LIL ABNERS RX-3 CRACKS THE SEVENS SECONDS

Only two issues ago — in NZPC Issue No. 264 — we spun the yarn of local drag racer Sam Khamis and the former Zoom magazine RX-3 that he acquired from across the ditch. Having already run eight-second passes in his previous 323 hatch, and wanting to break into the sevens, Sam and crew chief / tuner Mazin, of M&M Racing, knew that it was best to get their hands on a proven package.

In that feature, Mazin told us: “It will run the seven; it’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for the track. I told Sam, ‘I’ll let you know when it’s there and you’d better tighten your seat belts, as it’s going to fly’.”

Fly it has, becoming the fastest small-tyre 13B in New Zealand, with a 7.97 at 149mph (240kph) at Meremere Dragway during a recent test and tune event. The run came after a string of loose runs that saw the centre line turned into a mere suggestion, a test of Sam’s ability to hold the car straight under the new power that Mazin had pumped into it.

Sam told us of the run: “It was a wild ride still backing off just before the finish line. Let’s push the limits and go for the national small-tyre record!”