I hear Ross Freestone is freshening up the old dog. Does any one know a spy in the Tamworth area? His business is called Automotion. Take your cameras & note pads! We want details!

I talked with Ross about 18 months ago, he was undecided wether to revive the car or not. Apparently it sitting on the trailer in the corner of his business shop.

I was hoping he would get enthusisatic about the new Sydney track ( WSID ) opening in Jan 2004, and having our VW Nats event in April.

I remember as a kid when it was at one of the early VW Spectaculars, it was a real conversation piece.

As was the amphibian beetle (what's it's name?) that tried to cross Bass Strait or something.

[Edited on 18-1-2005 by 56astro]

Seabug, I actually went for a spin in the Valla Lagoon... funny

Well, it has been over two years since I posted this question
and today I got on the phone and gave him a ring.

The good news is that he IS reviving the car
and even better he is hoping to have it ready for Warwick this year!

Ross' previous best with the 600kg car was a 10.71@124mph way back in the early ninetys.

Ross said that he has gone through the car front to back
with his sights set on solid nine second passes.

Engine size will be around 2900cc and he is looking or about 100 more HP!

It is great to see some of the old legends of the scene back at it!

NOW...
How can we get Peter Keegan and Henry Spicak back behind the wheel!?

I'd love to see Henry and his Manx.....is that car still around?

I would like to know if it is still around also!

HS didnt you keep all the good go fast bits of the engine
havent seen the buggy around

I remember seeing him go at the Christmas tree a few times. It was a beast of a thing.

He must be doing some mods to the chassis to tame it down too..Especially with an extra 100 Hp!

:thumb...yep looks like you found it alright!

i might have to sneak a look at ross's workshop one day im shopping

I have spoken again to Ross this week and he is super keen.
He is getting very enthusiastic about running his car again and is
looking forward to catching up with all the old timers, (and new fans) at Warwick.
He says he has been keeping his reactions sharp,
and has even been keeping fit and lost some weight.

The word is, that the time and effort that is going into the new engine combo,
it should be a world standard N/A combo!

someone sent me these

Any luck Dave

and in colour

[ Edited on 26-6-2007 by vw54 ]

Ross will be at Warwick if all goes to plan.
Still finishing off the heads and then onto the dyno.
Word is that he could have bought a nice house block in Tamworth with the investment in the engine.
Hooray for the Volksy scene I say!

Between all the new volksies and the vee's at Morgan park, Warwick is going to be a hoot!!!!

I have Just been in contact with Ross, and his new 2897cc engine has been on the engine dyno for thorough testing and tuning.

It has been over 4 years of design and planning to get where he wanted to be.

As predicted,
the engine has world quality power and torque figures.

315 hp at 7500rpm
and 260 ft.lbs of torque at 5600 rpm.

In fact, Ross said it was still making 305 hp at 8000, so it is definitely an engine with a broad spread of power and torque.

These figures are "uncorrected",
so in good weather, or at a track closer to sea level(eg. Portland?),
good results are expected.

With Ross' car weighing in at around 1550 lbs,
trap speeds above 135mph should be no problem.
This equates to solid nine second time slips on a good track .

Ross said the engine handled 48 power/test runs on the dyno and they got the tune very good.
Ignition, fuel and Intake runner length were all optimised.

The next step will be to check the engine components thoroughly to ensure it will be ready for action in the car early next year.

Absolutely awesome!! Now to get the old silver fox back behind the wheel....

I heard he may be ready for a run at Gunnedah in March.

I will try and slip into his workshop this week and see him.

Cheers Col

Fantastic! Wicked setup on the engine

I love the old gasser style cars. Can't wait to see this car running.

All we need now are a few more......wasn't there a "camel" car around somewhere......

Okay, so i went and had a quick chat with Ross today.
He has partially disassembled the motor after the dyno session and so far all looks good. Actually he said all looks great. He was a little worried about the cam no taking the pressure and snapping, he is running triple chevy vale springs, but all looks good.
I asked him about a possible return to the track next year, he said it,s taken him 4 1/2 years to get to this stage so he is not rushing anything.
Man it,s got some crazy ports on his cylinder heads and awesome injection system.
I will try and pop in again when he has done some more and post any progress.

Cheers Col

More pics:

Woo Hoo

Like that last pic Dave

cool............i remember in the mid nineties, Ross came and cut the body skin from an oval window we had, saying the structural/strength areas were not needed........so i wonder how different the body will be

im not sure how much different it will be as i never seen it in the 90's it's nice and low and it's still running drum breaks all round!

i saw it run early eighties at surfers .for the first time at surfers i think, and it ran without the rear of the car , like a baja. it popped a big wheelie and he had to back off cause it was heading for the grass

that has got to be one of the coolest looking drag cars i have seen, i hope it still looks like that awesome