DEMON DAILY
Once known as ‘the electric car’, Diane Abed’s VE SSV wagon won’t be mistaken for some quiet, smug mobile ever again
Story and by hoskingindustries.com.au
Diane Abed is a died-in-the-wool Commodore fan. She’s previously owned a VK Berlina, V8 VR Exec and her last daily was a VY SS wagon – which is still taking up residence in the family shed now. “I bought the VY SS specifically to cart around my two Huskies,” Diane says. “I decided it was time to upgrade and when I came across this VE wagon, I fell in love.”
The 2011-model VE was as stock as a rock when Diane found it, and it “was a pleasure to drive”, she says. Only problem was that the car was too quiet. “I would always have a laugh as I could never tell when the car was on, so I nicknamed it ‘the electric car’!”
This disturbing problem saw Diane driving the wagon down to the guys at Streamline Automotive, in search of a louder exhaust. Only, she drove away with far, far more. “I went there to discuss changing the exhaust system,” she says. “By the time I walked out, the entire car was getting a makeover!”
That makeover not only consisted of the fitment of a Harrop HTV2300 blower kit and fuel system upgrade, but coil-overs and bigger brakes, too. Up front, there’s the blower, which is helping the SSV make a prodigious 590rwhp for daily duties, aided by a ZL1 fuel pump and Harrop OTR CAI. This is backed by the factory 6-speed manual that now enjoys an Extreme single-plate clutch, feeding power to the factory LSD-equipped rear end.
One of the first things we noticed about Diane’s daily was the slammed, purposeful stance over those 20in SSW rims. This is accomplished with Harrop by KW Street Comfort coil-overs at all four corners, sweetly swallowing up those 20x10in rear rims and sticky 275-wide Nitto Invo hoops. If that weren’t enough, a full complement of Harrop Ultimate-series brakes fill up the spaces behind each rim and do an excellent job of stopping the big, black, blown beast.
As impressive as this all is for a daily that regularly sees two very hairy Huskies cruising in the back luggage compartment, it’s not all the VE has going for it. “I wanted to change its appearance a bit and decided to go with airbrushing,” Diane says. “I’ve never been girly, so pink fairies weren’t really my thing, so I went with skulls.
“My previous wagon had ‘DIE’ plates on it (my nickname), but most people took that to mean death, so I decided I may as well roll with it!”
Alison Art was called upon to lather numerous surfaces in the engine bay and interior with airbrush art, depicting ghoulish skulls and ominous lightning themes. Diane was so enamoured with the results that she’s now planning to commission Alison Art to cover the entire car in a similar theme sometime in 2015. “Once you start, you can’t stop,” she says.
“I had a smile that lasted a week once I finally got my car back from Streamline,” Diane says. “At first I didn’t realise it was my car making the noise, as I never expected it to sound so good.”
If there was one thing Diane says she would have changed if she had her time over again, it would have been to build a stroker motor for it at the same time as getting the blower fitted. So strong is this thought that she’s actually planning to go that route in 2015 – with the aim of making over 700hp, still remaining a dedicated daily driver! “I love the power,” she says. “That and the reactions the car gets when I start it. Jaws drop.”