First published in Street Machine’s Ford Legends Volume 2, 2009

How many bods do you reckon can pack into a mid-70s Fairlane? If you chop off the top and add extra seats, it’s possible to cram in about 16 Aussie street machine freaks. God knows why you’d want to, but the theory runs along the lines of “because it was there”. And that’s precisely why Paul Cundy built this version of the stretched chop-top. Cundy’s no stranger to outlandish rides. His HJ ute, Low Life, set new standards for going ultra-low, while his blown totally wild small-block Corolla really impressed us and came real close to taking out the 1995 Street Machine of the Year award.

This time the Cundy clan yanked out the gas axe and in just five weeks turned an ordinary Fairlane into an eye-popper named Demon.

But hang on a minute. There are two of the buggers. Is some Ford deviant out there chopping Henrys and flogging ’em around the place? Not exactly. Truth be known, young Dale Ostrofski from Queensland had the same idea the Cundy clan had – build a Summernats special to knock everyone’s socks off.

For Dale and 12 of his mates, the inspiration was a little different. They’re all Summernats goers who like lots of beer. Now, a dozen or so blokes carrying loaded eskies is not a pretty sight. So Dale came up with the idea of a cruiser that would seat the whole tribe, along with plenty of refreshments. Best of all, they could damned near cruise non-stop. Their first day’s cruising lasted 18 hours without a stop. Top-ups with a jerrycan kept them rolling, and the security guards and crowds wondered if the thing was ever gonna stop. Not even doing a lap with 32 heads on board could make it call a halt, though.

Dale’s ‘Esky’ started out as an XA wagon. After 59 days of toil he drove it onto a covered trailer and headed south to Canberra. He hadn’t even got it off the trailer before some dude offered to buy it for $11,000 cash on the spot. A tough offer to refuse. However, the idea of selling before the boys completed some serious partying didn’t sit well – offer declined.

With the number-one aiming being effortless cruising, standard running gear was fine. Dale entertained the idea of throwing in the 460 from his XD (Street Machine, March 1996), but didn’t fancy having to put up with boiling radiators, cooked clutches and a bunny-hop cam when it could all be soooo much easier. Therefore, like Cundy’s Demon, Esky runs a stock 302 Windsor hooked up to an auto.

Paul whacked mini tubs under Demon’s bum to make way for the 15×12 Draglites and 305/50 T/As, while Esky got a set of more modest 15×10 Weld wheels wrapped with 275/60s from BF Goodrich.

Topside, Paul outfitted the Demon with some sophisticated trim (a factory Ford cloth) to match the monster Alpine audio system. Armidale’s Westend Sound supplied and installed the killer system, which fills the slipstream with 800 watts of pounding tunes. It’s important that everyone can hear the music loud and clear, isn’t it?

Demon’s split-bench rear seat was pulled from an ED wagon, while those bars behind the front and second benches are there to hold umbrellas to keep the hot-as-hell Canberra sun at bay. As for Dale’s wagon, the rear bench was custom made. With chopped windscreens, ditched wipers and absolutely no place to stash a ragtop, both these cruisers head straight for cover when Huey turns on the overhead taps.

Now you’d reckon that would be enough to put smiles on people’s faces, but just in case anyone missed anything, the boys made sure their paint was capable of straining the optic nerve. The skull design on Paul’s bonnet was the brainchild of Steve Shing from Demon Helmet Designs in Armidale. Steve got the inspiration from a custom motocross helmet a customer had requested.

While Paul kept Demon’s engine bay basically stock (albeit pink with multicoloured splashes), Dale prides himself on the extra-smooth look of Esky’s bay. And what better way of showing off the donk than by chucking the bonnet and giving the bay a major smoothing. He even moved the firewall back two inches to give a better view. It became tricky hooking up the hidden brake booster, but a couple of pivots later and with a little ingenuity the reversed booster was operating superbly – although checking the fluid level means popping out the speedo.

Esky’s spartan dash was influenced by the trend in new cars for the curved look. Those sculpted shock towers hide the fact that the thing sits completely bottomed out – there ain’t no springs nor bump stops. Both cars were definitely built for slooooow, sunny, laidback cruising on smooth private roads.

Dale was impressed with the graphics on Paul’s car and Paul thought Dale’s engine bay was fantastic. Both were amazed at how similar the cars turned out, considering neither of them really knew what the other was up to.

If crowd reaction is any indication, both cruisers were instant hits with the fickle Summernats crowd. Each received rousing applause from the massive crowds whenever they ambled on by – and over the course of the weekend that was a heck of a lot of times.

Long live the Summernats cruiser!

Paul Cundy
Demon – ZG Fairlane

Dale Ostrofski
Esky – XA wagon