GRAND SLAM
N ELITE STREET MACH I N ES CHASE DOWN SU MME RNATS’ TOP HONOU R: GRAN D CHAMPIO 16
YOUR Summernats 33 Grand Champion is Todd Sorensen. Todd’s 1967 Chevrolet Impala joins a hallowed group of cars whose high level of construction and performance has elevated them to Aussie street machining legend status. “Holding that sword – it’s all worth it,” said Todd when we spoke to him soon after his win on Sunday. “It magically makes all the frustration and pain of the build disappear!”
The big, smooth Chev is the result of a decade of on-again, off-again work in between customer jobs at Todd’s Ipswich-based Rocksolid Autobody. The beautifully constructed, PPG Cool Vanilla-hued Chev is powered by a carbfed, 750hp, 528ci big-block Chev fronting a
TH400 auto and a Chev 12-bolt diff with 4.3:1 cogs. The coil-over rear end spans 20x10 Intro Saltsters with 295 rubber, while up front are 245-shod 20x8.5s.
The car debuted at last year’s ’Nats, but Todd held back until this year to have a good go at the Grand Champ gong. “The first time it was driven was to get it out of the hall last year,” he recalled. “But since then it’s done a few hundred kays, and although that might not be enough to get a real feel for the car, it was enough for us to know it wasn’t going to let us down.”
To win Grand Champion, contestants run a heads-up go-to-whoa and a motorkhanatype slalom marked out on the bitumen of the burnout track. This year’s classy field was made up of 16 Top 60 cars straight from the Elite Hall, including last year’s winner Rick Werner. Todd was in the first pair to run the go-to-whoa and set the standard for the event with a blistering performance alongside Gareth Lougher’s People’s Choice-winning HR Holden. All the way from WA, Gareth’s HR had a cooling problem – but that didn’t seem to slow it down!
With the go-to-whoa and slalom run and done by all 16 cars, the final three were Todd’s Impala, Dom Luci’s freshly built burgundy VK Commodore and the Chev-powered Torana of Rohan Hawley, but Todd’s efforts proved to be the pinnacle of performance and prowess at Summernats 33.
All hail the new Grand Champ!
Congrats on being crowned Summernats 33 Grand Champ! How long has it taken?
I began the car 10 years ago. It’s been difficult to get those hours out of the way at work, and there have been a few sacrifices along the way, but that’s no different to just about anyone else here. We ramped up the pace toward the end of the build before the unveiling last year.
The car shows off your skills well.
Yes, it was always going to be something that could show off what we can do. We’ve seen the level of build quality rise over that past 10 years, too, so that was a learning curve; in some ways we had to keep chasing. As the build progressed, the aspiration to have a go at Grand Champion drove me on, too. Also, for the business [Rocksolid Autobody], it was an exercise in finding and using the right blokes and other businesses in the Ipswich area to outsource aspects such as suspension and exhaust work. We’ve tried to use local talent, and by doing so we’ve created an awesome team. We know who to rely on for our future builds. It means we can have confidence in who we can lean on and where we can send customers; I’d hate to send someone somewhere and have them waste their money.
You’ve done a few restos previously; is this your first ‘big’ build?
Yes and no. We’ve been involved in a few other cars here at Summernats over the years, but this is my first car at Summernats.
The car debuted last year; why didn’t you attempt Grand Champion then?
The car was brand new. The first time it was driven was out of here last year. So it wasn’t quite ready to drive hard. Over the past year we’ve sorted it. It’s not been driven too far yet, but we’ve driven it to a couple of local shows so we were confident in its ability for Summernats. Some of the boys were a bit nervous that I hadn’t had enough wheel time, but I was comfortable enough in the car to do what it needed to do.
What’s in it?
Big cubes! It has a big-block Chev. It’s a big car so it needs a bit of power! But it’s not stupid – it behaves itself on the street and of course for the driving events. It’s old-school carburetted – a Dominator – and has a Turbo 400 with a Gear Vendors overdrive. I’ve stuck with the 12-bolt [Chev-type] diff, but in hindsight something like a sheet-metal nine-inch would have been cheaper! But I wanted to keep things pure.
And the other bits?
Coil-overs both ends, but as you might know, these were a coil-sprung rear from the factory, like an HQ Holden. The steering is the factorystyle power steering. It’s not tubbed as such, but we squared up the inner wheelhouse to give it a little more space for decent rubber.
Grand Champion! How does that feel?
That’s not bad, eh!