SIZE MATTERS

PROFLO PERFORMANCE UPS THE STREET-CAR ANTE WITH THIS 940CI LJ TORANA

- IAIN KELLY

TWENTY years ago we had a pretty good handle on the concept of what a street car was – 12s were quick and 530hp won you Horsepower Heroes. Today we have road-registered seven-second cars making 2500rwhp, and Sydney’s ProFlo Performance want to push the concept even further.

“Basically our client Milan wanted something different, which is hard, as everything has been done,” says ProFlo boss and street machining legend Paul Sant. He’s referring to the LJ Torana he whipped the covers off at Summernats 33, which packs a mountainous 940ci, 1600hp Sonny’s motor.

“Putting this engine in a small car, and with the wheel concept, was different,” he continues. “I think people can relate to a street car more. I know it’s a street car on steroids, but it still feels like an LJ Torana; I just wish it were legal to drive it on the street!”

Standing out today in the pantheon of hardcore streeters is a tough ask, with crazy power figures and record ETs popping up regularly, but the ProFlo LJ pushes the envelope hard thanks to its Doorslammer DNA, which was needed to satisfy the customer’s colossal ambitions.

“We threw around some ideas about whether he wanted to go blown and injected or big-cube aspirated, and he wound up deciding to go that way,” says Paul. “For me, back then that meant maybe 760ci, like Mark Hayes’s car [SM, Feb ’15]. I played around with specs for a build like that and approached Milan, who told me that wasn’t big enough; it didn’t push the envelope far enough.