Once you decide your going to build your dream car the problem is finding the time to do it and the right people to do the job. Running one of the biggest Performance Parts businesses in Australia doesn't leave you a lot of time to build a car or chase up bits, so it comes in handy to have guys like Chris Palazzo and John Rosanella floating around the office. These guys have some experience in building cars with Chris having built a couple of Hot Rods and John a qualified mechanic with a love of muscle cars.

These guys where given the task of organising and managing the King Kong Cuda Build. The call was made to Daniel and Adam Cassar who were just completing the show tour with Daniel's Passion Purple 1932 Roadster. Daniel runs HI-Class Hot Rods down in Melbourne and between him and his bother Adam & father Frank have a lot of experience in building killer cars. "I had to twist their arms a bit because they were so busy but I assured them if there was one car they needed to have their name on it would be this one." It also helped that these guys also liked HEMI powered muscle (but who doesn't).

The plan called for the project to be based on one of the most legendary and hard to get muscle cars around the 1970 HEMI Cuda. With these cars selling for over 500k US for a good numbers matching original, the decision was made to find a complete 70 barracuda to dissect and form the platform for the project as few of the original components would be retained anyway. The car will be based on the popular G-machine / Pro touring style.

The engine will be a 426 - 540 Mopar HEMI depending on availability and will be backed by a B&M 727 torqueflite matched to a Strange Engineering 9" . Barer brakes will supply discs and 6 spot calipers. The car will be right hand drive and utilize a Rod City Stainless independent front suspension. King Kong will roll on 18x7 and 20x10 billet specialties with Pirelli rubber bands. The interior will be modern using leather and the latest Autometer NEXUS gauges with a B&M billet shifter.

The car will have all the mod cons including MSD twin throttle body EFI, air conditioning, power steering, Stat nav, DVD and a killer stereo. Many of the components are still to be finalised with as much as possible being sourced from Rocket Industries suppliers. This car should be a great project because it combines Hot Rod styling with a legendary muscle car to produce a killer street machine.