GREG MCMAHON
VJ CHARGER
THE Mcmahons live and breathe it. Greg Mcmahon and his son Joel were both out at Mopar Sunday, with their Chargers going head to head. Greg’s ’74 ran a best of 10.11@133mph, a far cry from the “basket case” he tells us he bought 11 years ago.
How’d you come to own the Charger?
This one? Well, I had a Charger in my early 20s but sold it to buy my wife’s wedding ring. I went about 20 years without a Charger, but I couldn’t resist getting another one once the kids had grown up. I’ve now had it for about 11 years, but it was an absolute basket case when I got it; no engine, steering, gearbox, nothing. We built it up several times and every time it got more powerful.
What does the current set-up look like?
When my boys became teenagers they got into boosted JDM stuff, and it introduced me to turbos, because I’m old-school. After going the way of turbos, the power just came. It currently runs a 408 stroker with forged internals, fed by a single turbo and backed up by a Powerglide and Mopar 8.75in diff. It only runs 11psi but makes 700hp at the wheels – the big cubes do all the work!
I take it that cars are a family affair?
Absolutely. It’s basically my sons, their mates and me doing it all and working it out as we go. Now we even build our own engines at home. Joel has the VK Charger that he’s been racing with here today, and my other son has a 700hp Barra-powered BA Falcon. We street-drive all the cars and do it all together!