IN THE LIMELIGHT
THIS SHINING JEWEL OF AN AP6 STEALS THE SHOW WITH A ROOTS-BLOWN, 410-CUBE MONSTER UP FRONT
With a 6/71-blown Mopar small-block up front and a killer paintjob, this stunning AP6 is ready for its close-up
IN THE distance, I can hear that unmistakable whine: a Roots-blown V8. Seconds later, a luminescent green, tough-as-nails AP6 Valiant powers around the corner, the sun glinting off the twin-carbied blower towering through the bonnet. The tough and tidy AP6 easily pulls up and a smiling Lucas Hurley disembarks from the luxurious cream cockpit. Straight away, Lucas enthuses about his chosen powerhouse. “The 6/71 is awesome,” he says. “It’s so torquey; it just torches the tyres. It’ll fry the rubber at 100km/h or whatever speed you’re doing; you have to be careful.”
When it comes to tough Mopars, the AP6 is rarely a model that comes to mind, but that’s precisely why Lucas wanted to create a blown, fat-arsed, radiant green example. “From a young age I was reading car magazines and wanted to build a half-decent AP6,” he says. “My mission was to build something cool that I could take to car shows, spin the wheels, but also be reliable and drive like a new car. I wanted a less-is-more look – simple, clean and fast.”
Oddly enough, Lucas got the ball rolling on the project before the car itself had even been purchased. “I bought the APSIX number plates on the internet late one night; that meant that I had to find a car for them to go on. I bought the plates 12 months before the car!” he explains.
“I already had a mint, factory V8 AP6 in original condition, which was one of 11 in light blue with a white vinyl roof and black interior. That car was too rare to cut up, so I sold it and bought this tidy, one-owner base-model AP6 sedan.”
THE 6/71 IS AWESOME. IT’S SO TORQUEY THAT IT TORCHES THE TYRES; IT’LL FRY THE RUBBER AT 100KM/H. YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL
Powered by a slant-six, this AP6 was a rust-free minter in Alpine White, but Lucas was more than willing to wield the gas axe over his newly acquired ride. He stripped it in readiness for its mega-makeover, then made provisions for the copious driveline upgrades, including a tubbed bum to balance the planned tower of power up front.
“I hadn’t owned a 6/71-supercharged car and always wanted one,” is Lucas’s simple logic behind his chosen power adder. Topped with twin 850cfm E85 carbs, the howling Weiand blower feeds a 410ci stroker engine based on a Mopar Performance R3 block, brimming with everything required to take a beating.
“It’s been on the dyno but could only get to 500hp before the lowprofile tyres spun up,” Lucas says. “We gave it a few pulls and it couldn’t do it, but now I’ve changed the rims and tyres I’ll try it again – I’d say it’s good for 800hp at the fly.”
Taking the punishment down the line is a TCI 904 Torqueflite with an ATI 3500rpm stall feeding a custom chrome-moly tailshaft, which runs back to an all-business Competition Engineering chrome-moly fabricated nine-inch.
Lucas further invested in sufficient stopping power to pull up the blown 410-cuber, bolting APC discs on all four corners. Wheels are now Pro Street-spec big-and-little Weld Magnums, wearing beadlocks on the rear.
The colour is fairly in-your-face and not something you’d expect to see on an AP6 – but then neither is an enormous polished blower. “A mate sent me a photo of a Nissan Silvia in a similar green at Summernats, and the billet and chrome really stood out against the green – it was an excellent combo,” Lucas says.
Kool Cars & Kustoms in Townsville were tasked with the panelwork and paintjob, and with no rust to fix, they instead got cracking on deleting the fuel filler and aerial before laying down the incandescent PPG custom-mix metallic green with gold pearl.
“Once I got the Valiant into my air-conditioned two-car shed – it’s
THE HOWLING WEIAND BLOWER FEEDS A 410CI STROKER ENGINE BASED ON A MOPAR PERFORMANCE R3 BLOCK
Townsville, we have to have a/c – I spent three to four hours every night piecing it all back together,” Lucas says.
“It took six years to build, and not without a few dramas,” he continues. “Brand-new parts failed, including cheap and nasty fuel fittings, and there was some dodgy chrome plating. Now I’ve fixed all of that and I’m really happy with the way the car has turned out. I get a lot of comments; people go nuts over the green. I first had big billets on the car, but I prefer the Pro Street look so swapped to the Weld Magnums. Next, I’m going to change up the rocker covers.”
While APSIX has all of the Pro Street feels, Lucas has no interest in testing its mettle at the track. “I have a black VH Charger I’m rebuilding that is more of a race car,” he says. “APSIX has no ’cage, and it’s hard to clean the dirt out of the cream interior, so I’ll just cruise it for a bit.
“It’s funny; I remember back to when I was starting to get into cars as a 13-year-old and older people would tell me that I’d grow out of it,” Lucas muses. “But now I’m 46, and I still want fast, fun cars!”