Fabrication Guru Challenges The Aussie Muscle Car Stereotype

V8s with All Street Performance's KING XB

Talk to any New Balance sneaker-wearing bloke at the local car show and he’ll go blue in the face telling you that Aussie muscle cars should have V8s in them. That’s the only way. But if all you did was listen to blokes like that, you’d never have the opportunity to wrap your peepers around eye candy like KING XB - a product of the talented team at All Street Performance and Fabrication.

A Masterpiece Distinct from SYCO XB's Turbo V8 Legacy

KING XB is owner Joel Wicks’ personal vehicle, and if it looks a little familiar you may be confusing it with SYCO XB, featured by Street Machine Magazine twelve months ago. SYCO XB is a product of the All Street workshop, and I’ll admit that I was initially keen to get the goss’ on what made SYCO XB owner Nathan Young turf the 427-cube turbo V8 in his stunning black coupe, before a little extra research revealed that they are indeed different vehicles!

High-Performance Barra Inline Six Transformation

Joel’s KING XB is indeed powered by a Barra inline six, which has hardly been left wanting when it comes to go fast parts. The XB boasts an engine that’s been fully built in house, backed by a Powerglide and a Race Products floating 9in rear end.

Street and Track-Ready with High-Performance Edge

Like SYCO XB, the KING wears radial rubber and is destined for a life of punishing street kilometres, sprinkled liberally with time at the track. To that end, Joel and the coupe have recently completed Queensland’s own drag and drive event, the Road Trip Drag Challenge, where the XB started to flex its muscles by laying down a few 1/8th mile passes

New Turbo and Impressive Dyno Result

As the team sort out the car’s combo they’ve already made a few small tweaks, including swapping out the turbo pictured for a G45-1600. Atop the Cleveland Exhaust dyno with Queensland racer and tuning guru Scott Hoffman punching numbers into the Haltech computer, KING XB laid down a lazy 1,292.7hp on 33psi.

Regardless of where you stand on the six versus eight cylinder debate, it’s hard to argue that KING XB cuts a fine figure, and that power is impossible to deny! 

First published 19.7.23. updated 16.1.24.