Pulling to a stop at the red light at the end of the drag strip, Engines revving and the smell of burnt rubber fills the air. A flash of green and the screech of wheels as a foot lifts to release the clutch and another slams down to hit the accelerator. Launched into 170 km’s per hour over a one-quarter mile, this is the moment that Lachlan Tinnock’s years of work, and his passion filled him with adrenaline.
At a young age Lachlan’s love for Cars, engines and almost anything on wheels began, as his Father and his father before him all shared the same passion. The day-to-day hobby of tinkering with engines is something that the Tinnock family has always loved, and this is no different for Lachlan. Growing up in country Australia there was no lack of room to get behind the wheel of a paddock basher and take it for a spin around the yard.
Better yet the numerous amounts of wrecks and old engines sitting around the property served as the perfect projects for young Lachlan to discover everything he could about automobiles and how they work. At only fifteen years old he had successfully completed his first engine conversion when he replaced the motor in the family’s old H.G Holden Ute with another Holden straight six. Even before this, old Postie bikes were a popular engine for Lachlan to “play around with” learning as much as he could with hands on work, dismantling and then rebuilding of engines and vehicles.
Since then Lachlan has performed multiple engine conversions including his fathers V8 Holden VK Commodore, A Toyota Corolla and a Subaru Imprexa. But Lachlan’s pride and joy is his own canary yellow 1985 VK Holden Commodore, the car his father bought him when he was 17 years old, when he was fresh on his red P plates. The car that he took down Sydney drag way as mentioned earlier. A car that he has tuned and upgraded over the years ever since it came in his possession. At this point he has a Supercharged V6 3.8 engine, from a 1998 HSV.
For Lachlan, seeing his projects improve over time is what fuels his love for cars. Experiencing new challenges, learning more each time. This constant improvement, and the gratifying feeling when you “finally get something right” is what keeps Lachlan interested in motor cars. Lachlan finds a pleasure in this day-to-day hobby as he develops his skills and knowledge of vehicles, from the small things to the big things “from changing over some lights to upgrading to new wheels”. When the time comes and Lachlan is settled down he hopes to have his own property and paddock of old cars for him to “tinker and play” and hopefully pass down his knowledge and prized cars to his children.
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