WE spied Jay Gartside’s bulky ’65 Ford Galaxie tucked into the corner of the show arena at Chopped 2019. Its demure matte-black duco certainly didn’t hint at what was lurking beneath the slightly popped bonnet. When we crouched down to sneak a peek, a turbo and its accompanying pipework popped into view, and we just had to find out more.

“I’ve had the Galaxie about a year,” Jay said. “I bought it as an unfinished project from my mate – I hadn’t even heard of the model before he bought it. It was almost ready for rego and then he lost interest.”

Jay snaffled up the project to finish it and follow through for rego. “Once it was on the road I lasted about two weeks before I wanted to turbo it – I had a race with a V6 Commodore and lost!”

Jay has added a BorgWarner S475 turbo to the 351ci Clevo that’s been warmed up with a cam, roller rockers, ARP kit and Hypatec pistons. Behind is a C10 trans with 3000rpm stall and a nine-inch packed with Detroit Locker, 3.25s and 31-spline Strange axles.

So why a turbo? “I always have the urge to turbo everything,” Jay admitted. “My first car was a ’72 Corolla and I even turboed that. You can’t beat the sound of a turbo. Plus, it seems like more of a challenge than a supercharger. And as I’m a boilermaker by trade, I’ve created all of the alloy intake and intercooler pipes; the rest I made from mild steel.

“I have a small workshop in my nan’s garden shed,” he continued. “She loves me being there, and comes out with food and everything. My cousin and I have joked about opening a speed shop called Nan’s Speed Shop.”

While Jay’s interested to see what the big barge will run on the quarter, he comes at it with a casual approach. “I’ll race it at Heathcote once the weather warms up. While I don’t have big expectations, it’d be good to run an 11-second pass,” he said. “But it’s great to drive, so I just want to cruise it.”