First published in the January 2004 issue of Street Machine

The mighty VUFORU ute has racked up more miles than the Leyland brothers, criss-crossing the country, appearing at a gaggle of shows and earning a bunch accolades along the way. And to show that we’re not immune to the trials that go along with getting to the church on time, the project caused no end of frustration and sleepless nights.

The finished product is actually not what we started out to achieve. Holden’s proposal, when handing over the ex-development mule, was to have bit of fun with it – nothing too extravagant – then give it away. K-Mac dumped it in the weeds, Meguiar’s made the paint look like glass and OzTint gave the windows the block-out treatment.

Then came the question, what car were we putting on our Summernats stand. As sexy as the black and slammed cruiser looked, we knew it wouldn’t yank eyes away from the other thousand or so over-the-top cars that converge on Canberra. So, like all good street machine projects, a more ambitious plan was hatched.

Holden’s designers did a great job on the VU, it left the factory gorgeous, so it was pointless trying to improve its looks. We figured what the ute needed was impact and a traditional in-your-face, pro street makeover with modern influences was the way to go.

The new project, needed a name and young work experience lad Robert Willox can claim responsibility. “Why not call it call it VU FOR U in honour of your other famous giveaway car, HQ FOR U?” he said and another legend was born.

With less than five months till the big event, it was all hands on deck to get VU FOR U ready on time. First up Ryan Carter (of Stylemaster Designworks) was commissioned to come up with a killer paint design and among several variations was the black over green with purple flames which we reckoned was a clear winner.

It doesn’t take much to bring the Gen III to life, so we didn’t go too crazy under the bonnet. A Crow cam and chip package gave the ute a rumpy-pumpy idle through the free-flowing and sweet-sounding Di Filippo exhaust system. To pep-up the off-the-line acceleration, Central Diffs slotted in a new set of 3.9:1 diff gears and LSD, while Direct Clutch slotted in an upgraded unit to handle the new-found grunt. While it’s no 10sec barnstormer, VU FOR U does go like a dog shot in the bum.

The most controversial aspect of VU FOR U is the gobsmacking 24in wheel and tyre combo. In keeping with the bigs’n’littlies pro street theme, our original intention was to run 20s on the rear, 18s up front. But after spying BF Goodrich’s outlandish, new 24in G-Force tyres (with their funky flame tread pattern) we just had to have them and Wheelboyz assured us Bon Speed could supply suitable rims.

Waddington Street Rods mini-tubbed the rear, lengthened the wheel arches 100mm, moved the IRS upwards 50mm, fabricated new arms and narrowed the whole shooting match so the new Bon Speed billets would have some dish. It was a much bigger job than anyone anticipated and consumed over 1000 man-hours which left us with less than four weeks till Summernats and we were way behind.

After an all-night Castlemaine to Adelaide drive and three consecutive 16-hour days, Special Vehicle Enhancements (SVE) had the custom rear bar all glassed up and bolted on the car. Then it was back behind the wheel to Extreme Designs in Melbourne for the House of Kolor (HoK) paint and graphics makeover.

A good custom paint job can take up to four weeks but to make Summernats, Mat Egan (Extreme Designs), Earl Webber (HoK) and I had less than eight days to turn Ryan’s renderings into reality. There was still a bunch of other things to do and that meant 14-hour days, but with the bulk of the work done, disaster struck! Something under the original paint was causing the front guard to fry up with the final coat of clear and we only had a night to fix it so we wouldn’t miss out on getting the exhaust and brakes done before the weekend.

By six o’clock the next morning we’d stripped the guard, undercoated it, applied the black top, green bottom plus the six layers of graphics before heading to the hotel for two hours sleep. Richard Dabbs even chipped in giving the Hi-Tech Hot Rods-fabricated billet grille a paint and polish. Back in the workshop by eight, we had to finish assembling the car ready for tilt-tray pick up at 11.

With Mat still working on the tonneau cover, I was off to Di Filippo to have the exhaust modified to suit the dual outlets of the new bar, before heading to Hopper Stoppers for a brake upgrade. I rolled into Hoppers workshop at four o’clock Friday afternoon. You’d expect a typical Friday afternoon job but the guys there were like a highly-choreographed V8 Supercar team. In 90 minutes the polished twin-piston calipers, braided brake lines, drilled and slotted 330x28mm DBA front rotors and 286x16mm rears were bolted up, the system was bled and we were out testing the new set-up – which, to my delight, worked decidedly better than the stockers.

After a good night’s sleep it was back to Mat’s shop early Saturday morning. The original plan was to use the Saturday to head back to Sydney but our careless tilt-tray driver put paid to those plans. It was off with the rear bar to repair what he referred to as “a little scrape”.

It was after five before I pointed VU FOR U’s nose north. Time had beaten us, there was no way we were going to get the whole project finished for Summernats. The bright-red Precise trim and JVC audio system would have to wait until later – although we did manage to bolt in the hip-hugging Sparco seats. However, VU FOR U still needed to be presentable enough to wow the crowds – it was three days before Christmas and we had to have the airbag system installed.

After driving all night – much of it through driving rain – it was off to Car Lovers for a quick clean before heading to Tubular Suspension Systems workshop first thing Sunday morning. James had everything ready to go, but it was still a big job and even though there were a few hiccups, VU FOR U left Tubular’s workshop at 11pm Christmas Eve!

Six days till Summernats and after an agonising 12-week wait, those custom, one-off 24in rims finally arrived. No one in Australia had ever fitted a tyre to such a large rim, but Leon from Eagle SMF was up to the challenge and even though they were closed for the Christmas break, opened up especially to help us out. Just four days before the big event those monster 24s were bolted on for the first time and much to everyone’s relief they fitted perfectly!

After Meguiar’s spent two days getting the paint looking its best, it was off to Canberra where it well and truly hit the spot. VU FOR U had tongues wagging all weekend and was a Supercruise standout – a trend that has continued at every show attended since.

Holden VU SS ute

MAJOR SPONSORS

• Holden Ltd Original Vehicle manufacturer
• Penrite Oils Lubricants and cash sponsorship

COULDN’nt HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT: