He will race in the classic class of the annual race on August 8 with his son Jareb Verdoner (25) in his custom Ford Mk II Escort.
He expects the ''very fast car'' will top 210kmh on the Catlins' gravel roads in the flat sections of the race.
He bought his
Escort as a standard road car, but pulled it apart and turned it into a rally car.
A roll bar was added, as were strut towers, an aluminium fuel tank for the back, a dry sump system, the floor rewelded and raised and a ''speedway midget engine'', a 2.6 litre Esslinger engine, installed.
Rally organising committee member Roger Laird, of the Eastern Southland Car Club, said the race, run since 1998, had attracted 70 entries this year, with some late entries still ''trickling in''.
Last year 20 entries were received in the last 10 days.
''It's certainly closely fought,'' he said.
''At the end of the day it's often won in seconds rather than minutes.''
The nine-stage rally starts in Owaka and finishes in Balclutha.
