GRAEME VISUALISED HOW HE COULD ENGINEER THE MAZDA PARKWAY AND THE CHEV TRUCK TOGETHER TO MAKE HIS OWN UNIQUE BUS
GRAEME COLLINS 1936 CHEVROLET MAPLE LEAF CHASSIS, MAZDA PARKWAY BUS BODY
Paint: PPG Deltron custom-mixed Silver Fox, painted by Mick Bougoure & Jamie Pollard
DONK
Brand: GM 5.7L LS1 Internals: Stock Cooling: Custom Aussie Desert Coolers radiator Exhaust: VE exhaust manifolds, high-flow cats, 2.5in twin system Ignition: Stock
TRANSMISSION
Gearbox: 4L60E Diff: Race Products floating 9in
BENEATH
Front suspension: Custom IFS, Rod-tech coil-overs Rear suspension: F250 springs, Shockwave airbags, Currie sway-bar with air assist Brakes: Hoppers Stoppers 330mm discs & PBR calipers (f), 270mm discs & PBR calipers (r) Master cylinder: 11/ 8in- bore Corvette
WHEELS & TYRES
Rims: Intro Ram polished; 19x7 (f), 19x10 (r) Rubber: Continental Contisportcontact; 245/40/19 (f), 295/45/19 (r)
THANKS
The Silver Fox team of Nick Locke, Jamie Pollard and Nathan Tester; Kev & Landon at Kev’s Kustoms – upholstery and interior trim; Mick Bougoure & Nick Locke – paint; Mark Watts – mobile sandblasting; Advanced Metal Products – customised side panels, stainless-steel trim and water-jet work; Bruce at Albion Street Auto Centre – exhaust; Tim & Peter at EFI Logic – dyno-tuning; Alfab – window manufacturing; Gordon at Cassels Automotive – wheel alignment
REAR: The rear door is from a Pajero, trimmed to fit perfectly, while the tail-lights are ’89-’93 Cadillac Deville items, with Morris Minor indicators
INTERIOR: The interior is deluxe. Bolted to a timberlook vinyl-plank floor, the seats are from two Kia Carnivals, swathed in leather by Kev’s Kustoms and each with its own seatbelt. The three back seats are easily removed to give the remaining travellers more luggage space on long hauls. The Classic Instruments gauge cluster is centred in the remade Maple Leaf dash, while the tiller is a Billet Specialities item on a Flaming River column ROOF: Kev’s Kustoms’ handiwork shows in the meticulous attention to detail. The one-piece aluminium composite roof panel is trimmed in fully sound-insulated Macrosoft herringbone fabric with watercut polished stainless ribs
ENGINE: It’s all modern up front, with an LS1 and Aussie Desert Cooler radiator snugly fitted within the Maple Leaf’s engine cowling
Although there was not much of the Maple Leaf cabin left, the team made use of the original metal dash. The old gauge holes were filled, and the top modified and extended to smoothly follow the unbroken lines around both sides of the cabin interior. Centre openings were then cut to fit the new Classic Instruments panel and switches.
A 1400W Fusion amp and six Retrosound speakers comprise a killer sound system for the long trips.
And then there’s the final paint finish. That coating of a few hundred microns of thin urethane makes or breaks any build. Graeme decided on a lustrous silver metallic made up using PPG’S Deltron system, deftly applied by team members Mick Bougoure and Jamie Pollard. It glows!
For some years Graeme’s mates have called him the Silver Fox; Nathan and the team started referring to the bus by the same name, and it stuck. Getting used to driving the Fox might take a while though; the sheer length of the bus means there is never any corner-cutting. But passengers can look forward to many comfy, luxurious highway miles in this well-engineered, high-spec creation. For Graeme, it’s exactly what he’d dreamed of.
Since the Silver Fox’s successful debut at this year’s Queensland Hot Rod Show – where it took home Top Street Rod Commercial – the second part of the project is nearing completion: a trailer for the bus, but nothing like you’ve ever seen. This is going to be a converted vintage pop-top caravan, which will carry luggage and, when stopped, double as a den, with more comfy leather-trimmed Kia seats, a fridge, and widescreen telly. Who would want to go home?
In September the bus went on display at the 41st National Chevrolet Festival in Warwick, and now Graeme is looking forward to taking his mates and their families out for some long bus rides and a few good lunches. There is another project under discussion to test the skills of this tight team of craftsmen: a sloper based on a ’48 Buick. Another cunning plan from the original Silver Fox. Bring it on!