You’ve gotta give Mitch Rogers credit. His XT Fairmont is a bloody cool rig for a 26-year-old to build, not to mention that it was quick enough to secure him third place in the PSR 8.5 Radial class at Street Machine Drag Challenge 2025.

First published in the April 2026 issue of Street Machine

A few years ago, Mitch and his dad Murray were hunting around for a decent project and stumbled upon this XT for sale at Motorvation Garage in south-east Melbourne. “It was always going to be an XR or XT; I just love the look of the rear end,” says Mitch. The Fairmont was a pretty tidy example with a 302 Windsor under the bonnet, and had originally come ashore from the Apple Isle.

The guys handed over the folding stuff, and after a spell of cruising the XT around in stocker trim, Mitch dropped it off to Ryan at Riot Lab for an exhaust. Of course, this simple upgrade sent Mitch down the long, dark path to building a streeter that’s a bee’s dick away from running an eight-second pass.

REAR: Between the battery, anti-roll bar, widened tubs, catch can and 70L Aeroflow fuel cell, there’s not an awful lot of room for luggage in the boot. Unassisted Wilwood front discs and Ford rear drums need help from the parachute to pull the XT up after low-9sec passes

Initially, Mitch was just after a tough, naturally aspirated streeter with the stance to match its soundtrack, so the 302 was turfed in favour of a 434ci crate Clevor from Pavtek Performance, backed by a manualised C10 auto. The XT was stripped and sent back to Riot Lab for a rear end upgrade, including relocated rails, a flat boot floor, a nine-inch diff and tubs big enough to swallow some fat 325-width shoes. While the car was in bits, Phil from Progen Performance replaced all the brake lines and built new plumbing for the fuel system.

Mitch cruised the Fairmont in its new guise for a year or so, until a trip to Calder Park with Ryan in 2024 sparked the speed bug again. “It struggled to hook up because we had the suspension set up for the street, but it still ran an 11,” says Mitch. “I already knew that I wanted to go faster, and we’d been talking about putting a turbo on it.”

Ryan’s no stranger to hi-po turbo plumbing, and goaded Mitch to finish the XT in time to compete in Drag Challenge 2024. With only four months until the event, Mitch ripped the 434 out with the intention of modifying it for boost, but delays with parts scuppered that and the engine was left unchanged.

Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted the lack of an exhaust underneath – the GTX45 turbo draws air in through the passenger front guard and expels gaseous dinosaurs out the driver’s side! “There’s no stereo, so we had a big Bluetooth speaker with some decent volume to hear it over the sidepipe!” Mitch laughs

Over at Riot Lab, the Fairmont copped a heap more fab work: the hot- and cold-side turbo plumbing; a six-point rollcage; Kirkey race seats; chassis connectors; a fabricated nine-inch housing with a centre built by Performance Diff Centre; and an anti-roll bar. The roller was rushed to KB Prestige & Restoration, where the engine bay was blasted, smoothed and shaved, then repainted to match the exterior.

Just three weeks out from DC, the XT was still in pieces, so Mitch cleaned up and resprayed the underside and reassembled the whole car ready for a trip to Tunnel Vision for a tune. Sadly, fate had other plans, and after a string of dramas, including several cooked alternators, Mitch pulled the pin.

After that disappointment, Mitch put the car aside for a while, but the announcement of Drag Challenge 2025 spurred him back into action. The engine came back out and was sent to Ray at Windford Engineering, who changed the rods and pistons to suit Mitch’s eight-second goals. With the Clevor sorted, Nads from FuelTech Australia was called in to tickle the keyboard, and the XT turned the Tunnel Vision rollers to just over 1000 neddies on E85. There was no time to make any test passes before DC, so the boys loaded up the Fairmont and headed for The Bend.

ENGINE BAY: There’s more plumbing under the XT’s bonnet than there is in your local Bunnings! Everything turbo-related is up the front, so the Clear View oil filter had to be tucked up the back. Torrington bearings on the crank necessitated the use of a belt-drive external oil pump

Day One of Drag Challenge saw Mitch post a 9.25-second pass at 155mph, which put him in seventh place in PSR 8.5 Radial. The car was still prone to blowing the tyres off on launch, so suspension and tune changes were made before everyone piled in and headed for Portland. There, the XT was plagued by more frustrating issues leaving the line, but the meats finally bit into the track on Day Three at Mildura, where Mitch reeled off a 5.9@119mph over the eighth-mile.

By the time everyone returned to The Bend for Day Five, Mitch was in fourth place in the class, and he managed to squeeze off a 9.18@151mph before the heavens opened up and put an end to the event. “On the way home, my mate Jibbles was looking at the board and said we’d got third,” Mitch recalls. “I was stoked!”

INTERIOR: It may not be bog-stock in here, but it’s not that far from it. Andrew’s Motor Trimming modified the rear pew to clear the tubs and rollcage, and trimmed the Kirkeys to match. The FuelTech display is mounted in a clamp that was CNC-machined by Riot Lab

Now that he’s had time to cool off from his first DC success, Mitch is planning to return in 2026. “Drag Challenge is such a sick event; I love it,” he enthuses. “We need to play with the suspension so we can put more power down, and we’re going to change to a bigger turbine housing and fit a CO2 bottle to control the wastegate.”

We may well be looking at the next leader of the 8.5 Radial pack!

MITCH ROGERS
1968 XT FAIRMONTENGINEBrand:434ci Dart ClevorInduction:CHI manifold, Wilson 105mm throttlebodyECU:FuelTech FT550Turbo:Garrett GTX45Heads:CHI 3VCamshaft:Pavtek hydraulic-rollerConrods:Wiseco BoostlinePistons:CPCrank:PavtekOil pump:Savy single-stage external pumpFuel system:FuelTech injectors, two Walbro 525 pumpsCooling:Race RadiatorsExhaust:2in manifolds, 4in dumpIgnition:MSDTRANSMISSIONGearbox:TH400Converter:Torque Converter TechnologiesDiff:9in, 3.7:1 gearsSUSPENSION & BRAKESFront:PeddersRear:Calvert leaf springs, Gazzard Brothers shocksBrakes:Wilwood discs (f), F250 drums (r)Master cylinder:WilwoodWHEELS & TYRESRims:Billet Specialties Winlite; 17×4.5 (f), 15×8 (r)Rubber:Mickey Thompson ET Street; 26×6.00R17 (f), 325/50R15 (r)

THANKS
I can’t thank the boys enough: Ryan, Danny and Jake – we have done some massive days and nights in the shed on this thing; Riot Lab; Nads at FuelTech; MB Performance Plumbing for the oil system; Chris at Race Wires; Ray at Windford Engineering; KB Prestige & Restoration; Progen Performance; my old man; everyone else who has helped me along the way.

Related