Photo by Gavin Williams

Popular European racer Andy Frost, once the outright street legal world record holder with his familiar Red Victor 3 Vauxhall, has finally hit the ground running after a more than year-long effort to reclaim said title, making his first laps on a fresh new combination at the FIA Main Event in England last weekend.

Photo by Lewis Ffitch

Frost, the source of plenty of controversy in his international battle with Larry Larson, Tom Bailey, and Jeff Lutz for street car supremacy, held the world record for street legal, street-driven cars in 2013 when he clocked a 6.40 at 223 mph — that after becoming England’s first six-second street car a year previous. But after Larson, the five-time champion of Drag Week, pushed his Chevrolet S-10 into the low six-second zone and later into the fives, Frost knew he’d need a bigger bat to swing, and so with the help of throngs of supporters from around the world, he set off to re-think Red Victor 3 front to back with a mission to run in the fives.

Frost and company went through the entire engine and drivetrain, first assembling a 540 cubic inch big-block built by Marc Lamude Racing in England, with a billet intake manifold designed and machined by Steve Morris in Michigan.

Photo by Chris Warburton

Inside and elsewhere, they added a Winberg billet crank, GRP aluminum rods, Diamond anodized pistons with DLC coated Trend pins, Total Seal M2 custom piston rings, a New Century gear drive and custom oil pan, a Morris/Bullet custom camshaft, Jesel lifters, new Brodix cylinder heads ported and polished by Race Flow Developments, and an Avaid four-stage dry sump oil pump with a Peterson Fluid Systems tank. Frost also chose a Pantera EFI setup and Turbosmart Race Port Blowoff valves and twin 60mm wastegates to help control the twin Precision 102mm GEN2 Pro Mod turbochargers.

World renowned tuner Shane Tecklenburg, a central figure in Andy’s Red Victor project over the years. Photo by Chris Warburton

In the driveline department, a new two-speed Turbo 400 with Reid Racing case and Browell bellhousing was built up by Penn Autos and paired with a Pro Torque EV1 converter to handle the planned 4,000 horsepower.

Chris Isaacs Race Cars assisted in tuning the chassis, which is cloaked in a 1972 Vauxhall VX4/90 FD replica fiberglass body.

With the opportunity to run on national event caliber track prep provided by the FIA, Frost set the Main Event as his debut destination, entering the car in Comp Eliminator. Early test launches showed some serious promise, with a 1.08 best short time before encountering tire shake that resulted in an aborted run.

Photo by Chris Warburton

He later cranked off a career best 6.37 at 234 mph with what he called a “slow” 1/8-mile of 4.25 at 180 and a 60-foot clocking of 1.06, before he and friend and tuner Shane Tecklenburg, who made the long journey from his home in California to England, began testing some different things. He added runs of 6.53 and 6.59 to the weekend resume

Photo by Chris Warburton

“Everything new on the car worked really well, but of course, as always, a couple of things will need tweaking for next time,” Frost shares. “Unfortunately living here in England there is only twice in a year to test and run on a FIA-type prepped track. So, the next outing for the car will be the European finals in September. We’re pretty confident the car will be a good deal faster then, and at the end of the meeting we’ll see where we are. From there we’ll decide on our plan of action. As always the support from the Red Victor 5 second club has been massive, and the team would like to thank all of them for their continued help.”

The street car record that Frost will be shooting for currently stands at a 5.88, set in the fall of 2014 by Larson in Las Vegas. That number, of course, will be under attack by other challengers as the season progresses, including Bailey and Lutz. Frost’s car, like those here in the states, is fully street legal, licensed and tagged, and the outspoken Englishman isn’t afraid to prove it, routinely cruising the streets of his hometown in the bright red machine that sticks out like a sore thumb to the law.

Members and supporters of the Red Victor 5-Second Club, commemorated on the wing of the Red Victor 3 Vauxhall. Photo by Lewis Ffitch