John Giarrusso
1968 Holden B Torana

“I’ve owned my HB Torana, ‘Silver Arrow’, for over 20 years up here in Cairns. I bought the car stock – green with a white roof and a little four-banger – and thought it would make a great sleeper.

“Back in the day, I dropped in a Buick V6 with a single turbo, which was fun, but that quickly escalated to a twin-turbo set-up making 650rwhp, good for 9.3@146mph down the quarter.

“We added more horsepower due to a better-flowing exhaust manifold I made, and got 800hp out of the engine before it let go on the dyno.

“I then decided to join the crowd and build a 5.3L Gen IV iron-block LS with twin PSR GEN2 GTX3584RS turbos, PSR wastegate, Pavtek CNC heads, a Crow Cams camshaft, JE pistons, Scat rods, the factory crank, full ARP stud kit, a 98mm throttlebody, and a Holley Mid-Rise plenum. A Link Thunder G4 ECU manages it all.

“The rest of the driveline consists of a Reid-case Powerglide and a HiLux diff with full-floaters from Race Products.

“The new set-up is at a comfortable 700rwhp on only 10psi of boost, so down the track, we’ll bump the boost up around 18-20psi with the aim of making low eights to high sevens down the quarter.”

Jason Eichmann
Mazda RX-3

“My Mazda RX-3/808 is powered by a bridge-ported 13B rotary with a G42 turbo, backed by a built C4 with a 6500rpm converter.

“It has a full Gazzard Brothers rear end with a fabricated HiLux diff, and it’s tubbed to suit the 255/60R15 rear tyres – a big fit on a car this small!

“Inside is a full chrome-moly rollcage and a custom-trimmed interior using Kirkey front seats.”

Jackson Neylan
Holden LJ Torana GTR

“I’m the very proud owner of an LJ GTR Torana. While I was in the middle of a VL Commodore project, my father-in-law let me take his Lakeside Green LC GTR for a spin, and I came away from that drive in awe of it and knew I had to have one.

“So, I sold the VL and hunted down this LJ GTR in December 2024.

“The paint is rough and it has some rust in the sills, but it’s been treated to new ball joints and bushes, a rebuilt steering rack and new shocks, and we flushed the radiator.

“It now drives awesomely and never fails to make me smile every time I take it out. It’s still running the same engine it had when I bought it, a 202 with triple DCOE Webers and Yella Terra roller rockers.

“My father-in-law and I are building another 202 with all the good gear to go into it, aiming for 240-250hp.

“Hopefully one day I will be able to get it sandblasted and repainted in its factory Orchid Metallic paint, but until then, I’m just going to keep restoring little bits of it at a time, and most of all, enjoy driving it!”

Dash Singh
Holden VY Commodore SS

“Like many of us who grew up in the early 2000s, I spent my younger years drooling over tough street cars I’d see cruising around or in the pages of Street Machine.

“One car that always stuck with me was the VY SS – the stance, the sound, the presence; it was the ultimate street car in my eyes. I wasn’t old enough to drive back then, but I promised myself that one day I’d own one.

“Fast-forward to when I got my full licence, and I finally made it happen, picking up a completely stock 2003 VY SS in Sting Red, complete with the rare red leather interior – the perfect blank canvas.

“I wanted to build a proper street car with attitude, the old-school way – nothing over-the-top, just a tough, clean cruiser that turned heads for all the right reasons.

“I took it to the legends at MPW Performance & Race Fab, who hooked it up with a full exhaust and a healthy cam package to give it that signature bark and a nice lump at idle. The car now makes around 400hp, which is plenty to keep things interesting on the street.

“To give it the stance I always dreamed of, I dropped it on a set of gold Walkies. I also had the paint cut, polished and ceramic-coated to really make the Sting Red pop, and kept the rest simple and clean – exactly how I remembered these cars when I was a kid.

“Now every time I take it out, it gets looks, questions, and nods of approval from those who know. For me, it’s not just a car – it’s a childhood dream realised, built with a bit of old-school flair and a lot of love for the street scene I grew up admiring.”

Want your pride and joy featured in the mag? Just send some photos of your car (minimum file size 2MB each) and a few details of what went into the build to [email protected].