Red Victor dragsters adopted by Vauxhall
Wolverhampton speed king Andy Frost, whose street legal Red Victor dragsters have been has been wowing racing fans for nearly two decades, has been adopted by Vauxhall as the car-maker's official VXR team.
Wolverhampton speed king Andy Frost, whose street legal Red Victor dragsters have been has been wowing racing fans for nearly two decades, has been adopted by Vauxhall as the car-maker's official VXR team.
VXR is the branding for the high-performance specification across Vauxhall's car range in the UK.
It gives major backing to Mr Frost, who combines his drag racing with running the Penn Autos automatic transmission business in Springhill Lane, Wolverhampton.
The move will support Redvictor's MSA Pro Modified campaign with the new Redvictor 3 Street Legal Pro modified car.
The team will be running under the VXR banner to promote the flagship Vauxhall performance range with what both sides believe is the fastest roadgoing Vauxhall on earth.
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Team principal Andy Frost said: "We are very happy and proud to announce a partnership with this great company.
Over the years we have worked hard to promote the team, along with the Vauxhall name, to a worldwide audience, and feel this recognition is a fantastic gesture and reward for that effort.
"We are looking forward to working with Vauxhall in promoting the VXR brand as synonymous with superlative high performance vehicles.
"We would like to extend our gratitude to Vauxhall for their faith and support in this venture."
Stuart Harris, group product manager at Vauxhall said: "We watched with admiration what Andy was able to achieve with the original Red Victor and when the opportunity came to help in the new project we leapt at the chance."
Andy Frost's Redvictor racing team was born when he bought a 1960s Vauxhall Victor VX 4/90 nearly 30 years ago.
He first saw the Vauxhall in Wolverhampton in 1982 and fell for its US-style 'coke bottle' styling. He swopped it for a Cortina which he reckons was worth around £60. Since then he's replaced pretty much every mechanical part and spent in excess of £100,000 turning it into the fastest street legal car in the world.
In its 1972 heyday day the Vauxhall was fitted with a two-litre engine, which couldn't even hit 100mph. The 0-60mph sprint would have taken a leisurely 12.5 seconds.
In its Red Victor 2 incarnation, power came from a giant 9.3 litre Chevrolet big block with twin turbochargers, producing a massive 2,200 horsepower. The 0-60mph time was reduced to 1.1 seconds. But this could pale compared to the latest version of the car: Red Victor 3.
Billed as "the world's fastest road going Vauxhall" it will make a star appearance at the VXR Power Festival, at Silverstone in Northamptonshire this Bank Holiday, August 28-29.
Producing more than 3,000 horsepower from its 8.8-litre, twin-turbocharged GM V8 engine, 'Red Victor 3' - a highly modified version of the original 1967 Victor - will appear at the Power Festival to herald the new partnership between Vauxhall's VXR brand and the Red Victor team for the 2011 MSA Pro-Modified Drag Racing season.
Completed
While the car is still in development, the Red Victor team is predicting a top speed, to begin with, of 240mph in the quarter-mile, which it should achieve in 6.5 seconds.
And there's no reason to doubt them: Red Victor 2, was capable of nearly 200mph in the quarter-mile and 0-153mph in 4.8 seconds.
The new car is on schedule to be completed early next year and is currently at the rolling chassis stage at the Webster Race Engineering workshop.
Updates on the project are available at www.redvictor1racing.co.uk
Vauxhall's Stuart Harris added: "We're sure visitors to the Power Festival will make a bee-line for the Victor. We're really looking forward to working with Andy Frost and his team next year and see this as a great match for the VXR brand."
The car will be one of the stars of Vauxhall's VXR Power Events, which has run through 2010 to raise money for Help for Heroes, reaches its zenith with the two-day Power Festival at Silverstone this Bank Holiday.
Thousands are expected to attend the event, which aims to raise further funds for H4H through high-octane activities like 0-60 challenges, autotesting, karting and VXR track tuition with pro-drivers. VXR and Vauxhall V8 owners can even pay to take to Silverstone's famous track in their own cars.
A Pro-Am Pursuit will see famous racing drivers from Vauxhall's past, such as Fabrizio Giovanardi, Jason Plato and James Thompson, take on celebrities including TV chef James Martin, ex-England footballer Luther Blisset and Eastenders' Kara Tointon.
Adult tickets for the event will cost £10 and children under five get in for free. For more information, go to www.vxrpowerevents.co.uk
