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TONY ROHR IS GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY WITH THIS SHED-BUILT, EIGHT-SECOND VH COMMODORE

- ANDREW BROADLEY

BUILDING a race car at home in the shed, taking it to the track and driving it into the eights is an act of considerable bad-arsery for a person of any age. But Tony Rohr, a retired farmer from Mudgee with no formal automotive-related training, has managed to do just that at 77 years young. Sure, you might be cool, but odds are you ain’t that cool!

Paint, ’cage and transmission aside, Tony tackled the whole process from go to whoa on his own, with no outside help. He repaired the rust, specced and built the twin-turbo 427ci RHS-blocked LS, fabricated the turbo system, and plumbed, wired and assembled the car from top to bottom and front to back.

The finished product ran out of injector on the ACM Engines hub dyno at just 15psi of boost, but still managed to reel off 1010hp. That was enough to propel the VH down the Sydney Dragway blacktop in 8.88@155mph, with plenty of headroom for further development. Retirement done right!

The whole reason the VH came to be is that Tony’s street car – a V2 CV8 Monaro with a big single spoolyboy – ran well into the nines at full weight, complete with air con, cruise control, leather interior, IRS and no safety equipment whatsoever. He grew tired of being sent home from the track by stewards, and in fairness, the car probably wasn’t as safe as it should’ve been.