HOT PURSUIT

HUSS AYACHE’S VL TURBO IS A FORMER POLICE CHASER REINCARNATED AS A NINE-SECOND MISSILE

- CARLY DALE

AT EIGHTEEN years old, Huss Ayache cut his teeth on this VL Commodore BT1 turbo – and with a want for big power came a steep learning curve on how to get it. Now, another 18 years later, he has developed the know-how and gathered the right people around him to build this ex-police chaser into a hardcore (yet classy) potential-eight-second weapon.

With over 1000hp on tap, this VL has only just touched on what it can do. “We didn’t expect to run a nine on its first trip out; we just went to the track to set up suspension,” Huss says. “The car ran a 9.0@155mph on low boost with 31psi – we couldn’t believe it! That mile-per-hour should be an 8.7 or quicker, and it’s tuned to 50psi.”

That’s a far cry from the factory 150kW example that Huss secured almost two decades ago – back when the sleek VL Commodores were easy to come by and didn’t require a massive bank loan to acquire a decent example. “I wanted a yellow BT1 and couldn’t find one; they were asking around $12,000-$13,000 for banged-up ones,” Huss says. “Then this one came up not far from me for $7600.” It was sporting a fairly fresh lick of white paint, so purchasing it was a no-brainer for Huss.