Date : 6th - 16th July 2009 Destination : Sydney - Perth - Sydney Video 1

THREE CAR MAD BOY’s, MUSCLING IN TO RAISE MONEY FOR SERIOUSLY ILL AND HOSPITALISED KIDS! Three car enthusiasts, (a celebrity, a journalist and an IT guru) are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime - driving the AN Racing flagship car, the 711rwhp (900+hp flywheel) Procharged Ford Falcon XY GT, from Sydney to Perth and back again, whilst raising money and awareness for the Starlight Foundation and making a documentary of their experience. The boys will be traveling through the following major towns and cities and will be conducting media interviews along the way; Bathurst (Home of the GT) - Cobar - Broken Hill-Silverton (where cult car movie Mad Max was filmed) - Peterborough - Port Augusta - Ceduna - Nullarbor Roadhouse - Norseman – Kalgoorlie - Perth. Follow the boys online at wolfpac.com.au as we shaker through the country. What will break? What will hold on? and what will the fuel consumption be? One thing's for sure, "We will have fun doing it". Major sponsors to date include; Polis Constructions, Symantec, Detroit Custom Bodyworks, Rare Spares, First Choice Dairy, Camperdown Cellars and Ford Muscle Parts. 6th July 2009 Day One 6:30am saw the Sydney to Perth team congregate at AN Racing headquarters. With the XY and support car packed and ready to go they wasted no time in getting on the road for the trip of a lifetime. First stop was at Mount Panorama situated in Bathurst NSW. With the cameras strapped to the Falcon Sash, Paul and Roy each took turns in taking the 700rwhp weapon around the sacred motor racing circuit much to the delight of several onlookers. Moving on saw the team head further into the Central West visiting MR HDT Motorsport in Dubbo. After having lunch with the boys, and checking over the car the team headed further west. Arriving in Trangie they noticed the temperature starting to rise on the gauge. The decision was made to remove and replace the thermostat as it was deemed to be the cause of the increase in temperature. With it changed the engine cooled down and they were back in business. Whilst there they ran into some admirers, one of them was Dave who had previously owned a Vermillion Fire XYGT around five years ago. Dave showed the guys his love of all things Ford with this Super Roo tattoo. With the light fading the fast they headed towards Broken Hill, dodging live Kangaroos all sorts of road kill! Arriving there they met up with Rob Fazulla, who kindly offered his secure garage for the XY overnight. The team bunkered down at the local hotel for what was an 18 hour day on the road… 7th July 2009 Day Two Today saw the team up bright and early tucking into a hearty breakfast at the Broken Hill hotel, in readiness for the first 450km trek to Port Augusta. But before all that the XY needed to fill its 36 gallon tummy (164L) as well. Pulling into the local BP service station, the fella working the pumps immediately recognized the XY from the hit TV show The Muscle Car Shop and Blood Sweat & Gears by eyeballing its number plates. He was a huge fan of the car and show so naturally the team signed a poster for him to hang in the workshop. Whilst fuelling up his dad came out and asked “is that a 33 or a banged up one” Paul S proceeded to explain that it was an XY GT replica of Allan Moffat’s 1972 ATCC winning Falcon. Moving on the team made their way out of town and proceeded to Port Augusta stopping only for the obligatory fruit fly inspection, the inspector was very impressed with the car and ushered the boys through promptly waving his hand and saying “jam the fruit, light em up” The driving continued for another 400km’s or so and was only interrupted for fuel, food and driver swaps. Arriving at the hotel in Ceduna, the XY was tucked in for the night. The XY has been performing flawlessly so far, the team has covered around 2100km’s without any real issues and is testament to the thorough preparation work carried out at the AN Racing workshop in Sydney. Stay tuned for more updates as the team heads to Kalgoorlie next!

8th July 2009 Day Three Today saw the team hop out of bed at 5am to embark on their longest driving stint to date, a grueling 1386km! A quick check of the wheel nuts at the hotel at Ceduna and they were good to go. Off to the local service station this time a Shell as it was the only one open that early, the XY was juiced up with V-Power. One the “locals” asked if they were going to “hit the Nulla” Not long after the team headed off at a “cracking pace” to try and make a dent into that huge distance that needed to be covered. Early on the team encountered some severe fog but nonetheless they powered their way through it without any real problems. The air was crisp and had the Procharged Windsor singing along sweetly. Before too long they encountered the mighty Nullabor plains, the big XY powered through the plains at a blistering pace with the boys all sharing a driving stint. Those plains are WIDE with nothing but flat ground and low shrubs. Arriving at the Nullabor Roadhouse, they fuelled up again and noticed that the Shell juice didn’t last that long. There is a BP service station at the Roadhouse so they filled up with the good stuff BP Ultimate (check out the price to fill her up!). Whilst there a “truckie” commented that the XY has some “air shocks in it and is lowered on its nut” That’s slang for not knowing what he’s on about! Proving that they actually are in Western Australia the boys took a photo at the border…More hours on the road saw them reach Australia’s longest straight road. Again the mighty XY chewed up the country miles with ease. They finally arrived in Kalgoorlie at 8pm (local time) covering the mammoth trek in 15.5 hours. Pretty good when you consider the amount of time eaten up stopping for filming and fuelling. Stay tuned as the team heads from Kalgoorlie to Perth after a local radio interview at 10am.

9th July 2009

Day Four

Today the team slept in until 7am, then awoke in Kalgoorlie to the sound of rain falling. Out of bed in a flash saw the media hub swing into action to finalise the highlight video of the trip thus far and to get it along with the photos onto the website ASAP.

With that completed they packed their bags and loaded the XY with Sash taking the opportunity to top up the engine oil before heading off to breakfast which was bacon and eggs all round at the hotel in front of a log fire.

The boys piled into the XY for a DVD filming session through the main streets of Kalgoorlie whilst local residents looked on in amazement. The XY really looked and sounded the part as it circled around the block being filmed.

It was now around 9:30am so the team headed over to the local radio station ABC FM for an interview. They met up with Natalie Jones the presenter of the show before being interviewed about the trip so far covering the reasons why they were attempting such a feat and to plug their website about the updates.

Next they fuelled up again for the 6 hour drive to Perth… Leaving town with light rain the XY was coping well and wasn’t scared of getting wet and dirty. They made their way out of town and about 3 hours down the road they came across heavier rain which washed red dirt over the road, and as you can see from the photos the XY was sprayed by passing trucks and cars. Now she looks like she has driven across the country doesn’t she!

With another fuel stop for the XY saw Sash wrestle the service station attendant for the pump but she got the better of him this time. It was all part of his plan, you see as he knew that the inexperienced attendee will cop a splash back of fuel when the 36 gallon tank reached capacity. Sure as hell it did splash back and let’s just say they never saw an “older” person move so quick!

Some more filming and photo taking ensued before the final 3 hour drive was completed with a driver swap with Roy taking the reins of the XY with Sash riding shotgun for the glorious final stretch of driving into Perth. Arriving at the Hyatt at 6pm the team had done it, they had driven the powerhouse AN Racing XY across the country in four days covering around 4000kms!

Stay tuned over the weekend for more updates as the team attends a car cruise-show and does some minor maintenance on the XY.

10th July 2009

Day Five

Today the team slept in a little after four days and 4000km on the road. Once up and going they headed over to Kostecki Engine Centre in Malaga. Bill the manager had emailed Sash months ago and invited the team to stop in whilst in town. Rolling up at around 10:30am we were greeted with open arms by Andrew Kostecki and his magnificent team. The team had at their disposal the full use of the Kostecki facility to check and service the XY.

With the Falcon up on the hoist Sash proceeded to drop the oil out of the engine and inspect the underside of the car from front to back. He also removed the System One oil filter for inspection, it was found to be in immaculate condition. With no signs of any damage or loose items the XY was lowered back onto the ground. A fresh batch of engine oil (7L) was poured straight in. Sash then removed the Procharger from the 411ci Windsor. The reason for its removal was to inspect its condition and to drain and replace the oil. The Procharger was also in perfect condition so it was bolted straight back on. Sash also took the opportunity to replace the dirt caked K&N air filter with a brand new one.

The team then took a tour of the Kostecki Engine Centre. This included checking out their full engine building facilities from the machine shop right up to the engine dyno rooms, chassis dyno and CNC machines used for cylinder headwork and block machining. This workshop would have to be one of the best in the country with its in house cafe and high performance parts shop all under the same roof.

If that wasn’t impressive enough they also have a nostalgic room upstairs with some of Andrew Kostecki’s personal drag racing memorabilia from his drag racing career and trips overseas which included photos with racing legends such as Bob Glidden, Tony Pedregon, Craig Lowndes and the great Peter Brock. One thing that stands out is their professionalism and hospitality, providing the team with lunch and drinks on the day.

After the tour and luncheon Roy suggested that they run up the XY on the chassis dyno for a bit of fun. With the car strapped down Sash gave Paul the dyno operator the go ahead to run the engine up to 6500rpm. After all the team didn’t want to risk damaging the driveline for the drive home. The XY spat out a healthy 624hp at the wheels with ease on pump juice.

All in all it was a very relaxing day for the team which they thoroughly enjoyed. To learn more about Kostecki Engine Centre log onto www.kec.com.au

Stay tuned for more updates over the weekend.

12th July 2009

Day Six & Seven

What a weekend! The team was invited to Jason’s home on Saturday night for a traditional home cooked meal. Jason had contacted Sash when he had heard about the trip to Perth, being an avid fan of the Blood Sweat & Gears show and The Muscle Car Shop TV series he just had to have a closer look at the AN Racing machine. The team headed over to Jason’s place where they were greeted like one of the family with very open arms.

Jason’s family and parents had prepared a feast for the guys including an all out BBQ that included traditional Cevapi sausages, various salads and even deserts. The Corona beer flowed all night long too. Jason invited a few of his friends around for the occasion who are all muscle car fans so the guys had no shortage of topics to chat about.

The team showed Jason and his friends-family the XY and they checked out Jason’s GTS that packs a stout 350 Chevy engine that runs low 12s. After a few photo’s Jason’s Dad bought out the big gun, a bottle of traditional imported Rakia which is a plum based alcoholic drink. It was one of the smoothest tasting versions the team had ever tasted!

After more car talk the team had to bid farewell but will never forget the amount of respect and hospitality they were shown. They were treated like superstars, but the real superstars were Jason, his family and friends. Jason and co if you are ever in Sydney be sure to let the team know as they would love nothing more than to return the favour and show you around Sydney.

On Sunday the team headed just out of Perth to the Swan Valley to Tony Pernechele’s rural property to check out his amazing collection of cars and memorabilia. The WA GT Club had organised this event with Tony and notified their club members and invited a few local car clubs as well. With the sun shining on the team they cruised to Tony’s property with a convoy of muscle cars in tow mainly Falcon GT’s.

With the cars all parked up the eager crowd swarmed around the XY for a closer look. The team hadn’t washed the car at all so it was looking a little grubby but that’s the way they wanted it…to prove she hadn’t been babied on the way over to Perth! The team mingled with the crowd answering questions about the adventures of the trip so far and how well the car had performed.

They then checked out Tony’s large collection of cars (60) that ranged from Model T’s, Mustangs, Falcon GT’s, Fairlanes, Cobras and many more. Check out the 1913 Ford Speedster that actually made the trip from Perth to Sydney back in 1979! Hats off to the guys that made the trip!

Another interesting vehicle was the mobile Dentist van that used to travel all over the countryside extracting teeth! It has a fully functional basin with running water, toilet, waiting room and even a gun rack! Danny Green the well known boxer has visited the collection before and Tony let him drive the 427ci AC Cobra, one small problem though, Danny ripped out the shifter! (see pic)

The team was presented with a cheque for $500 from the WA GT Club along with money taken at the gate for each car passing through. Over 80 cars turned out on the day for what was a fun filled day with plenty of laughs. The team would sincerely like to thank Tony for sharing his awesome collection of cars to the public for what is a great cause, raising money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Princess Margaret Hospital in the process.

The day finished with more photos in the city. Note the pic of Sash’s missing gold tooth as he had to hock it on the “Nulla” in exchange for some 95 octane because the car was out of tune! Just kidding! Nutic your Globe wheels are doing a stout job and are a real credit to ya!

The team headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep in readiness for the return trip home kicking off on Monday.

Stay tuned for more updates.

13th July 2009

Day Eight

Today the team hit the road nice and early setting off at 7am out of Perth on their way to Kalgoorlie. Over the weekend the team had chatted about perhaps hiring a helicopter on the way home to film the XY at speed on a stretch of outback highway. Upon arriving in Kalgoorlie contact was made with Heliwest at the Boulder Airport to organize the chopper ride.

Sash and Roy headed out to the deserted stretch of road that was going to be used for filming; whilst Vinny and Paul loaded the chopper with camera’s and headed off with the pilot. Meeting up about 20 minutes later, Sash pedaled the XY hard with the chopper closely in tow capturing plenty of video footage and still photos.

Sash gave the XY a hard hit and left the chopper for dead showing how much pull this powerhouse Ford really has. After 30 minutes of filming it was a rap. As you can see there are no photos of Roy today (unless you include the shadow!) as he was behind the camera, the team put their lives at risk today to bring you quality photos and video footage.

Vinny is a gun shooter and is a real credit to the team putting himself in awkward positions including hanging out of the chopper with only a strap securing him and working long hours to make it all happen. To Vinny, Sash, Roy and Paul salute you champion!

14th July 2009

Day Nine

Today the team rose early, 4:30am to be exact to get on the road at 5am for the longest stretch of driving home, Kalgoorlie to Ceduna. This stretch is 1386km and takes a lot out of the boys. Roy eagerly got behind the wheel of the support car for the first four hours and 500km before swapping to the XY for the remaining 886km only stopping for lunch and fuel. What a machine! Easily the MVD award winner (Most Valuable Driver)

The team hit the “Nulla” which is one hell of a long stretch of road. Get this, the team had enough time to stop in the middle of the road, position the car and even take a few shots sitting on the “Nulla”without any threat of traffic in either direction. Try that on the M5 Motorway at any time of the day or night!

The team would like to take this opportunity to thank their sponsors for their support along with the general public who have passed on their well wishes to the team along the way from all over the country. The Starlight Children’s Foundation, more so the children will be the one’s benefiting from the teams collective efforts. A big pat on the back for all involved.

Stay tuned for more updates as the team heads home via a slightly different route.

15th July 2009

Day Ten

Today saw the team head off from Ceduna and travel to Mildura. They decided to go via Mildura instead of Broken Hill for a change of scenery and to stop in and visit some friends. First up they stopped in at Port Augusta for lunch and caught up with Jeff and his family for a quick chat and photo whilst refueling the XY at the BP. Jeff had contacted the team whilst they were on the road so they thought it would be nice to actually meet them. They would have liked to have spent more time with them but as they were on a tight schedule they had to part a little quickly. Jeff had told them about his cars like the one and only Aviation Orange XYGT ever made. No doubt the team will catch up with them another time soon.

Moving on saw the team head out of PA and head towards Mildura, whilst on the highway out of town Pauly was behind the wheel of the XY with Roy riding shotgun when they noticed a Police highway patrol car up ahead. They approached with caution just in case, and as they passed the patrol car the officer swung his head and kept his eyes and ears on the XY. Not long after he did a U turn and came after the boys pulling them over.

No worries they played it cool and got out of the car, the first thing Brevet Sergeant Shaun Evans said to them was “why isn’t this car on a trailer” They replied “why, it’s got full rego” The officer replied saying that the car was too loud for street use. Before the boys could explain the reason of this trip the officer proceeded to break out the decibel meter to measure the exhaust note.

Pauly then hopped into the XY and ran it up to 2900rpm instead of the required 3300rpm and it was found to be 96db and the legal limit was 90db for cars made from 1985 onwards. The officer told us the limit for a pre 1985 car was 96db but he still gave us a warning, go figure! Anyway after all that Sash said to the officer “this rubbish all aside, tell me, do you like the car or what” The officer replied yes then proceeded to issue Pauly with a formal written warning in regards to the noise of the car. The officer then busted out a small personal donation for the cause and then sent us on our way.

Moving on the team headed further along towards Mildura, actually about 50km from Renmark the MagnaFuel 500 fuel pump cried enough. The pump had seen use in the car for the last three years continuously and now had just covered about 6000km with daily operating times of at least 10 hours per day. To say Sash got a pretty good run out of it was fair. Being the forward planners that they team are, they had packed not one but two spare pumps just in case they let go. And at $1100 each Sash didn’t think twice about packing spares for the trip.

With the fuel pump swapped over on the side of the road a quick check was done to make sure there were no leaks and that it was all operating correctly. Roy then paint daubed the pump for a laugh! The team then headed straight for Mildura without a hitch enduring treacherous weather conditions such as heavy rain, road trains and wildlife before meeting up with some of the local Italian boys, Frank, Fred and Joey for a drink and a laugh. The car was secured overnight in a farm shed and the boys retired for the night in a local hotel.
More to come about these boys later…

Stay tuned for the final stretch home Thursday.

16th July 2009

Day Eleven

Today it was time for the team to head home to Sydney from Mildura. Meeting up with the Italians, the boys had time for a quick expresso coffee, biscuits and a shot of scotch before piling into the XY for the final 1031km trek. Just before heading off they checked out Franks old XY he picked up for his son Joey for the bargain price of $500! Also in the shed was a 351 Cleveland powered Chrysler he bought back in the 1980’s which he drove from Griffith to Mildura. The team would like to thank the Mildura boys for their hospitality and they look forward to catching up with them again very soon.

Moving on the team headed off and after a few hours on the road Vinny the video and cameraman got his chance behind the wheel of the XY. He loved driving the XY especially at speed! Not long after the team arrived in Wagga Wagga where they saw stock being moved across the main road out of town. The XY stopped traffic and a car towing a caravan came very close to having a serious accident.

The team pushed on for a few more hours arriving in Sydney at AN Racing headquarters at 8pm. The team and the car had just traveled 8252km in just eight days without any major problems. The team had gone across the country and back in the most iconic car this country has ever produced, the Ford Falcon GT. This was no mean feat; they were successful due to the commitment shown by the team in preparing the car and planning their daily schedule.

The team would like to once again thank their sponsors, the well wishing general public they met along the way and all their fans out there following the updates online daily.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as the full magazine coverage in Street Fords will be announced and also a TV show program in the near future.

Lastly the team is still collecting monetary donations for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. To pledge your donation please contact either Roy on (02) 9741 3993 or Sash on (9709 8433)