Aaron and his Holden Panel Van

Aaron Gregory, the man behind ASG Motorsports, is a guy known for building tough street cars, but very few are tougher than his personal whip, this 427ci, twin-turbo, 1966 HR Panelvan – known as Hell Raiser.

When Aaron was an impressionable young bloke, he was blown away by a local drag car – The car in question was a bright green, blown, wheel-standing HR panel van known as Frogstomp. Aaron attributes this vehicle and the antics of its driver, Craig Brewer, as his inspiration for getting into drag racing.

What is a Panel Van? Simply, it was designed as a commercial vehicle, with a large covered cargo area, to keep tools or deliveries out of the elements. In the Australian vernacular it is known as a “Pano” and during the 70’s its excellent cargo area made it the vehicle of choice for local surfers and wanderers.

Purchased from a Brisbane wrecking yard three years ago, the Pano was in a pretty sorry state. Outwardly it looked alright, but under the surface, there was plenty of rust, so much so there was literally no floor in the van!

As we disassembled the car to do rust repairs, we made the decision to pretty much just lop the floor out of the car, front to back, and we started again.

We had to put all new strengthening tubes in to the floor. We retained all the factory sills, but we made all new sheet-metal floors for it. All steel and welded back in.

The engine is an LSX 427ci block filled with ASG’s own street/race engine internals package, including a tough crank and conrod set, and custom machines asymmetrical JE Pistons. The turbos are twin mirrored Precision PT7675 items – Boost is controlled by a Haltech-managed CO2 package – Leaving the line on about 10PSI and ramping up to roughly 30PSI through the traps.

Fuel is pump E85, fed to the engine by two 2200cc injectors, per cylinder. All told the Van makes 1684HP in street trim, and 1807HP in race trim with side pipes – Tuned by Aaron himself on the ASG hub dyno. So if this van’s-a-rockin, that’s probably why.

The interior is very red but fairly spartan, and all keyed around Aaron being safe on the road and at the track. The roll cage is trimmed in the same red leather as the Kirkey seats, in Aaron’s signature style, and is paired with Simpson harnesses and arm restraints.

The pano is chock full of Haltech gear. A Nexus R5 is the heart of the operation, and not only controls the usual engine functions, like the Haltech IGN1A coils and drive-by-wire throttle body, but the PDM side of the Nexus also performs body control functions from the electric water pump, and thermo-fans, right through to the lights, horn and wipers.

Other Haltech goodies include a CAN Keypad, IC-7 Dash, Laser ride height sensors, shock travel sensors, 8x EGTs, and more!

Naturally, the drive train is a bullet-proof setup, consisting of a fully-built 2500hp-rated Powerglide, and a sheet-metal Pro-9 diff with a 35-spline floater kit. The suspension features Afco radial rear shocks and front struts, while the brakes are Wilwood, front and rear. The front wheel and tyre combo is 17 x 4.5 with 26 x 6 radials, while the back is 15×12 with Double Beadlocks and big 315/60/15 Micky Thompson Radials making sure wheelies are on tap.

Aaron’s fastest ET to date is 4.9s in the 8th mile, at 149 MPH. We hope he straps his surfboard strapped down tight!