Infern0
Banned
SOUPED UP: Sandy Johns, of Rakaia, has a 1955 Morris Minor powered by a Nissan V8.
It might seem like an old Morris with a slightly garish paint job - but this 1955 Minor has a V8 engine.
In motor racing they are known as "sleepers" - cars that look innocent but pack a punch.
The Minor has been modified to carry a Nissan Y40 V8 engine that is more usually found in a limousine.
"I bought the car off a farmer for $50," said Sandy Johns, 56, of Rakaia, who has been working on the Minor since March last year.
"It had no bonnet, no tyres. It was gutted. It was just a dirty, old, grey car in a shed."
Johns, who has been racing and building cars since he was "knee-high to a grasshopper", said he was going to use it for drag racing.
"The little Morris Minor will take on a few of the big boys," Johns, who builds irrigators, said. "I have taken it out and tested it and I have had it up to 120mph (190km/h)."
He is looking forward to giving Christchurch's boy racers a run for their money.
"You will see it in big headlines: `Old man gets done for boy-racing in Morris Minor'," he said. "I am waiting for that to happen."
Johns made an effort to keep the car as an original Minor while carrying out the $5000 worth of work.
The 375hp engine and Holley 600 carburettor happened to fit perfectly in the car, so the chassis and bodywork were not damaged.
"The car is uncut so it could be changed back to normal," he said.
Johns plans to give the car its first race at Ruapuna Raceway on January 20.
Friend Tony Anthony, 52, who has been helping Johns with the car in Rakaia, said the turquoise colour scheme was inspired by a television advertisement for a toilet cleaner.
"There will be mixed reactions. Some people will think the Morris has been ruined and others will just love it," he said.
Johns' wife, Carol, 46, who has put up with the noise of engine-tuning and his many hours spent in the garage, said: "I have been trying not to encourage him. I have been keeping well out of it. Our grandsons live just across the road and they are terrified of it."
