THE Carnage workshop is a flurry of activity right now, with Scotty busting his balls to get his dad’s ute running with a hottie 318 for Mopar Sunday. In the background, he and Kian are screwing together new motors for both the Trolvo and the Supermang VN, while Turbo Taxi has also scored some new mods before it returns to the drag strip soon! Of course, we couldn’t do it without our mates at Hare & Forbes, Valvoline and Ryobi.
To help you keep track of everything going on, here’s a list of all our current Carnage projects, and where they’re at.
Turbo Taxi – 2010 FG Falcon sedan
THE original Carnage project car, Turbo Taxi is a genuine ex-Melbourne taxi FG Falcon, now powered by a turbo-converted version of an LPG Barra engine, but still running solely on LPG. It’s a genuine street car that has travelled all over the country to race and burn rubber, and to date it has made 560rwhp and run a PB of 11.00@127mph. The goal of the car is to run a 10-second pass in a genuine taxi while still using LPG.
OUR second-gen Mazda MX-5 build was the first major engine swap project featured on Carnage. Scotty and the crew dumped a twin-turbo LS1 into the car, along with a Powerglide, custom-fabbed nine-inch solid rear axle and floor, and massive 275 drag radials. The car ran a best of 9.99 with the LS1 on low boost, before Scotty ripped the V8 out and just managed to make a turbo Barra engine fit in its place. The stock-bottom-end Barra has made 520rwhp, and the plan is to run it at the track once it passes tech inspection and see how much deeper it can go into the nines.
THE Trolvo was an unfinished project car we picked up with a twin-turbo 1JZ engine from a Toyota Soarer. It now runs a single-turbo set-up and E85, singing at 465rwhp, and recently set a PB of 10.95@125mph to make it the second-quickest car in the Carnage workshop. The eventual goal is to run nines using the 1JZ engine.
SUPERMANG is a very clean, two-owner VN Berlina with just over 120,000km on it that we picked up in completely standard condition. It now has a supercharged L67 in place of the old Buick V6. Our plan is to run it down the strip with the warmed-up 3.8-litre L67 on more boost, before eventually dropping in a 4.2-litre stroker L67 with a bigger blower. Much like Turbo Taxi, it’s also a fully registered street car.
The Lexcen is the newest addition to the Carnage fleet, and while the car is completely standard right now the plan is to drop in a 1UZ V8 from a Toyota Soarer donor car to create a V8 Holden that isn’t a Holden and doesn’t use a GM V8. It will also be street registered, with plans to run it at Street Machine Drag Challenge once it’s complete.
THE big-block Barina is a hairdresser’s car turned feral. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre DOHC four-banger from a Holden Calibra with 90fwkW, capable of smoking third gear even with sticky tyres. The rest of the car is stripped to the bare bones, with only a half-cage and driver’s seat inside. It’s one of our best bang-for-buck projects, and recently went head-to-head with a brand-new GR Yaris on track (video coming soon).
Mr Dodgey – 1963 Dodge Phoenix
THIS was our first chrome-bumper build, where Scotty and the crew purchased a 1963 Dodge Phoenix rolling shell from auction, swapped in a 440ci Chrysler crate engine and built the car in just a few weeks to take on a road trip from Melbourne to Cobar for the Running On Empty festival in 2018. Future plans are to revamp the 440 V8 and turn this thing into a seriously cool cruiser.
Lockdown wagon restoration project – VE Valiant wagon
WE TOOK it upon ourselves to bring one of Scotty’s parts cars back to life, dragging a very sorry VE Valiant Safari wagon out of his in-laws’ backyard and into the workshop for extensive rust repair. So far the car has had a new set of floorpans welded in, chassis repairs, and rear mini-tubs added, and is in the middle of having a new rear quarter stitched on. The long-term goal is to restore the car back to streetable condition with a new Gen III 6.4-litre Hemi V8 from an SRT Jeep.
Scotty’s dad’s ute – VE Valiant ute
THE second VE Valiant in the stable is another of Scotty’s personal cars, his dad’s old VE ute. Unlike the VE wagon, it’s largely complete and rust-free, and is currently undergoing a conversion to a hotted-up 318 Chrysler small-block before taking on a road trip from Melbourne to Willowbank Raceway to run at the drags at Mopar Sunday.
Broads’s Torana – LC GTR Torana
OUR editor Andrew Broadley’s two-door LC Torana is a recurring car on the show. It was part of our live activation at MotorEx in 2019, where Broads and the crew swapped a TVS2300 blower onto the standard 5.0-litre Holden V8 right on the trade-show floor at Melbourne Showgrounds in just two days. So far it’s made 300rwhp and run an 11.4@116mph, and Broads plans to hop-up the Holden V8 to get even more out of the blower.
We’ve parted with a few cars along the way, too. Our 2k Challenge XR6 was sold off to a lucky buyer, while the Toxic Avenger’s remnants went to the great scrapyard in the sky.
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