Mick Coughlan says buying this HG panel van nearly 25 years ago was the best decision he ever made, and judging by the evidence on these pages, it’s easy to see why. Of course, back then the van wasn’t anywhere close to being the beautifully presented, 540hp marvel it is today, and nor was it ever supposed to be – but you know what they say about one thing leading to another.

First published in the July 2025 issue of Street Machine

Back in 2001, Mick was just 21, fresh off his P-plates, and chafing at the bit to buy his first car. “My mates had Monaros and stuff like that, but I wanted to be different from everybody else and was specifically looking for a wagon or panel van,” Mick says. “You don’t see many vans around, and I just love the shape of their side profile. As for why an HG, well, I’m pretty biased, but I reckon they’re the best of all the vans.”

Having found an HG van for sale, Mick took his dad, one of his dad’s mechanic friends, and an apprentice mechanic mate to go look at it. “Dad and his mate both thought I’d be better off with something newer and tried talking me out of it,” he says. “But I’m a stubborn bastard, and as soon as I spotted it, my mind was made up. I knew there was no way I was letting anybody else take it home.”

Mick’s newly acquired pano initially served as daily transport, but running costs and general wear and tear eventually led to it becoming more of a casual cruiser. “It was good from afar but far from good,” Mick laughs.

By the time 2018 rolled around, Mick had managed to put a few pennies away, and his mate’s Monaro project had put a firecracker up his arse to do something more with the HG. So, he took the van to Robbie Attard’s West Gippsland Customs for what he thought would be “a quick respray”.

Cue the discovery of major problems. Someone had previously sprayed two-pack over enamel, so the paint was cracking everywhere, leaving Mick with no option but to strip it all back to bare metal and start from scratch. This revealed further issues, such as the GTS front sheet metal being a complete basket case and significant structural rust in the front subframe.

While they did manage to track down replacement GTS guards and bonnet, only a twin-headlight Premier front clip could be sourced, which meant Robbie had to transplant the single-headlight section from the original onto the replacement.

Robbie also added new top and bottom tailgate skins and redid a dodgy patch in the turret where some kind of vent had once resided. He then spent countless hours getting all the lines and bodywork spot-on.

Mick freely admits he was forever changing his mind throughout the build, and that included what colour to paint the van. After much debate and dismissing a host of other options, everyone agreed the shade of green the van wore when Mick bought it had been the right choice all along. It wasn’t factory, but it was era-correct and definitely eye-catching. Luckily, Robbie still had a piece of discarded bodywork lying around for DeBeer to scan and colour match.

Mick has nothing but praise for Robbie’s dedication to the cause. “He builds dreams for a living, does amazing work, and is great to work with,” he says. “About the only time we butted heads was when Robbie had pretty much finished the engine bay and most of the interior and I rang him to say I wanted to add Vintage Air, along with an electric pump hidden in the rear to run it. I’m not sure if it was shock or anger I could sense, but I could definitely feel it on the other end of the line!”

The seemingly simple task of dialling in the rear ride height also took on a life of its own. The Calvert springs and CalTracs traction bars that Mick had been advised to install had the rear sitting way too high, so they were reset, which then left the pano sitting hard on the bump stops. New one-inch-lowered King Springs were sourced and modified to suit the CalTracs, but they also were too high. In the end, the entire nine-inch assembly came out to have taller saddles grafted onto the housing and a small set of lowering blocks added. At last, the perfect ride height had been achieved. “I probably would have been better off putting a four-link in it considering all the time and money we wasted,” Mick laments.

The engine was yet another aspect of the build that got a bit out of hand. With Mick wanting plenty of grunt, Dean and Darryl at Sunbury Cylinder Heads recommended ditching the existing 350 Chev and starting from scratch with a bulletproof, four-bolt block. To make the most of the new 383 stroker kit, it was paired with CNC-ported, 195cc AFR alloy heads, a Holley intake, HyperSpark ignition and Sniper EFI.

After Frank at Allsparks Automotive & Performance fettled the Sniper’s mapping, the healthy Chev was good for 540hp, which certainly pushes the van down the road with far more urgency than the old, tired combo.

Thanks to Robbie and a mountain of help from Deano Whaley, the van was ready for its first outing, the 2023 HK-HT-HG Nationals, where it came runner-up in the Modified Panel Van class. Earlier this year, the HG went one better when it scored Top Van in the Street class at Street Machine Summernats 37.

But as rapt as Mick and the crew are with those results, he’s called time on the show stuff – it’s all about enjoying the fruits of all the hard work now. “I built it to drive; I don’t want to just park it in the garage to admire,” he says. “The best part about cars like these is driving them – getting them gutter-to-gutter every once in a while!” Amen to that!

A CLOSE CALL

Near the end of the build, Mick and the team found an issue with the fuel sender. In HG panel vans, the fuel tank is located under the floor of the cargo area. Robbie Attard had the tailgates open and the floor pulled apart to access the sender, but something caused a spark. Bang! – the fumes ignited, blowing Robbie out the back.

Fortunately, he managed to get a fire extinguisher onto it before the whole shebang went up, but it left him with second-degree burns to his face and arms, and no eyebrows.

It’s all healed up now, but Robbie sure has one heck of a story to tell!

MICK COUGHLAN
1970 HG HOLDEN PANEL VAN

THANKS
Robbie Attard at West Gippsland Customs; Deano Whaley & Darryl Mallia at Sunbury Cylinder Heads; Frank Gonzalez at Allsparks Automotive & Performance; Frank Buffone at Tyrepower Sunbury; Andrew Agius at Outragius Detailing; all the boys at Sunbury Street Cars; all the DCC crew: Mushy, Nutter, Chad, Rob ‘Worm’ Ellis and Chris ‘Whitey’ White; my family, including Mum, Dad, my fiancée Jacquie Pernar and daughter Elle; anyone I forgot who held a spanner along the way while Deano and I hurled profanities at each other.