BIG RED

Hold on... did I just see..?

YUP a Holden! In all her redness; I just became the proud owner of this Australian grafter!

You will have seen the epic TopGear videos of the Vauxhall VXR8 and the VXR8 Bathurst, these masterpieces of cinematography pointed me towards the VXR8 a few years ago. I have been in love ever since! Especially its racing pedigree in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship scored a lot of points as I believe this series ranks amongst the best in the world, if not THE best in the world.

Star of the show down under is officially the VXR8's twin brother - the Holden Commodore as run by the TOLL HRT Racing Team (winners of the 2011 Bathurst 1000) and Triple Eight Race Engineering.

So finally after years of searching, watching V8 Supercars, YouTube and selling kidneys on the black-market I finally found MY VXR8 6.2 V8 – why not the 6.0? Simply; bigger is better. 

And boy was I right! ‘Big Red’ – her nickname – is everything I have ever dreamt of … she is big (BMW 7-series big inside), she is loud (with the Walkinshaw Performance Exhaust 92 dB @ 6,000 RPM), she is red (with go-faster stripes!!!), she is in your face (hard to not notice the picnic-table on the boot lid), but most of all … boy she is quick! With 470 BHP and 600 Nm worth of pull she seriously tests you in the trouser department…

I have owned her for a week now – by now have had to fill her up, so yes that price-hike in crude oil last Wednesday was due to me filling up – and she has been rocking my world ever since! 
Don’t get me wrong, I know fast – I also own a 260 BHP VX220/Speedster Turbo – but the ease and the readiness at which this power is available is second to none! The smooth delivery is a startling display of American muscle. The tabs have been opened quite frequently – I mean: if you can … you must! –, however this does make me worry about the wear rate of the side-windows as I find myself looking out of them rather often determining my headings.

So if you see some dimwit driving/siding around, laughing out loud in a big, intrepid, scarlet car: worry not! It is me … probably on my way to find a cheap oilfield and rubber tree plantation to buy, because her respect for Mother Nature’s resources leaves a bit to be desired…

- Geert P.

Comments

[Geert]

Croykey mayte!
You'll definitely need a couple of schooners of lager to put that Ozzie out!
Brill writeup Geert, and it's gonna be haahd to top this Firehouse with the existing Carfreax Garage - think we'll have to bring on the Testarossa, if not quite for its colour alone.
Howzat for an excuse to experience the beast live, sometime next CFX season?

[Steve]

Cool ride dude!
Nice story, I already envisage a grinning madman sliding a loud red projectile sideways around roundabouts.
Like Geert said, we definitely have to have a CFX meet next season.
Geneva anyone?

[Naud]

Well it's weekend, bring her over!!!

[Rik]

Totally crazy car, this must be the last of the Mohikan's, some kind of dinosaur: Enjoy while you can!

[Naud]

"This then... This is a Barbi..." (From JC in the linked video)
So the main component for a CFX meet is already there!
I will gladly open the garden for a CFX BBQ next summer!

[Fab]

I can totally understand...with this car i always think of TopGear Jeremy sliding around on the Beach...such a mad ride! Congratulation and always have a safe ride!