Nobody really understands how we find our hobbies, although some people believe it is environmental. If you grow up in a family that owns horses, the thinking goes, your interests are probably going to end up running along similarly equine lines.

First published in the November 2024 issue of Street Machine

If that’s true, it’s no wonder that 20-year-old Mark Caruana has turned out this elite-level, 700hp HK Kingswood streeter as his first build. Mark’s dad, Sam, owns an 850hp blown HJ Premier that scored a Summernats Top 10 plate and was the cover star of our March 2011 issue, and it’s clear that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

“My dad’s mates had HK-T-Gs, and I was originally looking for an HG, but this car popped up at All Holden Day in 2019,” Mark says of the HK. “We had initially brushed this car off because we thought it was too nice to modify, so we went and looked at other cars. When we thought about it, though, it was in such good condition that it made for a great base for the build, so we ended up purchasing it in September 2019.”

The car was in good nick, all right – it had already been through one ground-up restoration. “It was all original, with the 161 and three-speed manual on the column,” Mark says. “The guy I purchased it from had bought it from the first owner with 11,000 miles on it. He’d stripped it and concours-restored it from a bare shell. By the time I bought the Kingswood, it only had 13,600 miles on it.”

It’s still easily identifiable as an HK Kingswood, but the little details have been finished to a level you rarely see on a first-time build

Mark’s goal was to turn the Kinger into a tough streeter, and its super-clean condition simplified the build by vastly reducing any restoration work he had to do. “We chose to paint-strip the car and start afresh,” he says. “We had the bodywork done by Sebastian and Anthony Desisto, and Shane Powell. Roni Tarabay then painted it the same Marlin Turquoise with the Ermine White roof. It’s my favourite factory colour, and it’s a nice nod to the original car.”

As Mark’s a young ’un, you might think he’d opt for an LS to replace the 161 red six, but instead he went old-school with a 440ci small-block Chev. His dad Sam has been mates with ProFlo Performance’s Paul Sant for years, so you won’t need two guesses as to who screwed the nickel-tough mill together.

A Dart block was stuffed with a Callies Compstar crank and six-inch rod combo, custom RaceTec pistons squeezing 13:1 worth of static compression, and a custom-grind solid-roller cam with plenty of chop. Bushed BAM lifters and Jesel rockers work the Ferrea valves in the AFR 227 heads, while an Edelbrock Victor Jr EFI manifold lives up top with an Accufab 1215cfm drive-by-wire throttlebody.

Producing a healthy 707hp at 6800rpm, the mighty mouse motor is controlled by a FuelTech FT600 ECU wired in by Mark Sant from Ontrak Auto Electrical, and sucks premium unleaded via an in-tank Walbro 525 pump in the boot-mounted fuel cell. A 5500rpm converter and manualised TH400 transmission have replaced the three-on-the-tree to send the horses rearwards, while a sheet-metal nine-inch gets them to the ground.

The diff is suspended in a custom four-link rear end with Viking coil-overs, which combines with a rack-and-pinion-equipped Rod Shop IFS to deliver improved handling dynamics and a head-turning stance.

One of the best things about Mark’s build is that nothing is too over-the-top. FAT69K is still easily identifiable as a classic first-generation Kingswood, but the little details have been finished to a level you rarely see on a first-time build. Mark says everything came together well, but that doesn’t mean that he, brother Jason and dad Sam had it easy. They wanted to debut the car at Street Machine Summernats 36, which meant a huge push was needed to get everything back together after paint.

“In the final stage of the build, we took it from a bare, painted shell to a running car ready for Summernats in just three months,” Mark says. “It’s a lot of work to keep the car looking factory-inspired but much cleaner.”

The trio’s hard yakka paid off at ’Nats 36, where the Kingswood scored a second-place gong in Elite Top Standard Paint and a spot in the Elite Top 20.

“We knew it was going to be a nice car, as you could see all the small details we’d been working on coming together towards the end, but we didn’t really expect to be in the Top 20,” Mark says. “We’re pretty particular with our details and getting things right, but this car isn’t meant to be an elite show car; I built it as a weekend cruiser.”

With its tough, contemporary pro street vibe, snappy aspirated donk and elite-level detailing, the HK makes for one heck of a cruiser. Mark certainly is a chip off the old block, and we’re sure Sam is super proud of the car his son has built.

MARK CARUANA
1969 HOLDEN HK KINGSWOOD

THANKS
Paul Sant and the ProFlo Performance crew; Mark Sant at Ontrak Auto Electrical; Dave Vassallo for the transmission; Mick Carter at Raw Hide Interiors; Sebastian Desisto for the bodywork; Roni Tarabay at Macarthur Autobody for the paint; my mum for her patience and support; my brother Jason for his help; most of all, my dad for the hard work and the opportunity to build a killer car together.