Graeme and his Vauxhall

For those who have never heard of the Vauxhall, it’s one of the oldest car manufacturers in the UK. The reason you might have not heard of it might be because in Europe, Vauxhall cars were sold under the Opel brand name and since GM owned a big chunk of both brands, in the North American market they were sold under the Buick brand name. None of that is particularly important though, because the car we’re looking at here does not have a lot of its original Vauxhall left in it.

When Graeme Bates bought this 1969 Vauxhall PC Cresta over 40 years ago, his intention was to use it as a daily driver. It didn’t take long though for Graeme to grow tired of the barely adequate power produced by the factory 3.3L inline six.

Over the next few decades, Graeme and Adam progressively transformed the car first into a tough streeter, then into the fire-breathing drag racing weapon it is today. Gone is the asthmatic six, replaced by a 400ci Gen 1 small block Chevy with a NZ-built Rodeck/Haige aluminium block. The boost is produced by two 80mm Bullseye Power S380 turbos.

In charge of the whole vehicle is Haltech’s Nexus R5 VCU which not only controls the ignition, injection and boost but also handles all the power distribution tasks. The iC-7 dash provides Graeme with all the necessary engine information.

The driveline consists of a Powerglide (built by Graeme and Adam), Browell SFi 6.3 bellhousing, Transmission Specialites 10.5inch torque converter coupled with a Strange Enginerring 9inch diff with Moser diff head and axles and a chromoly driveshaft. The suspension is by Strange up front and a 4-link AFCO BIg GUn coil-over at the back. Strange rotors with Willwood calipers slow the beast down.

The classic lines of a 69 PC Cresta have been lovingly recreated by Graeme and Adam in full carbon fibre. The custom body sits on top of a chromoly frame, also hand-built by Graeme and Adam to comply with SFI specifications.

So how does all this translate to a quarter mile times? Greame’s best ET to date is 7.35@188mph (with the old setup) and 7.61@176mph with a safe tune on low boost with the new setup. Not a bad start – and we’re sure the Vauxhall’s got plenty more in it!