Grocery Getter: Aussie Scott Sharpe’s Big-Block Valiant Wagon

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Traditionally, station wagons haven’t exactly screamed race car material, perhaps with the exception of the classic V8-powered Chevy II’s or, more recently, the Dodge Magnum. But I’d challenge you to find a station wagon-turned-drag car that, when done right, isn’t as cool as the other side of the pillow. And Australian Scott Sharpe has done it right.

Sharpe has transformed a run-of-the-mill 1970 Valiant Regal station wagon into a grocery-getter that’s ready to run, complete with a big-block for power and a racing-focused touch from front to rear.

I got out of the car scene for about 10 years and then decided to buy this wagon. It was meant to be a low budget toy. I’ve always been into Holden’s, but I was looking for something different,” Sharpe tells us. “I bought the car online, but knew of it previously, as it had been around for a while. When I got it home I had a good look over it and one thing led to another and I stripped it down and started again. The car was pretty tired and needed a rebuild. It was only meant to be a mild build, but it snowballed.”

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Sharpe did most of the build in his garage, with some help from good friends along the way. The car was mini-tubbed and he had Scott and Paul Cortina at Gazzard Bros. build him a rear end. He then added chassis connectors and moved the split mono-leaf springs inboard. A whole host of leaf spring components from Gazzard Bros. were employed to finish out the rear suspension setup. He chose a Strange Engineering 9-inch housing with 3.50 gears and an Eaton Tru-Trac with Dutchman 35-spline axles for the driveline.

The stock front K-member and torsion bars were removed, and Sharpe connected with “Hemi Denny” in Ohio, who supplied a custom chromoly front K-member and upper and lower control arms for the project. A Flaming River rack and pinion and QA1 coilover shocks comprise the front end, with Wilwood brakes bringing it all to a halt.

He chose Weld Magnum wheels to give the otherwise unsuspecting wagon that full-on race look, wrapping the rears in Mickey Thompson 275 ET Street radials.

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Power comes from a 540 cubic inch big-block Chrysler Wedge built by Hughes Engines in Illinois, based around an Indy Cylinder Heads Maxx block, EZ heads, and single plane intake. He topped the bullet with a Pro Systems SV1 carburetor. The transmission was also sourced from the United States, as Rick Allison at A&A Transmission built the reverse pattern 727 Torqueflite that’s paired with a 3,800 rpm stall converter.

Sharpe finished the interior with a black vinyl stitched to look period-correct, and other than the aftermarket shifter on the floor and the racey gauges and switches, you’d have trouble telling it apart from a factory street car from the inside. He then painted it in VW Golf ‘Gecko Green’ with an Ivory roof and finished it off with venetian blinds in the rear windows, just to get a laugh from those looking it over. “There’s lots of little modifications that have been done to the car, like custom carbon fiber dash with Autometer carbon fiber gauges, and we narrowed the rear seat for the mini tubs,” he says.

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“Everyone seems to love the car, which is kind of weird for a wagon…especially a Valiant wagon. It took nearly six years to build it, and without my dad, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

All told, the wagon weighs in at just a hair under 3,200 pounds and belts out 720 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 696 lb-ft of torque at 4,500. Sharpe hasn’t been to the track yet, but says without hesitation that when he does, he’ll be “putting a few hundred horsepower of nitrous through it.”

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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