World 1st AWD Dirt Monaro

Photography by Eric 'Wu' Tang

Many people think you’d have to be crazy to race on gravel, wet clay or loose dirt of any description, but South Australian Josh Pickert is a man who simply laughs in the face of expected danger. He doesn’t race just anything on it either; belting around a 6L All-Wheel-Drive V8 Monaro Coupe on the slippery surface - and very well, might we add.

At just 22, Josh had raced everything from karts to Commodores and Toranas, but ultimately fell in love with the cost-effectiveness of dirt circuit racing and became hooked. But just because these guys know how to work to a budget, doesn’t mean they do things by half measures. “There’s a guy who has 1000hp under his bonnet. Pretty crazy considering that’s more than most drag cars, on dirt, with AWD… and it has to go around corners too,” Josh explains to us.

Josh’s car is no different. While a V8 Monaro would be fun enough in standard form on the rough stuff, his own Holden has had a little more work than first meets the eye. The Dupont Industrial Black body shell is a complete item from the wizards at Alfa Motorsport Fibreglass, but what’s more interesting is what is under all of those layered pieces of resin-infused goodness.

The car, which had been built by Australasian Rally Champion, Steve Riley, was set to compete as a one-off entry in the Race To The Sky Hill Climb – a Pikes Peak style mountain race. With an aluminium space frame chassis and full fibreglass panels, it was nothing short of a fabrication work of art. “Unfortunately though, the class Steve was building it for got canned, so I got it off him for a great price and we spent nearly a year finishing her all off,” Josh reveals.

The amazing one-off chassis is retained and under the front-end is 6-litres of LS2 Chevrolet, backed by a Turbo 350 auto. Left at that hings would have been fun enough, but Josh decided the only way to beat the competition was to truly thrash them, so in went his secret weapon – An All-Wheel-Drive system.

It was hard work to setup, with many a broken item in the process, but Josh found the ultimate solution to his setup. A pair of Toyota Supra diffs sit at the front and rear, with the front one fed by a Supra driveshaft and the rear receiving power via a GT-R Skyline item. Loaded with 4.11:1 gears and ultimately pumping through Kumho Ecsta KU36 tyres all-round, it’ll smash all power to all wheels and launch this thing around a dirt ring at blistering pace. Remember, it barely weighs anything, either!

And just what does six litres of LS V8 muscle feel like once the starting flag drops in a space frame, fibreglass car? “It’s unbelievable to drive, especially off the start line. Being All-Wheel-Drive and getting all that horsepower straight to the ground, I’ll tell you… it nearly snaps your neck,” laughs Josh. Watching the video below it sure looks like a bunch of fun and with the package now sorted, it definitely gets moving on the dirt!

Of course Josh would like to thank all his family and helpers at Pickert Racing but also the Dirt Circuit Association for hosting an amazing, cost-effective sport for over 50 years – “I recommend all to check out pics and vids at Dirt Circuit SA. Thanks also to my sponsors Natrad, Beaurepairs and Paul McRitchie for the machining work.”