Speedway racer Jacinta Locke realised a dream when she debuted her dazzling Candy Fuchsia HQ One Tonner at Rockynats 4 earlier this year. This was her very first car, and the big reveal was the crescendo to a 14-year rebuild, so you can bet it was a special moment for her. Being voted People’s Choice made it all the more special.

“The positive response was overwhelming,” Jacinta says. “I still pinch myself that it won People’s Choice.”

First published in the December 2024 issue of Street Machine

Jacinta, who has also raced a 5/8-scale ’34 Ford Legend Cars car, has owned her Tonner since 2008, when she was a teenager. Like many of us, she was swayed by parental sensibilities when it came to purchasing her first ride. “Dad likes old cars because they’re solid,” she explains. “When I was 15, he said to me, ‘I’m getting you a ute so you can only have one dickhead in the car with you!’”

Jacinta was equally keen on the $1500 acquisition, having fallen in love with chrome-bumper cars by way of her family’s fondness for (and collecting of) HQ Monaros. The HQ Tonner in question was a rusty clunker with an HX front when it was first bestowed upon her in 2008. “It was pretty rough,” she recalls. “There was even a Give Way sign covering the huge rust holes in the floor!”

Her dad fixed the required areas before slinging on some burnt orange paint. Under the bonnet sat an L-and-P-plater friendly 186, backed by a four-speed cogbox. It served as a faithful and reliable daily driver for Jacinta to see out her high school years.

Come 2011, it was decided to take the Quey off the road for a fully fledged rebuild. Parts collecting ensued, with key acquisitions including an HQ front end, GTS fluted guards and GTS-badged grille. Jacinta’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, Troy Locke, offered to add fresh paint, working on the Quey after clocking off from his daytime spray-painter gig.

“My hubby Nathan and I would go to Summernats, where I’d get ideas for the car,” Jacinta says. “I wanted a tough V8 streeter – a head-turner.”

The project was slow going, with 10 years passing before colour was first laid. Yes, first laid – more on that later!

“While I had wanted purple, in the end I asked Troy to pick the colour. That’s how it ended up as the DNA Candy Fuchsia,” Jacinta says of the eye-searing duco, which won her appreciation.

Out back, she opted for the simple look of a flat tray coupled with fat rear tyres tucked underneath. The tray is parallel with the bodyline on the cab to offer a continual straight line from front to rear, which required a heap of chassis mods, including a four-link and a four-inch chassis notch to get the Tonner low enough in the rear.

Owing to the lengthy build time, plans changed along the way as trends came and went and new parts became available. The most notable change is the LS that’s now slotted up front.

“Back in 2011, I wanted a 350 small-block, but by 2020, I decided on something more modern,” Jacinta says. “That’s when we bought a VT SS for $1000 to use the LS1 and 4L60E transmission.”

As the Tonner was coming together, Jacinta reasoned that entering Rockynats 4 would give her a goal to work towards.

“I got asked to unveil the car!” she beams. “But there were a few imperfections, and the panels weren’t lining up right. So, five months out from the unveiling, we decided to sandblast the entire car back to bare metal and start again.”

Sure enough, some poorly finished bodywork was unearthed, believed to have been the work of a panel beater some eight years prior. This time around, Tony Price was entrusted to sort the rust and properly carry out previously bogged-over repairs, before painter Troy re-laid the potent colour. Correct panel alignment was achieved for a far superior overall result.

“It was a big rush at the end,” Jacinta says of the run-up to Rockynats. “The tray was painted only a week prior to Rocky, while the radiator support cover panel arrived late, so it was fitted the day we rolled into the Elite Hall.” Rod’s Trim Shop stepped up during the thrash to deliver the clean, minimalist interior, with the hessian-coloured leather trim working beautifully with the striking outer tones. “I wanted it modern yet original, so I used an HQ bench seat but had it styled to look a bit like buckets,” Jacinta explains.

The 14-year journey of blood, sweat and tears became a distant memory for Jacinta once the covers slid off the glowing pink HQ at Rockynats to rapturous applause. Winning People’s Choice was the icing on the cake.

Jacinta and Nathan are now both keen to up the ante with a power-adder for the LS, but the jury is out on exactly which kind. “I want to supercharge it,” Jacinta says, “but Nathan wants to add a turbo.” Either way, it sounds like fun!

STUFF OF LEGENDS

Jacinta and hubby Nathan compete in this Legend Cars Australia race car. While Nathan has raced nationally for decades, Jacinta hopped behind the wheel of their 5/8-scale, fibreglass 1934 Ford for the local sprints four years ago. “I’ve always wanted to do it,” she says of piloting the 500kg coupe, which is powered by a Yamaha bike engine and backed by a sequential gearbox.

JACINTA LOCKE
1973 HOLDEN HQ ONE TONNER

THANKS
Nathan, for making my dream become a reality and supporting me – it was a very stressful last six months of the build; Troy and Tony at Warwick Panel & Paint; EFI Logic; Rod’s Trim Shop; Albion Street Auto Centre; Tyron Fitzgerald for the custom fuel tank and tray; Kent Glass at Glossworks Detail Lab; Ryanie For Tyres; Mal Wood Automotive.