KRIS EDWARDS
> WYONG, NSW
FAST cars are in Kris Edwards’s blood. Hailing from the NSW Central Coast town of Wyong, he is the third generation in a line-up of street and track racers. Kris’s grandfather Arthur was a street racer of the bike kind through the late 1940s, before turning his hand to speedway during the golden era of the 1950s and 60s, while his late father Colin was a regular racer at the infamous Brickies street drags at Homebush in the mid-to-late 70s. Chris arrived on the scene in 1980 and grew up on an automotive diet that included his mum Jenny’s LJ XU-1, a 308-powered HJ wagon in brown with gold stripes, Monaros, and even Hatch Hutchequipped Toranas.
01: AS A YOUNG tacker, Kris immediately fell for the REVHED HQ Monaro owned by Glen Tanzabel, and its build style would heavily influence many of his future projects. The WB Statesman front, graphic paint, LTD tail-lights, drop tank and rollcage simultaneously scream iconic, awesome Aussie street machine and purists’ nightmare. The car is believed to have been parted out after lunching its small-block Chev at an early Summernats burnout comp. “Glen’s Monaro was and always will be my ultimate dream car; it ticks all of the boxes for me,” Kris says.
02: THIS HQ Monaro was a family project and weekend toy. “It started as a stocker LS powered by a 253 and auto, which made it a great cruiser, but Dad conned my mum into doing some mods,” Kris explains. “First up was a 308, then an alloy-headed 333ci stroker with a 4000 stall and nine-inch. Mum raced this at street meets for a best of 13.3 on street tyres. This was around the time my dad got crook with cancer, so it got shelved while we focussed on navigating this. Sadly, Dad bowed out in 2000, leaving Mum and I to carry on without him. To make him proud, Mum stepped it up with a 355 Vn-headed combo, which saw her drop into the mid-11s and even feature as an Iron Maiden (SM, Jun ’01). The common joke with newcomers to the local race action was: ‘If you can beat that guy’s mum’s car, you can take your pick of what to run next’! It could hold its own on and off the track.” 03: ROSS Woods’s green Rat Attack LC Torana
(SM, Jun ’87) played a huge part in influencing Kris’s car dreams: “I fell in love with its graphic paint, flared guards and letterbox scoop, and it was the catalyst that saw me build this pink LJ as my first car. It ran a 186 with twin Strombergs backed by an M21, and a half ’cage and Dragways – you know, all the normal gear for the time. For my 18th birthday, my family bought me a 212ci stroker six backed by a Chrysler 727 Torqueflite auto, which really woke the locals up! Being old-school, it didn’t take long for three pedals to make a comeback, with the M21 topped with the greatest shifter known to man, the Hurst Vertical Gate. I fitted a nine-inch too for good measure, as the local wrecker was running out of banjo axles. This car went through all types of crazy, angry Holden sixes in its time.” 04: KRIS bought his convertible HJ ute from a local custom shop around 1999. Running a
thongslapper 253 backed by a Trimatic, the HJ was a great daily driver, parts-getter and tow rig for his LJ Torana. “It had more wheels and engine swaps than you could ever imagine, ending up with an injected 355 stroker backed by a five-speed and nine-inch,” Kris explains. “It made the TV news a few times for street racing in the Newcastle area, and made the paper too when the hoon laws came in and it spent three months impounded at Newcastle Police Station. Every man and his dog knew that car!” It was also one of the first on the hot car scene to run big-diameter wheels, the 18-inch Boyds drawing plenty of attention at the 2000 Eastern Creek Supernats.
05: THIS neat HJ sedan was built by Kris as a low and slow cruiser, running a stock injected five-litre and TH700 trans and rolling on 17-inch Boyd billet rims. The yellow paint and era-correct silver trim were nicely highlighted by a black interior and super-cool pink, purple and aqua engine bay. “It only lasted a few months before a drunk driver crashed through a bridge on Parramatta Road, dumping a few hundred bricks on top of it parked below,” Kris says. “And, well, that was the end of that.”
06: BUILT from the wreckage of the yellow HJ sedan, Kris’s HX Sandman panel van saw the injected five-litre donk upgraded with 355-cube stroker internals and the Turbo 700 fronted with a 3000 stall, all backed by a nine-inch. “The plan was to build it as a full custom job with a Trans Am front, L88 Corvette bonnet scoop and roof spoiler, but it was in the days before the internet and finding cool stuff like that was next to impossible,” Kris says. “I found a local guy who’d lived through the van craze the first time ’round, and had all the custom moulds stashed in his back shed. He finally dragged them out after months of me begging, but they were all damaged, so it was back to the drawing board. It went through many different guises and was even flat black for a while, long before that look was cool.” 07: HOW neat was Kris’s VL Commodore? It was originally an Hdt-improved V8 and five-speed car. “It came with a 1990s-built 333ci stroker that had VN heads and a Harrop intake for good measure,” Kris explains. “It was a low 12-second car and I raced the hell out of that thing.” The VL was an introduction to ‘newer’ cars for Kris and was sold to make way for a VS Series III Maloo. “I just wanted a modern car with working air con and power windows, but yes, that succumbed to the power bug too and soon had a decent cam and diff gears slotted in.”
08: ONE of Kris’s current cars and the longest to be in his possession is this tough ’n’ tidy VU Maloo. “I’ve had it for 11 years now,” Kris says. “The first few years were spent doing the show circuit; then it became a clean streeter and later my daily driver. Over the past 12 months it’s had a new driveline fitted, including an LS1 making an easy 450hp at the wheels naturally aspirated, which has run a high 11-second pass backed by a manual transmission. I hope to have it resprayed next year to clean up a few battle scars from its street and race duties.”