie race block. Heads are Brodix 23-degree items, while the full rotating assembly is from Fabre Competition Parts, comprising RaceTec pistons and Manley crank and rods. Compression is a stout 13.1, and it’ll sip 98 pump fuel on the street but prefers MS109 at the track.

“The intake’s sentimental – it was a gift from Jimmy Broadley from Diablo Motors before he passed away,” Ned says. “It’s stamped ‘Smokey Yunick – 197’, after the legendary engine builder, and topped with either a 1000cfm Pro Systems 4150 or a 1050 Quick Fuel carb.”

Baker Precision Engines in Orange takes care of the machine work. “They’ve been doing my stuff for years,” Ned says. “I still load up my motors, drive up the Blue Mountains, and swap over.”

And power figures? Ned just laughs. “Mid-700s; maybe 600lb-ft,” he says. “But people’s dyno figures don’t always add up. I don’t worry about numbers anymore. The car’s still proving itself – just an untamed old shitter with wrecking-yard suspension, and that’s exactly how I like it.”

Ned’s EH is the definition of old-school cool – raw, loud, and unapologetically dangerous, built with passion, not polish, and backed by decades of engine-building know-how. It’s a proper OG street brawler – the kind you just don’t see anymore.