AUSTIN 1800 SPL

They don’t make them like they used to in the ‘60s... Just as well because this Austin 1800 SPL monster from Option Audio sports so much high-powered kit That its modern brethren would most likely fall apart.

Yeah, baby! When Option Audio and owner Justin Nowland decide to put together a demo SPL car, they don’t muck around. Talk about a wall of sound. Literally behind your back if you’re the driver or passenger. Nice bowel massage action, actually, from the seven 12-inch subwoofers arrayed in a staggered fashion on a baffle and enclosure that splits the car in two; driver and passenger – if you were to drive the thing for some reason – and the rest is all sound system.

SUBTLETY IS NO OPTION

So speaker-wise we have two Option Audio OA60ST split systems on each of the crimson velvet-covered doors with the crossovers nicely mounted to the side and clearly visible. These are driven by an OAC 160 4-channel amplifier. The splits only give you the mids and highs of course, but the real meat to the big sonic sandwich is provided by the Option Audio OA12DVC PRO 12-inch subwoofers vertically mounted behind the front occupants. Seven of them, no less. And the necessary enclosure volume for this amount of radiating surface area is achieved by the custom-built ‘chamber’ that actually forms into the rear half of the Austin. Yes, the total, rear half. And no doubt part of the reason – although all-out details are Top Secret – for this car’s title as Autosalon’s Brisbane 2007 Australian Record Holder, Super Street Class 5+ for highest SPL at 160.5dB – apparently still unbeaten. And that’s proudly displayed on the side windows for all to see.

And the other part of the reason? Well, you’d have to say it would be the staggering driving force behind the enormity of subwoofery. All of 27,000 watts RMS! We’re talking seven Option Audio X3200 amplifi ers in a custom swing-out rack for easy access for servicing and wiring. Ah yes, wiring… lot’s of snaky-red stuff from Tru Konnections to hook up to the multitude of components involved in this install.

A BATTERY OF BATTERIES

And of course you need juice to drive this monstrous SPL machine… and that would be via a bank of fi ve Century N150 heavy duty batteries, each weighing-in at a suspension-breaking 35kg.

The quest for maximum SPLs meant that all materials’ quantities drifted well into the realms of excess. Construction steel spanned 42 meters in total, to which eight layers of craft wood were attached to form the enclosure, all sound deadened with fi ve rolls of Silent Armour. The list continues; 32 cans of expander foam, a claimed 450kg of concrete, on and on.

Some creativity was also displayed here. Due to the enormous SPLs achieved and for obvious operational purposes, the head unit has to be externally-placed and controlled. The clever minds at OA very niftily mounted the Sony head unit onto the rear magnet structure of a defunct subwoofer. The whole ‘sculpture’ then is mounted on a steel heavy duty custom tripod for easy transportation. Cool ha…

Outside, the Austin is a plain but smart black with accenting stickers promoting Option Audio and the aforementioned SPL records. The metal solid-dish wheel covers and semi-white-wall tyres help give the little Austin a look of 1960s-dated charm.

CONCLUSION

This classic 1963 Austin 1800 has the power to blow your flower. Man of Mystery Justin Nowland has gone to town here, not only with the excess of Option Audio electronics kit, but in the general over-the-top construction. Groovy baby!

OWNER: JUSTIN NOWLAND
VEHICLE: 1963 AUSTIN 1800
ENGINE: 1800CC
TRANSMISSION: STOCK
WHEELS: 13-INCH FULL-PLATES
TYRES: 185 SEMI-WHITE-WALL
SUSPENSION: EXTRA LOW

SYSTEM

SOURCE: SONY DVD SINGLE DIN HEAD UNIT
FRONT SPEAKERS: OPTION AUDIO OA60ST COMPONENT SYSTEM
SUBWOOFERS: 7 X OPTION AUDIO OA12DVC PRO SERIES 12-INCH SUBWOOFERS
FRONT AMPLIFIERS: OPTION AUDIO OAC160 4-CHANNEL AMPLIFIER
SUB AMPLIFIERS: 7 X OPTION AUDIO X3200 AMPLIFIERS
WIRING: TRU KONNECTIONS
BATTERY: 5 X CENTURY N150
LIGHTING: TRU KONNECTIONS TK 120CM RED STRIP
SOUND DEADENING: 5 X ROLLS OF SILENT ARMOUR SOUND DEADENING
CONFIGURED POWER: 27,000 WATTS RMS
INSTALLED BY: JUSTIN NOWLAND
TOTAL BUILD TIME: 6 MONTHS
TOTAL INSTALLATION COST: $30,000
CREDITS: MARK AND KRISTY FROM OPTION AUDIO, THE GUYS FROM AUTOMOTIVE COLOUR AND EQUIPMENT, WHITY AT BATTERY WORLD CHERMSIDE QLD, BRAD AT QMS SIGNS, AND MY EMPLOYER, AUTOBARN CAPALABA

Driver Licence

Justin Nowland
1963 Austin 1800

1. What got you into car electronics?
My job in building loud cars

2. How long have you been into it for?
16 years

3. Occupation
Car audio fitter/installer

4. Favourite music for testing audio gear?
Dire Straits

5. Dream car?
Mercury

6. Where to next?
Building an even louder car