IT HAS been a busy few weeks at Street Machine HQ, so I have to admit that I enjoyed a sleep-in on the morning of this year’s Geelong All Holden Day. Once I got there, I spent over an hour with my trusty iPad, live-streaming the show to Facebook and YouTube, and by that time the awards were on and a lot of cars were starting to head for home. Therefore, my notes were less detailed than I hoped for! Nevertheless, I had a fat time and enjoyed the awesome variety of hotties and stockies on show. Here are just 12 favourites chosen by me and photographer Thorogood. It isn’t a very scientific list, so don’t be offended if your ride didn’t make it – there are heaps of crackers in the gallery as well.

No stranger to buying famous old cars and making them his own is Gav Dowling. His previous ride was an awesome Nova that had been featured in SM way back in the 90s, which Gav found and rebuilt, and it was featured again in SM, September 2014. His new ride is this fat EH.

Some people will remember it as an ex-John Lang Chassis car; it was blue and had the number plates TUBBED/WHYME around the late 80s/early 90s, and was a tough 10sec car. Gav has already shortened the diff, replaced the axles, fixed the ride height and put even bigger tyres on it!

Sam Maisano from DTM Automatic Transmissions had this neat VN on display. The engine is 304ci, with a Torque Power inlet, 1000cfm throttlebody and a full-manual TH700 auto with a 3500rpm converter.

We love a good classic wagon, and so does big-time Holden guy Michael James. He bought this HR a couple of years ago and gave the whole engine bay a birthday, including freshening up the 186 motor and installing a new Trimatic. The interior remains original and so does the paint.

“I’m thinking about painting it, but it’s nice to just hop in and drive the family around without having to worry about wear and tear,” Michael said. “It’s a great family cruiser.” His partner Danica and daughters Harlow and Starla look like they agree!

Street Machine Drag Challenge veteran Brendan Cherry recently sold his HQ Monaro and bought this elite-quality HK. While it is currently powered by a normally aspirated big-block, we can’t see it staying that way for long!

Luke Foley is another bloke who has done all three Drag Challenge events. His twin-turbo VH recently ran a new PB of 8.51sec at Calder – so recently that Luke didn’t even bother removing his parachute for All Holden Day! 

Andrew and Kerri McGuire’s Serendipity panel van looks like a genuine 80s survivor – complete with rims from the famous Alley Cat – but is a recent build that is still evolving, with a Trans Am front to come.

Possibly the most original HK-T-G car in existence is Roy Mouneimne’s HK Premier. Why? Because it has an amazing 19,000 miles on the clock. The original owner passed it on to her son, where the car sat for many years.

Roy said he found the car hidden away in Springvale, Victoria. The only thing he’s done on the car is take off the chrome trim, give the body and trim a good buff and polish, then reassemble.

We dug this LJ Torana – XU-1 looks on the outside, but with turbo RB30 power under the bonnet.

Mark Thompson’s stunning HG Premier, with turbo LS power. Feature soon!

We didn’t get to catch up with the owner of this LX hatch, but we dug the twin-turbo LPG set-up and the gold V5 Simmons rims.

This Cobra was a ring-in, but with LSA power stuffed under the bonnet, nobody seemed to mind.

We don’t know if this big-block Torana hails from Geelong, but it has all the hallmarks of a classic G-Town-styled car: super-sanitary, tough stance and plenty of grunt.