The ManVan: Street Outlaw Shawn Ellington’s 9-Second Trailblazer SS

The hit show Street Outlaws from the Discovery Channel seems to be all the rage these days. Known for their high horsepower, nitrous-huffing and boosted big-blocks, it’s no wonder that the show is a hit.

Shawn Ellington, the owner of the infamous Murder Nova, is generally in the mix with his big-block twin-turbo powered ’69 Nova. The 572-cubic inch mill makes around 3,400-horsepower and is a force to be reckoned with. Shawn has another vehicle in his arsenal that is not as fast but is a lot more practical in day-to-day use.

Shawn’s so-called “ManVan” isn’t actually a van at all: it’s a Trailblazer SS. Recently the guys at Midwest Street Cars did some work on the SS, and it made a respectable 399 horsepower at the wheels with a cam swap and exhaust. While that was fun a for a limited amount of time, Shawn decided he needed a little more from the four-door. After looking at the build specs and the numbers this hauler makes now, they might have gone a little overboard. But who are we kidding, these guys do have some of the fastest street cars in the nation so it should be expected right?

The crew yanked the 4L70 and the LS2 out of the Trailblazer and went to work. The engine was replaced with a 370-cubic inch short-block from the guys over at Texas Speed & Performance. Air Flow Research 230 cylinder heads were utilized in conjunction with a monstrous 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger. An Aeromotive 3.5 GPM brushless fuel pump handles the call for fueling while the Deatschwerks 1200cc fuel injectors make sure the E85 mixture is distributed adequately in the runners. To get the air in the Whipple, the guys whipped up a huge 5-inch intake pipe and used the Stainless Works headers plus a custom exhaust to get it out.

As if the SS wasn’t going to make enough power, the gang over at Nitrous Express was called for a nitrous system that uses the SHO shark nozzle. A Rossler Transmission 4L80e with a transbrake was bolted back to the driveline, and it was time to put it on the rollers to see what it would do.

The ManVan was able to crank out some serious number on the dyno, to the tune of 1,100 horsepower at the wheels. This amount of power was good enough to take the 4,900-pound sled down the 1/4-mile at a 9.58-second elapsed time at over 143 mph — which sounds like a blast to us. Maybe GM will take note of this build and set the stage for the van of the future.

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Brian Havins

A gearhead for life, Brian is obsessed with all things fast. Banging gears, turning wrenches, and praying while spraying are just a few of his favorite things.
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