The December mag is on sale now, with Ray Caruana’s bad-arse HK Monaro on the cover! 

Ray has been building storming street machines since the 1980s, but his latest creation is his toughest yet. We’re talking about an HK Monaro GTS, packing 532 cubes of FuelTech-controlled big-block, matched to a perfect stance and that killer blacker-than-black paint. 

And for something completely different, we have Kirk Schmidt’s S13 Nissan Silvia. One of our favourite cars at MotorEx earlier this year, Kirk’s Silvia features an-all-steel, Porsche-inspired custom widebody conversion, super-tasteful details everywhere, and a rowdy SR20DET powerplant. 

We also check out Craig Smith’s stunning XP hardtop – first featured in the August-September 1984 issue of SM and now looking brawnier than ever.

For the Mopar fans, we have Jonathan Moore’s turbo 318-powered VF Valiant VIP. Don’t let its sedate exterior fool you – this thing packs a 570hp punch at the rear wheels. 

We seem to be seeing a resurgence in angry stick-shift muscle cars, and Freddie Aguis’s staunch Silver Fox XW Falcon is a prime example. The XW took out Top Street Machine at this year’s Showcars Melbourne event, and it isn’t hard to see why! 

From New Zealand this issue, we have Trevor Tolhopf’s super-tough HQ Monaro. Powered by a 6/71-blown, 383ci small-block, the HQ sits fat over 295-wide rear rubber – a classic example of a true Kiwi street car.

For us, Gary Reid’s insane, twin-turbo V8 Porsche 996 was the real star of this year’s Bathurst 1000. Built largely by 2020 SMOTY winner Aaron Gregory, the Porsche has been designed to be spanked mercilessly on the track but is bristling with engineering smarts and show-car class. 

Event coverage includes NPRA No-Prep racing from Bodangora Airport outside of Dubbo – always a good time!

Plus, we’ll bring you the insane, week-long celebration of horsepower that was Powercruise 100 at Queensland Raceway. 

And for tech, Troy Worsley from Warspeed Industries shows us how to build a screaming, 5.3-litre LS capable of almost 9000rpm using off-the-shelf parts.

You’ll find all this and heaps more in the December issue of Street Machine. Grab your copy at your local Coles, Woolworths or newsagent.