fringe world - perth

jayme and celery stick's wedding

Yesterday, on Valentines today, I was honoured to be standing next to one of my best mates as he married the love of his life. The bridesmaids looked gorgeous, us blokes scrubbed up pretty well, and of course Celeste, Jayme's bride, looked absolutely breathtaking.

It really was a beautiful wedding, and I wish Jayme and Celeste all the best for the future.

kz125 shifter karts

I took a trip up to Wannaroo to watch my good mate race his KZ125 Shifter Kart. These go karts use the KZ125cc motor, which are spun up to about 15,500rpm with the correct tune. They also have a 6 speed gearbox, shifted via a sequential shifter to the right of the steering wheel. They have a clutch lever, on the left of the tiller, though this is only used for the initial start on the grid. Look closely and you might notice the front disk brakes on these karts too. 

Topping out at nearly 190km/h on a long enough straight, and sitting only millimetres from the racing surface, these machines really are a wild ride. Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to me!

dad's xr falcon

the xr wagon

Liams 1967 XR wagon is one of my favourite cars in Perth. Why? It is tasteful and classy, yet is packed full of attitude - how does a 347ci, 520hp screaming Windsor poking through the bonnet sound? Yep. Being an XR Falcon helps too...I have a soft spot for those!

The first thing you will notice is the gorgeous turquoise paint. While quite a few years old now, it still presents incredibly well. Cast your eyes inside Liam's wagon and you'll see it splashed about through the interior too, and the white upholstery on the seats and door cards perfectly compliment the colour. The dash cops the turquoise colour as well, and with the billet steering wheel, brushed aluminium trim, and deleted radio and heater controls, it really does look incredibly clean. 

If you take a step back to admire the wagon you'll surely give the Weld Draglites a look or two. They are a classic design that look great on anything - particularly on early Falcons. Liam opted to utilise the standard Borg Warner diff, though shortening it to allow for some extra dish on the 8.5" wide rear wheels. It is filled with a 3.7 gear set, and a Tru-Trac centre - if you have ever had any doubts as to the strength of the humble BW rear end, watching Liam destroy tyres in powerskid comps will surely vaporise any uncertainty immediately.

Moving along to the business end of things, the 347ci combo really is an impressive bit of gear. Built by Trick and Mansweto, the little Windsor cranks out 520hp at the motor and sends the power south via a manualised, reverse pattern C4. You really have to hear this thing to truly appreciate it - Liam's mates joke that he might actually have a sprint car motor under the bonnet due to the insane sound that it makes! 

He has layed down a low 11 second pass on street rubber, and you only have to attend one of the many car shows in Perth to see how tough this thing really is. Liam is a regular at many of the automotive events held in Perth, and if he's not Showin' n' Shinin', then big revs and big powerskids are generally the order of the day.