While it is true that most quarter-mile dragstrip aficionados are located in North America, nobody should think that fast cars do not attract attention in other regions. For example, here is a pretty bonkers example from the Australian channel FullBOOST, which has covered automotive news and motorsport events from around the region since 1997, but (probably) never something like this.
Not long ago, the host was on point at the Heathcote Park Raceway located in Victoria, the Land Down Under. HPR has been around since 1975 and "has a rich history of drag racing spanning the last 45 years," which makes it an obvious choice for various related events. For example, during the King of the Street weekend, many interesting racers gathered to see which could extract the best ETs and trap speeds.
By the way, enthusiasts of racing cars in a straight line know very well a thing or two about the perils, as well as the trials and tribulations of hitting the lowest ETs and highest trap speeds. And there is no need to take our word for granted if you are part of the uninitiated – the second and third videos embedded below will show a thing or two about that, complete with a heavily modified Ford Mustang that crashed even after deploying the chute, as well as the (allegedly) world's fastest supercharged Chevy Corvette C8, which recently ran a 10.1s pass at 139.5 mph (224.5 kph).
And if you think that's not that hard to achieve, you'd better think again. Anyway, back in Australia, we talked about the Mustang and C8 Corvette because these are some of the most common suspects regarding quarter-mile-focused modifications. But how about facing the rivals in something that is probably unheard of? Such as a Lamborghini Jalpa 350S (1981-1988), the last thoroughbred from the exotic Italian automaker to feature a V8 engine before the contemporary arrival of the Urus super-SUV. But wait, as there is a little more to the story than just taking number 397 of just 410 Jalpas ever built to the local dragstrip.
Instead, the owner also wanted this thing to be even more outrageous than the norm, as it now features a twin-turbo LS conversion to connect the dots from Australia to Europe and the United States! You can find a lot more about this build from the interview taken by the host of FullBOOST, but more importantly, you can also see the Lambo Jalpa racing some of its foes at HPR. It didn't always win, though, even during its quest to reach the eights. Still, it was a marvelous sight to behold, especially when performing humongous wheelies, of course.
On a more serious note, the team ultimately accomplished their objective of dropping below the nines (8.992s at 158 mph/254 kph), though not before taking a resounding beating from a well-prepared, gray Toyota Supra Mk4. Nothing from the outside announced the storm of JDM prowess, but Jalpa's nice 9.24s pass was simply blown away to smithereens by the Supra with its 7.75s ET at 181 mph (291 kph). Alas, a heavily modified Toyota sports car taking it to the sevens is not uncommon in the quarter-mile drag racing world, right? Unlike an ultra-limited classic Lambo with two humongous turbos and an LS V8, which is truly a sight to behold – irrespective of its 8s or 9s ETs! We truly live in a marvelous (automotive) world.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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