It’s almost universally the case that street machining is learned behaviour. Car nuts give birth to car-mad kids, who in turn raise their own children with a fondness for the scene.

First published in the February 2026 issue of Street Machine

It’s certainly the case for Laurie, one of the owners of the VL Calais Turbo you see here. Laurie’s love of cars was sparked by his father’s HQ Monaro, and now he’s sharing that same passion with his son Henry, who, at just eight years old, can say he’s the proud part-owner of this distinctive Calais they call LIL H.

“Henry’s birthday was approaching, and I knocked heads with Geoff at GC Restoration to come up with a one-off custom build that we could dedicate to him,” Laurie explains. “Reaching a consensus between an opinionated eight-year-old boy, his 40-year-old revhead father, and a stubborn 56-year-old restoration specialist was no mean feat! We butted heads on more than a few details, but it was all worth it in the end.”

Remarkably, the team managed to source a largely straight and honest VL as a base for the project, despite it having roamed Australian roads for almost four decades, and Geoff at GC Restoration then got to work to bring Laurie’s – and more importantly, Harry’s – vision to life.

One of the elements that makes LIL H so distinctive is the bodywork modifications, many so subtle and well executed that you’d easily miss them. Of course, Geoff and the team started by straightening out any dings and rectifying any rust, but they paid extra attention to the engine bay, which has been extensively smoothed and detailed.

As well as the usual suspects like relocating the battery and fuse box, the GC Restoration crew spent extra time boxing the chassis and modifying the radiator support panel, including ditching the factory striker in favour of flush-mounted locking pins. The backs of the headlights have been boxed in, and many of the unsightly parts in the engine bay, like the fuel rail and injectors, have been hidden behind nifty, custom carbonfibre covers.

In fact, carbonfibre abounds in the engine bay. As well as the cover over the injectors and R35 coils, a custom carbon cover also shrouds the cam gear on the front of the engine, while on the cold side, a wild billet and carbon intake manifold from Custom Plenum Creations is just one of a stack of Aussie-made hardware featured throughout the build. If you’re looking for other patriotic power parts, you can also count the 6boost exhaust manifold, Turbosmart wastegate and Haltech ECU.

The Nissan RB30ET engine is a fairly straightforward affair. It uses a G35 turbo to pump compressed air through a front-mount intercooler, down a Bosch drive-by-wire throttlebody, and into a forged RB30 bottom end. It’s a tried and tested combination that’s showing 645hp as they run it in, but that figure stands to grow once they step up to ethanol fuel.

What’s perhaps a little more unusual is the T56 six-speed manual behind this RB30. Sure, five-cog ’boxes from Skylines aren’t uncommon, and certainly a drag-oriented auto wouldn’t raise eyebrows, but a sequentially shifted six-speed is something that really sets LIL H apart.

Rounding out the driveline is a narrowed BorgWarner diff that’s had 15mm lopped off either side, allowing the comfortable fitment of the 19-inch Walkinshaw-style wheels. Despite the huge power potential of the forged Nissan six-banger, the car remains un-tubbed and uncaged – it’s a street car, after all.

Young Harry’s influence through the build extends to the wild custom green adorning the gunbarrel-straight panels. A customised shade of Lamborghini Green, Harry named it ‘Alien Glow’. To offset a colour that bright, Laurie and Geoff daubed the wheels, window trims and exterior badges in black and grey to complement the carbonfibre in the engine bay.

In what must be a nostalgic nod to the VL Calais he owned in his youth, Laurie couldn’t resist the opportunity to deck LIL H out with a custom interior and a modest stereo, including light features throughout a panelled boot. The front seats are inspired heavily by the VL SS Group A (another vehicle in the boys’ collection), with the interior dash plastics colour-coded grey to match.

With no stone left unturned during the build, Laurie, Henry and the team can now proudly admire what they’ve achieved with the VL, and are turning their attention to another family heirloom: Laurie’s dad’s HQ Monaro.

“We’ve named it Big Q,” Laurie laughs. “We had to sell the Monaro when I was around Harry’s age, and I’d been searching for it for the past 10 years or so. I’m determined to restore it to its former glory and hand it down to the third generation, Henry.”

After that, Laurie and Henry will be on the lookout for their next project together, building a collection of classic cars and ensuring Henry carries the passion on to the next generation.

LAURIE AND HENRY
1987 HOLDEN VL CALAIS TURBO

THANKS
Geoff, Laura and the talented team at GC Restoration; Bigred Auto Parts; Blue Water Engineering; Bob Wells; CK Racing Developments; Cleveland Dyno; EXP Plastics; Ezi Steer; Fabworx Speed Shop; G&T Performance Engines; GC Custom Carbon Fibre; GCSSB; HDT; Holdcom; Icy Cool Mobile Air Conditioning; King Springs; Kustomize My Ride; Lowe Fabrications; Mitch Hemming; Monterey Signs; NZKW; Rare Spares; Ozzy Tyres Arundel; Paradise Leather Works; Platinum Racing Products; RCE; The Render Garage; S1 Sequential; Superior Auto Electrics; Tint Daddy’s Window Tinting; TWC Connections; Wix Trimming.