After a well-earned Christmas break from the bastard that was 2021, Scotty is back in the Carnage workshop and ready to kick 2022’s butt.

To ease us into the new year, he decided to take us through all the current project cars and update us on where they currently stand and the goals for each one. He also introduces a brand new car!

But first up, he goes through the current stuff, starting with Supermang. Our L67-swapped VN Berlina was the last Carnage car you saw on your screens for 2021, down on the dyno at Maxx Performance testing intercooler systems.

The plan for Supermang this year is to properly fit a water-to-air intercooler, and then eventually throw in our stroker 4.2-litre L67 big bertha, ditching the blower in favour of a turbocharger set-up.

Next up is Turbo Taxi, the original Carnage car. The goal of running 10s on LPG is still there, but we’ve finally conceded defeat on doing it with a stock-bottom-end mill after hurting what feels like our 10th Barra. We’ll throw a set of upgraded rods and pistons into the engine the Taxi originally had when we bought it, and then hopefully nab that elusive 10-second timeslip. As soon as that happens, we’ll ditch the LPG and switch to god’s nectar: E85.

For all the hurt the Trolvo put as through in its early stages, it was the hero car of 2021. The SBE 1JZ has been flawless, and the car’s current PB of 10.95@124mph is set to fall thanks to some newfound power from the pair of recently fitted Kelford camshafts. The current turbo is at its limit, so we’ll race it as-is before fitting an upgraded unit and going on the hunt for nines.

Another Toyota in the fleet is our VR Lexcen wagon. Although it’s currently still very stock and Scotty’s daily, the 2022 plan is still to drop the 1UZ V8 from our donor Toyota Soarer into the nose of the thing, and then throw a turbo on it with the help of Goleby’s Parts and the full catalogue from Haltech.

Our Barra-swapped MX-5, now nicknamed Lightning McBarra, is in the final stages of the Pulsar turbo upgrade we started last year. Scotty wants to match or better the car’s 9.97 PB it ran with the old twin-turbo LS combo, and then there’s a good chance you’ll see it on Facebook Marketplace as a roller.

Mr Dodgey, our 1963 Dodge Phoenix, has been missing from your screens for quite some time, and with good reason. At MotorEx 2019, Scotty swapped a fresh set of Edelbrock heads and a hot cam into the crate-motor 440, but on the drive home it ate the new stick and sent metal all through the engine.

The plan is to rebuild that 440, then dunk it back into the car and enjoy it for a bit before it probably hits Facebook Marketplace as well. After all, with Scotty’s dad’s ute finished and the VE Valiant wagon still in the build, sometimes push comes to shove.

Speaking of Scotty’s dad’s VE Val ute, you probably won’t be seeing much of it this year. Scotty does plan to race it at Mopar Nationals at Heathcote in around a month’s time, but after that, it’ll take a back seat with so many other projects still unfinished.

Adding to that list is the latest addition to the fleet, our new two-door Torana! This one is a 1974 TA, meaning it’s the four-cylinder deal. That may sound unimpressive, but hey, it’s a two-door Torana shell that’s largely rust-free, and we got a pretty good deal on it too!

We’re not quite sure what the plan is for the Torry at this stage, but an engine swap is definitely on the cards. Let us know in the comments what you think we should do with it, and make sure you keep your eyes on the Street Machine socials and YouTube channel, because it’s going to be a massive year chock-full of Carnage!