First published in the July-August 1997 issue of Street Machine

Al Magritzer has owned 62 cars since he was 16. Not just cars you pull apart for parts – sixty-two road cars. He’s 33 now and his current car collection is sevent. You’re looking at Al’s all-time favourite.

This turbocharged Linamint Green LJ GTR is his toy, the car he plays with between seven day a week shifts at his Katoomba Auto Parts business in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. And as snarly six, big horsepower street cars go, Al’s Torana is one tough toy-like 400-plus horsepower tough.

It’s a showstopper too, firmly in the Summernats Top 60 for the past four years and, among other awards, taking out a Top 5 plate at last year’s Sydney Street Machine, Hot Rod and Custom Bike show.

Al says there was never any question that he’d build a six rather than an eight. “V8s are in tow cars and sixes are in race cars, that’s my personal preference. I’m a six-cylinder Red Holden man,” he says.

“I haven’t built it as a daily driver, even though it sees the occasional Sunday cruise through the mountains. I built it to run fairly decent quarter mile times. It’s got a best of 12.6 at 117 mph. If I built a V8 I’d be expected to run 9s. If I run 12s in my Torana people are impressed but it’s slow to me.”

Al’s a diesel mechanic by trade and despite being so busy running his business he still manages to build some fantastic cars. Al swapped a Commodore gearbox for this LJ five years ago. “It was a really run-down car” he says. “None of its previous owners had maintained it, and it was in pretty sad condition. But it was a genuine CTR. I drove it for about three months, and that’s when I decided to hit it with a coat of paint”.

That lick of paint led to a tidy-up that got good enough to take to Canberra. “I originally built it as a daily driver, untubbed and running a milder version of the turbo Red six with a Rajay blower, Holley and a nine inch diff,” Al explains. “It stayed that way for a while too, but later I decided to tub the car and go a little bit further than I’d originally planned.”

With good mates Warren Williams and Dave Kernot, Al stripped the Torana, sent the body off to Mario at Blacktown’s Pro Modifications, and some machining work off to Mal and Kim Baker. He then knuckled down on the trick Red six he bought from Gem Engines when he was a fresh-faced 17 year old. “It was one of their famous 60-thou-over 192 builds.” Al says. “It’s currently 85- thou over for a total 211.5 cubic inches.” The Holley’s been replaced with a custom twin two-inch SU setup with Holley float bowls arrangement Al says much better suits the application. The Rajay blower’s gone as well, replaced by a wastegated TO4 Garrett turbocharger and owner- made 150hp NOS Fogger kit.

Bulletproofing below includes TRW forged pistons, counter-weighted Blue Holden six crank and VW Golf diesel rods with ARP bolts. Up top’s a Yella Terra 12-port alloy head working with a Wayne Green custom cam, hydraulic lifters and YT valves and springs. Al made his own oil pan and linked it with a high-vol JP oil pump. Avgas is pumped in vast quantities via a Mallory 140, and cooling’s handled by a five-core radiator running two nine-inch Davies Craig fans.

Al’s discreet when it comes to talking horsepower, although he’s happy to talk in terms of 400-plus. To more fully make use of those sorts of numbers, Al’s equipped his tough six with a three-inch straight through exhaust system. “It doesn’t see many road miles, and the police up here are pretty good,” he says. “If I get pulled over these days it’s mainly for a look.” Al built his own TH350 gearbox with a Dominator converter running a whopping 5000rpm stall speed. A Ford nine-inch Detroit Locker with 4.11s, billet axles and cross-drilled Falcon discs at either end. Beyond the full tubs, Pro Modifications suspension upgrade included a Reynolds tubing four-link rear with Panhard rod and Gabriel gas rear shocks. Al even got Super Pro to make a set of special lime green Neoprene suspension bushes. Trick.

So what’s it like to drive? “Pretty exciting,” Al says, wide eyed. “It’s got a lot of grunt for a Holden six. It’s not unbearable with a 5000rpm converter, either. It’s not a pig to drive around the streets at all. It is, however, very thirsty.”

Wheels are 14 inch, not the more popular 15s. “I reckon Toranas look like 4WDs on 15-inch wheels,” Al says. They’re Exquisite wheels – that’s the brand, in case you were wondering – which are pretty much Simmons lookalikes in 14×6 and one-piece 14×10 sizes. Tyres are 175/60 Dunlops fronts and 265/60 Yokohama rears.

Paint and bodywork was by Al and mate Warren. The boys toyed around with fluoros. “We couldn’t get them to work on the edges – they went lighter and darker in patches,” Al says. “I’m glad we changed it back to a solid colour.”

Contributions to the Torana’s recent run of show successes include its incredible engineering, its brutal presence, and Al’s thorough attention to detail. F’rinstance, the hidden wiring and the seam welded flat firewall are Al and Warren’s work. The wiper motor’s in the glovebox and demisting duty is performed by a small under-dash electric motor.

M&W Motor Trimmers did the black velour and Linamint Green vinyl stitchwork and Al gives M&W full credit for the full size rear seat they fitted into the Torana, despite the tubs.

Al says he’ll be back at Summernats again with the Torana this year – although it will be slightly different to what you see here. “It’s getting a new steering column, new shifter, new wheels, and I’m going to completely re-wire it,” Al says. “I found out that by law you don’t need a key to start a car.” So Al’s going all push button and keyless with a US-made Painless Wiring harness and switches. “The only real key will be the boot key, in case the keyless system fails I’ll still be able to get to the battery. I’ve also got a set of new Budnik wheels from the States. They’ll require a change of the cross-drilled HZ front brakes to HQ brakes. It’ll be modernised and a lot neater.

“Who knows – it might not even have a turbo on it next time you see it. It might have a 6/71 with hat injection. We’ll see. There’s always things to play with.”