While Dale Millican’s HR ute is a cut above his previous rides, he’s certainly no stranger to rad HR Holdens. Starting with a home-built, Chev-powered ute 30 years ago, he later put together a tough small-block Prem cruiser, before rescuing this ute from a paddock in Dalby, Queensland in pursuit of something greater. “I just love the shape and body lines,” he enthuses. “And you don’t really see them done to this level.”

First published in the August 2024 issue of Street Machine

Dale moves earth for a crust these days, but he was a panel beater in a past life, so he sand-blasted the HR at home before it went to Shane Rowe at Southern Rod & Custom for tubs and a four-link, with the intention to then bring it back home and finish the rest of the car himself. “When I picked the car up, Shane said, ‘You’ll be back,’” he laughs. “I didn’t write that comment off, as there was still a long way to go. Then I got busy with work, and after about 12 months, I made the call and it was on its way back!”

Dale had plans to build a radial racer, and though it’s still got the chassis, power and fat-tyre hotness to match, the ute morphed into an elite-level pro streeter during its stay at Shane’s Shepparton house of fun.

A mouse motor wasn’t going to cut it for this HR, so Dale grabbed a crate LSA from Tom Surrey at K&T Auto Garage, which was then sent to Frankston Engine Centre for some fiddling. Boss-man Dave Butcher left the 6.2-litre’s stock crank in place but bolted up Lunati H-beam rods and Diamond pistons.

The biggest departure from stock is in the air pump department, with the inverted 1.9-litre blower switched out for a Harrop TVS2650. “We were going to leave the standard 1900 LSA blower on it, but we couldn’t fit it under the bonnet,” Dale explains. “If it was going to hang out, it would be with a proper big blower. I did a bit of research, and we went with the Harrop 2650 blower – we got an extra 60mm of clearance out of it, which is a lot! Shane did a few mods to the bonnet, and the sump was modified to get the engine down a bit further, and we achieved everything under-bonnet.”

MPW Performance’s Adam Rogash sorted a tune for the Haltech; on E85 and just 14psi of boost, the ute made 670rwhp. “It’s still got plenty more in it with a bit more boost,” Dale grins. “You just roll the power on, and it leaves a couple of nice, consistent black lines.”

Chassisworks Australia – one of Southern Rod & Custom’s several internal divisions – is responsible for the HR’s bone structure. Brand-spanking chassis rails run front to rear and out to the sills, with flat floors above. “Rigidity-wise, it’s a very strong vehicle,” Shane says. “We’ve done full torsional testing to get it through engineering, which it passed with flying colours.”

The front end is from United Speed Shop and uses QA1 coil-overs. “In most of the Holdens and early Fords, we use Ryan’s front ends,” Shane says. “They’re beautifully engineered and handle really well; we get a full turning circle inside the guards, even when it’s this low.”

A full-floater nine-inch hangs off a four-link with a Watt’s linkage, making for a tight, street-friendly package. “It drives really nicely,” Dale says. “You can cruise at 100 kays and let go of the steering wheel, and it’ll go dead-straight. It tracks nicely when you’re on it and doesn’t kick out.”

Preserving the ute’s HR-ness was key to the build for Dale, so the body has been gapped and neatened but essentially remains as-is – at least until you compare the tub to that of a stocker’s. It’s fitted with custom side panels and Tasmanian Blackwood tray inserts, stained suitably dark with blonde streaks to riff on the grey-green exterior paint.

“I looked at a mate’s paint chips and then went driving around to every car yard in Melbourne,” Dale explains of the colour choice. “I happened to walk into a Porsche dealership at Brighton; there was a brand-new 911 GT3 there in Aventurine Green and I thought, ‘Gee, that looks good!’” Shane laid on a slightly modified version of the colour.

Dale then asked for a red interior, which left Shane apprehensive. “Shane thought that red and green didn’t really go,” Dale says. “But I walked around the back of the Porsche, and the badge was burgundy, which really popped! I took a photo and Shane went, ‘Yeah, that does go.’” Craig of Option Auto Interiors reworked a pair of Hyundai Veloster seats and wrapped them in Italian leather in-house at SR&C.

Dale and Shane yanked the covers off the HR in the Summernats 36 Elite Hall, earning Top Retrotech in the process. As they both point out, an Aussie ute isn’t SR&C’s typical American muscle coupe build, but it’s a relatable style with mass appeal to a whole generation of Australians. “If you build, say, a ’57 Chev, people here will often have a quick look at it and keep moving on,” Dale says. “But when they see an Aussie icon – either a Holden or Ford – they stop.”

Though Dale admits he didn’t go into the project with a perfectly clear view of what the HR should be, he had a ball working it out with Shane and his crew over the four-year process. “I was going up there about every two weeks, and we’d sort of bounce ideas off one another, which was great,” he says. “Even now that it’s all done, we’ll still catch up for a drink and go out for tea!”

DALE MILLICAN
1967 HR HOLDEN UTE

THANKS
Southern Rod & Custom; Frankston Engine Centre; K&T Auto Garage, MPW Performance &
Race Fab.