Brenton Lee grew up with Cortinas and Falcons as the family transport of choice. His wife and fellow gearhead Rachael, on the other hand, has owned several VLs and Toranas. But despite her Lion leanings, this Cortina technically belongs to her. “We went to have a look at it on Mother’s Day, so when I bought it, I put it in her name – it’s hers,” Brenton says.

First published in the December 2025 issue of Street Machine

KILATD was already a mostly complete cruiser when Brenton laid his mitts on it. Rob and Jeremy Guljas from Automotive Creations Custom & Restoration (the team behind SM Dec ’25 cover car) had originally put it together with a warm 347ci Windsor/C10/nine-inch driveline and painted it in the modern BMW colour, Mineral Grey, but Brenton had some changes in mind right off the bat.

While the Cortina’s external paint and panel work has remained largely untouched from Rob’s time with it, Brenton swapped out the round headlights, blacked-out grille and orange indicators for the square-light front and clear units you see here. In addition, almost everything shiny, including the bumpers, door handles, badges and window trims were dipped in black to reinforce the Cortina’s threatening aura.

With KILATD now looking closer to Brenton’s vision, it was time to tackle the driveline. The 347 was just a bit too slow for his liking, so he swapped out the carby for a modern throttlebody EFI system. This turned out to be the catalyst for a serious shake-up.

“It kept having sensors play up – it’d run fine and then it’d just start blowing grey smoke as you were driving along,” Brenton says. “One day we were driving to Melbourne with some other cars that all had the same EFI, and the Cortina would smoke, then a mate’s XE would smoke, then a mate’s XY – they’d all do it every 10 minutes!” Fearing an internal issue, Brenton yanked the Windsor and things quickly escalated.

The 347 was given the flick in favour of a 427-cube Dart-based Clevor that a mate had kicking around. A Scat crank and rods wear CP pistons; a Holley XP carb delivers fuel through a CHI Clevo top end; and a Comp cam calls the shots. Lighting the fires is an MSD 6AL+ stuffed under the dash, while burnt gases make their way to the atmosphere via hand-built 17/8-inch primary extractors and a twin 3in exhaust system knocked up by Strop at Moolap Mufflers. Ali Sead of Ali Power went through the donk to make sure everything was hunky dory before it was introduced to its new home, and he then coaxed a very healthy 680hp from it. While the engine was out, Brenton took the Cortina back to Automotive Creations to neaten up a few details in the bay and slather it in more matching BMW jam.

The original C10 wasn’t a happy camper, either, so it was handed to Damir at DNL Performance Transmissions for a well-earned birthday involving a transbrake and a conversion to manual operation. Under the bum is the obligatory nine-inch diff built by Geelong Differential Services, sporting 31-spline axles, 4.11 gears and a Truetrac. It swings off stock rear suspension, though Pedders shocks control the bumps. The front end is similarly uncomplicated, with Pedders componentry doing the work of managing the stock suspension and manual steering. Bringing KILATD to a halt are Wilwood four-piston discs on the front axles and Ford drums up the back.

Even though it’s Rachael’s name on the rego papers, it’s actually the couple’s eldest kid Jorja who demands the most time in the captain’s chair. “She’s on her learner’s, and she loves to drive it,” says Rachael. “Our son Blayd loves it too; he’s mad about cars, but he’s only 13.”

As with so many project cars, the Cortina is far from finished. “I’m going to fit Gazzard shocks and a Mood Motorsports anti-roll bar before we race it, and it should run nines,” Brenton says. “It really needs a ’cage, too, because the car twists a fair bit; I’ve had it lift the front left wheel on the street!”

FAMILY JEWELS

A Cortina with 680hp at its disposal would be the top-tier race car in most sheds – a weapon brought out every now and then to tear up the quarter or terrorise the streets. But in the Van Zyl/Lee shed, it’s practically the slowest rig in the fleet, and even wears L-plates!

“Apart from the Cortina, Rach has a BMW X5 M Competition, and it’s bloody quick,” says Brenton. “I’ve got an 850hp aspirated XY GT mock-up that runs 9.3s; a 700hp BA Super Pursuit with a Whipple, a manual and 315-wide 20s; and a VL Calais with a twin-turbo billet Holden in it.

“I also bought Chris Wright’s 2500hp KILAXW ute 10 years ago [SM, Mar ’16],” Brenton continues. “We’ve redone everything in it apart from the paint – I’ve gone 7.60@185mph in it and it’s going to do a six. We’re building a clone of it with a nitrous 347, as a tow car and for the kids to learn racing – it’ll be called KILAJR!”

RACHAEL VAN ZYL
1974 FORD CORTINA

THANKS
Rach and my kids Jorja and Tiyah for putting up with me and helping as much as they can; my son Blayd for helping me in the shed the most; Ali Sead at Ali Power for the engine; Damir at DNL Performance Transmissions; Tony Muscara for his help fitting the engine; Jeremy Cullen for wiring; Automotive Creations for the paint and bodywork; Andrew Darby at Moolap Mufflers for the custom exhaust.