THERE have been rumblings of a new Carnage project for a couple of weeks now. In the previous two episodes of Carnage Plus, Scotty and Kian rescued, started and (partially) broke a donor-spec, L67-equipped VX Commodore. Obviously, this supercharged donk was destined for bigger and better things, and now it’s time to reveal its new home.

Scotty has snagged a clean, one-owner VN Berlina from a Melbourne car yard, with 117,000km on the clock. It’s a Series I car, decked out with power accessories and a classically rattly Buick 3800 V6. Considering that most Carnage projects enter the workshop as basket cases in need of serious attention, the boys are stoked to be working from a tidy base for a change.

After picking up the VN, Scotty headed straight for Maxx Performance to establish a power baseline. Back in 1988, the car offered up 125kW (168hp) at the flywheel, and on the Maxx dyno Zane managed to squeeze out 98.5kW (132hp) at the wheels in dead-stock form.

As it happens, the Maxx crew are putting together a budget Barra-powered EA Falcon of similar vintage, so there’s an 80s-style shootout brewing, with the L67 from the VX destined for our Berlina’s engine bay. Although even a naturally aspirated Barra makes more power than a stock L67, there are a few options available to wake the V6 up.

There’s still plenty to be decided on when it comes to the direction of this build: extra boost, a turbo, twin turbos, or all of the above? Stay tuned for all the thrills and spills as the team get to work in a future episode of Carnage.

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