It always warms the cockles of our hearts to see classic Aussie muscle cars competing on the world stage. In the case of Andrew and Mandy Sinclair’s stunning Valiant Charger, it is technically a Kiwi muscle car, since it was originally assembled by Todd Motors in its Wellington factory. Nevertheless, we were filled with ANZAC pride to witness the achievements of Team GSD (Get Shit Done) at this year’s Speed Week on Lake Bonneville in Utah, USA.

After doing his four licensing runs, Andrew qualified for the event on the Thursday with a 251.1mph run, only to have the time pulled due to a technical difference of opinion over the rear spill plates. With that fixed, he came out again and qualified successfully with a 251.6mph pass.

The race was then on to claim a coveted red hat and gain life membership to the Southern California Timing Association 200mph Club. To do so, entrants must set a new record above 200mph.

In Andrew’s case, that was the decade-old, 249mph A/CBFALT record (A for up to 500ci, C for classic, B for blown, F for fuel and ALT for altered).

And you can’t do it just once; you have to ‘back up’ your first record-breaking pass with a second pass, with the average of the two runs exceeding the record in order to claim it. Not easy, but not many things worth doing are!

Having already made 251mph on his qualifying runs, things were looking good on the Friday for Andrew to run more than the 249mph required to break the record. Alas, 228mph was the best the car would do, but even so, the team achieved a massive amount on their first time out.

The road to the sacred salt has been a long one for Andrew and Mandy. The couple come from a circuit racing background, with both having done stints in the Central and Northern Muscle Cars series in a 401ci Little Paw-powered Chickadee VK replica, and Andrew currently campaigns a TA2 Dodge Challenger.

Andrew got his first taste of land speed racing on a visit to Bonneville in 2008. Hearing big-cube, nitro-fuelled vehicles rocketing down the salt made a big impression on him, and the die was cast.

The Charger is powered by a 495ci Keith Black Hemi, kept under 500ci due to class regs. The build was handled in NZ by Landon Motorsport and features CP pistons, Crower rods and a Winberg crank.

Swinging off the front of the engine is a huge F-1X-12 ProCharger, using an F3 gearbox and a Supercharger Store drive system directly off the crank.

“The car runs a water/air intercooler with two ice tanks and push/pull pumps,” says Andrew. “It is overkill for methanol, but it will be needed if we change to a gas class.”

Kinsler mechanical injection provides three nozzles per cylinder to keep methanol up to the mighty Hemi, while an MSD Pro Mag 44 ignition lights the fire. Despite the lack of EFI, there are MoTeC sensors throughout the car, as datalogging is vital for land-speed racers.

The build of the car itself began in 2015, handled by Mike ‘Bic’ Anderson at Sonic Race & Machine in Tauranga. The floorpan and firewall were extensively modified, but the body is essentially stock aside from the front air dam, rear spoiler and roof rails. The end result is nothing short of a work of art, matching form with function in a way rarely seen in race cars.

COVID put paid to Andrew and Mandy’s first attempt to hit the salt, and while they got the car all the way to Bonneville last year, the event was cancelled due to rain at the last minute. Now that they’ve broken the hoodoo, we’ll keep you updated on how the team go at the World of Speed event at Bonneville, 6-9 September.

Photos by Bob Ellis, Mandy Sinclair and Marc Gerwertz.