Lachlan Dalgleish was rolling heavy at Chopped this year in his HQ Holden van thanks to a stack of help from his dad, Andrew.

“My two favourite vans as a kid were XX308 and Van Rat,” Andrew said. “This van already had mods from that era, like the rear archway, rear bubble window, speakers, tramp rods and GTS bits. XX308 was my favourite van from that time, especially when it was running the double Stato grille.”

While we’re used to seeing Andrew behind the wheel of old-school hot rods, he’s never lost the passion for traditional vans and street machines. And he has passed the love down to Lachlan.

“I bought the HQ from Batemans Bay 10 years ago. We got pulled over by the cops on the way home; he just laughed and laughed at the car. When I was teaching Lachy to drive, we had an altercation with the bottle shop wall, so we got around with a grey apron on it for a long time,” Andrew says. “So, I finally paint-matched it the other day.”

Castlemaine-based hot rodder Kyle de Kuijer was charged with getting rid of the rust in the floorpans, tailgate and on the roof corners. “He’ll do some more soon,” says Andrew. “We have to tidy up some bits in the windscreen and the outer sills.

“So far, we’ve added the flames, based on what the car previously had, plus the GT Falcon side scoops, and the side bubble windows – those only went in yesterday. The American Racing rims were $500 specials on Marketplace.

“We’ll add more as we go, including sidepipes, chin and roof spoilers, and an L88 scoop,” Andrew continues. “As it becomes a nicer car, we might choose another colour.”

The van is powered by a 350 Chev, backed by the period-correct Ford Top Loader. Out back, the nine-inch is fitted with a 3.7:1 Truetrac. The boys have stuck a couple of modern comforts into the mix, including Astra electric power steering.

“We’re hoping to have a tunnel ram or a supercharger for next year. And velocity stacks! Hopefully some gold ones and some matching Moroso rocker covers – that would be the tits.

“There are tape lines everywhere, but we just wanted to get it here,” Andrew says. “It is like any good 20-foot car. The challenge was to get it here so we could do at least do one lap down the track.”