WHEN Dave Hancock first got himself a licence, he had himself a big-block HQ to have a hell of a time in. Fast-forward many years, and the old nostalgia nerve kicked in for Dave, so he kept an eye out for another Quey. As luck would have it, Dave’s mother-in-law just so happened to have a pristine one-owner spare!

“Nobody else wanted it,” Dave says. “She asked me if she should sell it, and I said definitely not – I’ll have it!

“I’ve had ownership for probably about the past 10 years. It was our wedding car; my kids have ridden around in the back. It was just your average, everyday grocery car. It hasn’t always been like [it is now]!”

Quicker than an unsolicited tip from a Bitcoin investor, Dave had the sedan in his shed, and with his two sons Calvin and Steve had the straight-six and three-speed manual removed for something a little more impressive. “I put a 496 with a tunnel-ram in it,” Dave says. “I really like N/A motors, but it suffered a bit of a tragedy at Powercruise, and left the rods on the main straight.”

Wanting to get back out on the road sooner rather than later, Dave scoured the internet, and while on the US-based Racing Junk website managed to find a complete, methanol-slurping drag racing mill, built as a back-up engine but never used. “I’m always one for a bargain, and just couldn’t pass it up!” he says. “Blown motors make power easy, but I just didn’t realise how easy.”

Dave gets the HQ out most weekends, as long as it’s dry outside. “I only take it out in summer, not in winter. I don’t want to get it wet, but it’s no fun either! I’ve got it on half-throttle; I drive it on the primaries. It makes just under 1000hp, and it just feels right for the car.”

With an average fuel economy of a litre per kay, the fun only lasts as long as the car’s twin 50-litre tanks or rear tyres hold out. Whichever comes first, neither Dave nor his passengers are complaining!