Vid: 7-sec All Steel VL

Photos by Chris Sorgsepp

As arguably one of the most prolific Holden models of all time in the Australian modified car scene, the VL Commodore community has no shortage of tough examples.

When talking about the turbocharged variety in particular, more often than not you will find yourself looking at a single cam screamer gulping down more boost than the factory intended and it is because of this that such a strong community has formed around the iconic VL Turbo.

Cruising around the Calais Turbo forums, it is fairly common to see these Commos blasting down the quarter mile in 10, 9 or even 8-seconds but the 7-second club has very limited membership indeed, with George Haramis’s Maatouks Racing prepared VL one of the fast few.

Maatouks Racing is a household name in this tight-knit community and it was because of a car appropriately named VL GOD that Anthony Maatouk became the single-cam superstar that he is today. Some of you may remember the car and think that George’s car looks oddly similar. There is a good reason for that though as they are one and the same!

When Anthony decided to move on to a full chassis car and push even further into the 7-second zone, he sold the Maatouks masterpiece as a turn-key package to long time customer George and has been helping him develop it ever since.

Placing twin-cam heads on RB30 bottom ends has been a well proven path to power but such talk is blasphemy amongst the VL devotees, with the RB30ET of course remaining under George’s bonnet albeit heavily modified.

Staying single-cam is right at the core of the VL Turbo mindset and considering that George has managed to run a best of 7.83@171mph, there isn’t exactly much motivation to change!

The SOHC crew are often seen as underdogs in the drag racing world but the times George has posted are quick by anyone’s standards and to be fair, this car is an underdog in more ways than one.

At its heart this car is still based on a street car. There is no crazy rear end and it remains all steel. It’s still a VL and that is what makes it such an impressive example of an iconic car. Check out the video below for a behind the scenes look at the photoshoot of this car. Be sure to stay till the end as well to see George run a blistering 7-second pass!