By his own estimation, Stephen Micallef has taken on at least seven of our five-day Drag Challenge marathons. He initially competed in his 632ci fatty-powered HQ Tonner, which was a three-time winner in the Enthusiast Motor Insurance Outlaw Aspirated class. These days, though, he pilots a 1700hp, turbo LS-powered VZ Maloo, campaigning it at his last three stabs at the event.

First published in the February 2026 issue of Street Machine

“This was originally just put together as a fill-in car while I built my LJ Torana,” says Stephen. “I came to an agreement to buy it at the start of COVID with a customer – it was bog-stock. I had the KillaBoost single-turbo kit sitting there, so we did a 403-cube LS with a smaller turbo, and the car went 8.1.”

It might have started out as a substitute machine, but the Maloo is a bit more serious than that now. As the mastermind behind Shift Right Transmissions in Sydney, one of the banger gearbox builders in Australia, Stephen was able to undertake all of the work on the Maloo in-house. “We did the tubs, wiring, built the engine, obviously the gearbox, the diff – basically all of it,” he says.

The combo the Maloo currently rocks is a 427ci Dart LS with Boostline rods, JE pistons and a Crow Cams bumpstick. Air and fuel are pushed through a BTR intake manifold and CNC-machined Aeroflow heads, aided by a giant 106mm single Garrett turbo. Pair that with some ethanol and the Haltech Elite 2500 ECU, and she’s good for 1730hp to the hubs at 28psi, turning to 7800rpm.

Behind the LS is a Shift Right Turbo 400 with an SDE converter, and a nine-inch diff converting the rear end to live axle to suit the 28×10.5 racing meats. “We change over to airbags in the rear on the road for Drag Challenge, then Tetris all the stuff in the tub so we can run the week without a trailer,” says Stephen. “We also run straight E85, even on the road, so that cargo includes 200 litres of fuel. Amazingly, it still does around 20-25L/100km.”

Stephen’s previous two attempts at DC behind the wheel of the Maloo were cut short, so he was keen to make amends this year. “In 2023 I dropped a valve at Mildura, and sadly last year at Mildura I had to pack up early for my father’s passing,” he says. “So, Mildura was a bit of a bogey track for me!” And with a double-header at Mildura for the 2025 event, it was vital Stephen laid down some decent numbers on the Atlantic Oils Sunset Strip eighth-mile.

Stephen was running in the PowerPlus Racing Fuels Outlaw Blown class alongside his good mate Alon Vella, who finally made the switch to a blown class after nine class wins in Kemppi Radial Aspirated, throwing nitrous on his new grey Mk1 Capri. “For years, we’d been in different classes, and in the beginning it was him in Radial Aspirated and me in Outlaw Aspirated,” says Stephen. “But this year, being in the same class made it heaps of fun; we finally got to race each other!”

A friendly battle between the two was on from the very first day of racing at Dragway at The Bend, where Stephen posted an 8.12@181mph best, just trailing Alon’s 7.97@176mph. Three days of eighth-mile action followed at Portland’s South Coast Raceway and the Mildura double-header, with Stephen running 5.30, 5.43 and 5.23 respectively at those tracks to keep him within 0.237 seconds of Alon, who was in first place in Outlaw Blown heading into the final day back at Tailem Bend. “It was great fun; I was ribbing him all week about beating his lightweight race car in my full-weight street car,” Stephen laughs.

Unfortunately, the threat of rain reared its ugly head on the final day of racing at Dragway at The Bend, just as Stephen was at the front of the staging lanes, ready for a second run. His banker pass of 8.19@178mph was already quicker than Al’s first run of 8.31@172mph, but the rain came down hard shortly after, bringing a premature end to DC 2025 and leaving Stephen second in class. “We were fully prepared to turn it up; this thing has run a 7.85 at Sydney, and we know there’s more left in it,” he says. “It sucks, but that’s racing! We still had an awesome week.”

As well as his runner-up spot in PowerPlus Racing Fuels Outlaw Blown, Stephen came seventh overall from 200-odd finishers at DC 2025, and also took home the Quickest Without A Trailer award. He’ll be back for the 2026 event, but not in the Maloo.

“The aim for next year is to bring the Torana and run a seven-second average aspirated,” Stephen says. “Eventually, the Maloo will get handed down to my son to race when he’s of age.”

STEPHEN MICALLEF
2004 HSV MALOO R8 Z-SERIES

THANKS
Enemies Everywhere; SDE Converters; PSI Fab; DC Tuning; SM Parsons Fabrications; Shift Right Transmissions; the boys: Scott, Frank, Dan and Shaun.