Tom Martin - 2007 Vauxhall Monaro Vxr 500

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Tom Martin, 

2007 Vauxhall Monaro Vxr 500

Instagram: @tommyclubvaux

I’m a 33-year-old Technician at Vauxhall and a lifelong Vauxhall fan.

My route into the car scene is probably very similar to most other peoples, I was obsessed with anything on wheels from birth, toy cars, skateboards, go-karts, bikes, motorbikes and cars. I distinctly remember as a kid, I would push my little brother's pram around at top speed making all the accompanying engine revving and tyre screeching sounds as I imagined I was in the latest big race, my Mom put a stop to that after we took an uneven corner a bit too quick causing the pram to end up on its side and my then, baby brother, to roll out of it.

My parents and my Grandad had Vauxhalls when I was younger, my Grandad had a Carlton and my Dad had an Mk2 Cavalier Sri 130 followed by a few Mk3 Cavaliers while my Mom had a V6 Omega. I got my licence at the tail end of the max power scene when I was 18, I’d seen all the local cars driving around, meeting up and chatting extensively about what they’d done, what they planned to do and generally having a good laugh with each other, everyone was into cars back then and I was eager to join in. My tastes in cars have always been a bit left field, my ‘first car’ choices were a white Clio with go-faster stripes and a peppering of interior and exterior LEDs in the mandatory blue, a canary yellow 1.3 Escort Cosworth replica and a Convertible Nova Saloon wearing a Gsi body kit, Sri interior and sporting a 1.3l Nova Sport engine complete with big lumpy cam and twin 40 webers, I missed out on the Clio and the Escort after losing both of their eBay auctions but I secured the Nova auction with a little extra input from my Dad.

Since then I’ve owned over 25 cars, mainly retro cars with the Monaro being my latest car, I built up from Nova to Astra s, Astra’s to Cavalier’s, Cavaliers to Vectra’s and some modern dailies in the form of an Mk6 Astra and my current daily Mk2 Insignia Sports tourer.

That leaves my current toy like this, a Vauxhall Monaro Vxr500, it’s a limited run car from the end of production, basically a badge-engineered Holden Monaro, it’s a 6 litre V8, rear-wheel drive, 4 seat coupe that was fitted by the dealership, with a Harrop supercharger, uprated injectors and fuel pump, rip shifter quick shift gear selector, fully adjustable coilovers, Wortec exhaust system with required remap and AP racing 6 pot and 4 pot brakes fitted to the front and rear respectively.

All that leads to a Vauxhall with 500bhp and 500ft/lb (678nm) torque, capable of a 4.8 second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 182mph+, if you can keep the rear wheels from spinning, all with a manufacturer warranty from Vauxhall. It was the fastest car Vauxhall produced at the time and something I see as a pinnacle car, only being topped, in that respect, by the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton and if money was no object, I’d certainly add one of those to my collection as well as an F40, no-one can deny the F40 is one of those legendary poster cars that most people could only dream of owning.

The current spec of the Monaro is as follows;

• 6.0 V8 LS2 motor  
• Harrop HH112 Supercharger
• Uprated injectors and fuel pump  
• LS7 clutch and slave cylinder with remote bleed function
• Limited Slip Differential
• Wortec dual exhaust system with X-pipe
• Wortec remap
• Pedders extreme height, bump and rebound adjustable coilovers
• AP Racing 6 pot 360mm front brakes and 4 pot 340mm rear brakes
• Monkfish Road response pack poly bush kit  
• Monkfish Antiroll bar poly bush kit
• Insignia Vxr 20" wheels wrapped in Continental Sport Contact 6 rubber
• Pioneer Mavic F88DAB stereo with integrated DAB, 
• Sat Nav and reverse camera
• Clifford alarm and immobiliser system

Future plans include a quick rack, optimising or replacing the supercharger setup, fitting an uprated cam along with uprated valve springs, tubular tuned headers and further exhaust work, the only real limit to engine tuning for these is how deep your pockets are. I’m also planning some minor changes to the interior.

With all that being said I do have to admit that unlike my previous cars, most of the work on this car has been carried out previous to me owning it, the only real things I’ve done so far are sort some general maintenance issues out, modify and fit the wheels and make some suspension changes however I intend to be as hands-on going forward as possible. The guys and girls over at the VXR8/Monaro owners club are keeping me on the right track, with me still being pretty new to the Monaro their help has been invaluable in sourcing parts and recommending the best places to go to sort out the future plans.

I’m normally present at a few shows with Club-Vaux but due to the current Corona situation I haven’t had the Monaro to any, events like Trax, the majority of Vauxhall shows such as the VBOA annual rally, the Vauxhall show, ExtremeBHP meets and a longer Euro trip out to the 3/4 day long OpelTreffen in Oschersleben, Germany, this is the world's largest Opel/Vauxhall dedicated show with so much to do, Show and Shine, Drag racing, Agility course, Drifting, Burnout arena, Funny car contest, Sound system testing and even a concourse event.

Of Course, being in Germany, it would be rude not to include a stop off at the Nurburgring. I’ve entered the show and shine at Oschersleben previously, not in any attempt to win though, it’s all just a bit of fun but I did walk away with a trophy one year. I’ll also be at the Z20let lovers raceways 5 events later this year, again, as a bit of fun, to see what the car can do over 1/4, 1/2 and 1-mile stretch.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/215515051913559/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubVaux/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1649633231971734/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Extremebhp/

https://www.facebook.com/Race-Wars-458220371660347/

https://www.facebook.com/VBOAssociationoffical/

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