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Dave Burditt photo
(This article was first published in the October 1971 edition of Custom Car magazine)
Putting together an American-style double-A fueler in a country where Stateside parts take months to arrive may not be the easiest way to go motor racing but sure as ostrich eggs it's the only route Arthur Christy and Henry Geddes are prepared to go. They're the owners of the quickest four-wheeled machine in Africa - Hawaian [sic] III. It's South Africa's number one digger, the car that carried Arthur to his current title of National Champion.
Last July Arthur and chief wrench Henry shipped Hawaian III from its resident strip - Rainbow Dragway, Transvaal - all the way to our own Santa Pod Raceway in order to fly the South African colours at the BDR&HRA's International Championships and but for blower problems it might well have been a major threat.
Anyway, down (or is it around?) in sunny SA the 15cwt car regularly stirs up the natives with mid-nine-second smoke trails in the 170s and has up to now managed to hold off even more expensive machinery - Hawaian cost just £2500 to build. It took Santa Pod's sticky surface to pull the best out of Hawaian III's big hemi-Chrysler motor, with 'Mad' Arthur putting down a best of 9.05 seconds at 177.84mph on straight methanol and circuit racing tyres. That was just a little faster and two-tenths of a second quicker than the car's previous best (clocked at Rainbow) and if Hawaian's GMC blower had held together when Arthur tried a banzai qualifying pass on 35 per cent nitro South Africa would have been in the eights.
Due to the vast distances between the Stateside speed parlours and Arthur's own engineering shop in Springs, near Jo'burg, Hawaian III called for a three year building operation. Many of the parts - such as the valves, clutch housing, front wheel hubs, tiller and chromed front axle plus all four wheels - were constructed by Arthur and Henry in their spare time. Luckily both have there own engineering business.
The big 354 hemi - punched out to six litres - came out of a '57 Chrysler found in a wrecker's yard, but with the installation of a whole bunch of American meanies it's been brought up to 800bhp spec. Like a set of Venolia pistons on Mickey Thompson rods, a Chet Herbert roller cam kit and super-tough TRW bearings. Screwed to Hawaian's Edelbrock manifold is a Hilborn 175 injection set-up topped by a GMC 6/71 supercharger, though plans are in hand for a new bug-catcher injection system to go aboard ready for higher nitro loads.
Magneto is a Joe Hunt Vertex, sparking either NGK or Champion plugs. The engine oil system, protected by a Fram strainer, relies on 50-weight Valvoline Racing Oil - provided by Hawaian's only sponsor, Valvoline of South Africa.
Like the flywheel, Hawaian's clutch is a Schiefer product (double-disc type), while the third member is a 3.11 Pontiac cog. Firestone race boots used to try to put the power on the ground, but using nitro Arthur found he was lighting 'em up out of the hole and still trailing a rooster through the traps. That ain't good for ETs and now the car is shod with Kelly-Springfield's new wrinkle-wall slicks and Arthur is waiting for the drive shafts to twist 'emselves in knots!
Up front there's the home-built dropped tube axle, which uses torsion bar suspension and carries Anglia spindles mated to Christy-type hubs. We're not sure about the front tyres - think they're a local moulding made from banana skins or something.
Steering is via a Morris box and braking arrangements are down to rear discs formed by mating Volvo calipers to home-constructed disc units. Hawaian's chute is an American Simpson item.
The car's all-aluminium full body, which sits on a 150in-wheelbase tube frame, was sprayed blue and yellow by the boys themselves, with a guy named Angelo Kater taking credit for the office furnishing job.
Mike Lintern
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