Justin and his Holden Monaro

Justin Simpson from Queensland-based Horsepower Solutions is a bit of a legend amongst Australian drag racers so when we found out he was rebuilding his Monaro race car we knew it was going to be something special. We weren’t wrong.

Not just for show

Unveiled earlier this year at Summernats, the car was so popular it won the Competition category and came 3rd in the Special Effects category. The fact that both categories are historically dominated by purpose-built show cars gives you an idea of just how well put together and finished Justin’s race car is.

It might go head to head with show-quality hot rods and muscle cars but make no mistake – this Monaro is a race car and has already seen some action at PowerCruise with Justin’s sights firmly set on the Australian No Prep series.

“I’ve had people asking me whether I’ll race it in our Radial series. I’m sorry to disappoint anyone but no, this car has been built for the No Prep which is predominantly 1/8th mile. That was my aim right from the start.”

The whole nine yards

Everywhere you look the beast screams quality. There are no corners cut, no stones left unturned in Justin’s endless pursuit of perfection and power. With the bonnet off the Monaro looks even more impressive. The 615 big block Chevy uses a Dart block with Callies crank, aluminum rods, custom pistons and Brodix 18″ Big Dukes.

Justin opted to run Nitrous instead of turbos or a supercharger. The setup is a simple three-stage Dry Induction Solution system controlled by the driver from inside the cabin.

“I strongly believe that Nitrous is the best power adder for No Prep. If it’s done properly it’ll give you instant power – exactly when you need it. And you still can control all the safety parameters through the ECU.”

Power transfer

Putting the undisclosed (but considerable) power to the ground is a Hughes Pro Mod Powerglide mated to a 9″ 40 spline floater. The suspension consists of custom, valved, Afco shocks at the back and a Strange kit up the front. Strange brakes are tasked with slowing the beast down. Wheels are by Weld, 15×4 at the back and 15×3.5 at the front.

The Electronic Brain

The “not cutting any corners” philosophy extends to the engine management system. Haltech’s Nexus R5 controls the entire car from the ignition, injection and transmission through to all the safety features like engine protection and nitrous control. The setup also includes Haltehc IGN 1A coils and an iC-7 display dash.

“The R5 goes far beyond being just an engine management system because it controls everything in the car. Without trying to sound biased, I believe this is the best system currently on the market.”

A single point of contact

Being an experienced tuner, Justin takes full advantage of the Nexus R5 VCU and uses just about every function available to him. There are no fuses or relays in this car, all the wiring is channeled through the R5 giving Justin a single point of contact for all diagnostics making any trouble-shooting considerably easier and quicker. Every system in this car is carefully thought through and implemented in the most reliable way possible. The Summernats judges might have awarded the car for the way it’s presented but we’re sure the way it’s built to race will earn it plenty more awards in the near future.