Reader's Rocket: Chantelle Loveday-Lamont's VY ClubSport

With a keen interest in high-end, mid-2000s Commodores and a love of smoking rubber, Chantelle Loveday-Lamont used track time at big events to teach herself how to do burnouts in her beloved VY ClubSport, KAOSGM. But as the events evolved, so did Chantelle’s car. Now her cherished skid-pig has been refreshed into a staunch cruiser.

First published in the January 2024 issue of Street Machine

Sounds like you’ve been a Commodore devotee for a while.

Yeah, Mum always had Commodores, and we grew up around her ’57 Chevy. My sisters and I really loved Commodores. I had wanted a VY or VZ Clubby or Senator since I was 16 years old. And I’ve previously owned a VT Calais, VZ Calais and a VE Senator.

Tell us about your ClubSport.

I’ve had the Clubby for around 10 years. I found it cheap – only $10,000 – as it was pretty rough, with faded black paint and dented guards.

What did you get up to in it back then?

I was about 19 years old and on my Ps, so I couldn’t drive it on the street at that point. I wanted a car to do Powercruise and Winton’s Easter Car Mania and Performance Car Mania, so Dad encouraged me and came along, but I’d never done a burnout before! So, I headed out on track with my twin sister and best mate and taught myself how to do one. Eventually I wouldn’t leave the course until my tyres were popped!

When did the mods start?

Around 2018, I decided on a make-over, as I hadn’t been looking after the Clubby. Also, as the events became stricter, it started getting boring, as I had no interest in two-minute burnouts on the pad – I preferred playing on track. So, thanks to my mates Ozzy and Dan, we tubbed the car, added a sunroof, fixed all the panels up and painted the car VW Golf grey with a custom touch. I might eventually do a show engine bay, because it’s currently black. Now the Clubby has real head-turning street appeal, and you can hear it coming!

What else has been done?

Thanks to Jake from APS, the 5.7-litre LS has head work, a lumpy cam and other mods, making 325kW [436hp] at the tyres. Behind is a built 4L60E auto and shortened diff running 3.7s and a Truetrac. It’s also ’bagged, with a custom three-inch stainless exhaust tucked up so that if I air it out, nothing will scrape on the ground.

The wheels are Simmons Flow Form FR-1s; the rears are 20x10s. I also swapped out the Series I seats for Coulson items, and had the trim done in Butterscotch Nappa leather, finished in twin-stitched diamond pattern.

What’s next for KAOSGM?

I haven’t done burnouts in it since the make-over, but eventually I’ll get it back on the track, though maybe with more power. Right now, the VY is a cruiser and a reliable family car. My three-year-old son is obsessed with the Clubby; he’s always asking me to do burnouts.