When Canberra based Rodney Hoare first laid eyes on the new Holden Monaro coupe at the 2001 Sydney Motor Show he simply had to have one and the following day ordered a Red Hot CV8 and took delivery on the 29th of December 2001.

"Ever since Holden showed the concept car, I wanted one, so when the Sydney Motor Show came around it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to own one," Rod explained. "From day one I was really happy with the car, but you know how it goes, everything was fine until I caught the modification bug."

The story, though, kicked off in the months preceding the Monaro's launch, Rod thinking of what personalised plates he should acquire. "For months I was trying to think of a plate that would suit the car. I considered GAMEOVR at an early stage as I felt it worked in well with Holden's advertising, but presumed it would have been taken, so didn't attempt going for it. Anyway, I couldn't think of anything else, so I rang the Motor Registry office and they said it was available and I was on their doorstep within ½ hour ordering them. The luck of living in ACT and not having the competition for plates that the larger States have I guess."

The first mechanical mod was a basic exhaust upgrade in the form of HM Tri-y headers and cat back system. Slowly but surely other bolts ons took place, Autotech Services from Fyshwick donning the engine with an SS Induction throttle body and LS1 engine covers, the management was upgraded to include a Unichip piggyback computer, the trans topped with a GNE short shifter and the diff upgraded with 3.9:1 ratio crown wheel and pinion.

Turning to the undercarriage, Rod elected to stick with the stock FE2 shocks while adding lowered springs and Whiteline strut brace. At this point he elected to leave a brake upgrade for another time.

A radical interior revision was also high on the agenda, Rod opting to employ the expertise of KAM Motor Trimming from Fyshwick in not only adding some unique cockpit enhancements, but also adding to the aesthetics of the neat boot install with a full compliment of leather.

Much of the stock interior trim has been retained, KAM adding effect via custom leather door inserts, gearlever boot, console lid, rear parcel shelf, and a centre strip in the rear bench. A MOMO gear knob and VY SS Pedal Covers completed the basics.

The audio system is to die for, as is a truly unique boot install. Yep, together with Audiotech from Tuggeranong, the pair devised a multimedia combination that not only delivers awesome ear candy; earth shattering DVD performance is also only a button press away. They chose Clarion's class leading VRX925VD DVD/CD/MP3 player with integral 7-inch touch-screen monitor to orchestrate the entire audio and visual goings on. Boosting the front stage performance are Phoenix Gold TANTRUM 6-inch splits with potent 6.5-inch Earthquake speakers providing rear fill.

Having elected to stick with the stock interior speaker locations, the ante was upped when turning to the boot and creating a trick subwoofer enclosure situated in a fabricated driver's side panel. Different! Sure is: Rather than wasting much of the available space with a monster sub enclosure, a fabricated panel and amp rack with Phoenix Gold TANTRUM 500.4 and 400.4 amplifiers is mounted hard up against the rear firewall. The smaller of the two units runs the interior speakers, with the larger powering a 12-inch Phoenix Gold subwoofer. A 7-inch flip down Clarion monitor, two neon lights, StreetWires cabling, a boot floor fitted with an engraved mirror (Monaro), and an Optima battery completes the audiovisual excitement.

With a local Monaro drive day looming, Rod took the opportunity of improving the exterior aesthetics by adding a HBD boot spoiler and dropping the Munro over 19 x 8-inch ROH Fury Shadow Chrome rims wrapped in 245/35/ZR19Bridgestone S03 rubber.

"I had a great time at the Monaro day, but what really made it was when I was taken for a spin in a Monaro owned by Autotechnique's VCM Suite technician, Chris. I couldn't believe the difference in power and was immediately on the phone to Mario at Autotechnique to arrange for a full engine package."

Within days Rod embarked on a road trip to Rowville in the outer eastern suburb of Rowville where the car remained for a couple of weeks while Mario and Chris weaved their magic.

Before laying a spanner on the car, Mario positioned it on his awesome DynoLogic chassis dynamometer for a 'before' run and a relatively piddling 192 rear wheel kilowatts. You'd think that with extractors, exhaust, throttle body and Unichip, a little more grunt would have been forthcoming. But no, that's all the old girl could manage.

Two weeks later Rod drove away with a staggering 277 rear wheel kilowatts! The package required to achieve the extra grunt is simple enough, with Mario fitting a complete head and cam package.

To ensure the package worked as it should, Mario discarded the HM headers and cat back system in favour of Difilippo 4 into 1 extractors and a complete 2 ½-inch dual cat high flow system, the air box benefited from the inclusion of a K&N filter, while a MAF-less HSV intake pipe allowed Mario and Chris to fine tune the engine to absolute perfection. To the tune of almost 350 flywheel kilowatts!

Knowing that the massive 44% power increase would take its toll on the clutch, the factory item was discarded for a vastly lighter steel flywheel and the latest 400kW rated Spec dual friction clutch combo.

"The difference in the car is incredible, I mean I simply can't believe how much faster and more responsive it is. In fact I have nothing but praise for Mario and Chris. Fantastic."

Proving the point, Rodney made his way down to Heathcote Park Raceway for the 2004 LS1 Nationals where he competed both on the track and in the dyno competition. In the latter the car achieved 274 rear wheel kilowatts, while on the track with standard road tyres and around 100kgs of stereo equipment, Rodney's quarter mile debut resulted in a best 13.3 at a very strong 111mph.

The game at this stage isn't quite over though, with Rodney planning on a brake upgrade! He's also looking at having a sunroof fitted and of course intends getting in as many miles as possible. And wouldn't you, I mean with so much grunt in such a brilliant car, you simply couldn't keep me out of it!