Owen Micallef
Ford ZJ Fairlane

“This 1981 ZJ Fairlane sat in a shed for a number of years after the original owner passed away.

“I bought it off his nephew shortly after starting my apprenticeship, and worked on it with my dad after work and on the weekends.

“It was a factory six-cylinder car, but I swapped in a Windsor small-block, which only lasted two weeks, so I upgraded to a 351 Cleveland.

“The engine contains 30thou-over Hypatec flat-top pistons, upgraded rods, ARP rod bolts and head studs, a Crane F246 solid cam, closed-chamber ported heads with 4V valves, and an MSD ignition. I have tried to make everything as neat as I could in the engine bay by hiding the wiring and other small things.

“The trans is a Ford C10 with a shift kit and TCE 3800rpm stall converter, and the shortened 9in diff has a Truetrac centre with 3.55:1 gears and 31-spline billet axles.

“It’s a rust-free car that I have underbody-coated, and I reset the suspension on some custom beadlocked Street Pro rims with Wilwood four-piston disc brakes.

“The all-original interior is in showroom condition except for some added Auto Meter gauges.”

Bryn Quick
Holden VU Commodore SS ute

“I built my VU SS drift ute from a beaten old skid car shell that I found in a paddock for $200.

“It’s a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster, with a VU body and interior; VZ fluted guards, bumperettes and side skirts; and VY SS headlights and front bumper.

“It now has a fully renovated rear end to allow for proper alignment, a custom fuel system front to back, and dual calipers for a separate hydraulic handbrake system. In the front, it has extended tie rods and lower control arms for extra steering lock.

“I simplified the interior and made everything centrally mounted, both for ease and to clear the clutter around the steering column for when you’re throwing hands mid-drift.

“It also has a fabricated rollcage that is colour-matched to the VF Commodore Spitfire Green exterior.

“The car was almost entirely built on jack stands in my carport in a year; it was a massive achievement for me to turn a scrap-ready shell into an awesome looking machine that does the job it was built to do as well as look good enough to be on show.

“It’s a great car that’s so much fun to drive and definitely gets attention when it’s out and about.”

Patrick Hall
2001 Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4

“My car is a Japanese grey-import ’01 Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4. I found it last year sitting in a paddock next to a dam, collecting mould and tree sap. The owner told me that it had blown up.

“These come from the factory with a twin-turbo 6A13 V6, mounted east-west and sending power through an AWD system. They make about 300hp from factory, so they were a cool bit of gear for the time.

“When I acquired it and started pulling the engine down, I realised that the timing belt had let go. That destroyed the cylinder heads, but I found two new heads on eBay. They required a bit of work, but we got them sorted with the original cams and caps.

“Being a bit of an oddball car, I had to order the gaskets, timing components and cosmetics from all over the world, including Japan and Saudi Arabia. When this car was imported, it already had full TEIN coil-overs all ’round, and a Fujitsubo performance cat-back exhaust system.”

Jay O’Dell
1967 Plymouth Belvedere

“I bought my 1967 Plymouth Belvedere when I was 21, after I qualified as a mechanic in 2022.

“I always wanted a left-hand-drive V8 that was uncommon here in Australia, and this model of Plymouth ticked those boxes. It was for sale around a two-hour drive away, so I drove down and bought it that day, still with its original California plates, which are now hanging on the dash.

“The car runs a 318ci small-block V8, which I upgraded the cooling system on, and still has front and rear drums with no brake booster, so they’re a bit of fun! I’ve installed new carpet and sound deadener, as this was my daily driver for a little while.

“Nowadays, I still take it to car shows every other week.”

Hudson Hempenstall
Holden VL Commodore

“Here’s my 1987 VL Commodore. I started the project three years ago with a stock SL VL that barely even ran.

“Now she’s sitting pretty with a Calais conversion, slammed on 19in replica Calais wheels.

“I also fitted a full sound system, which has a custom boot set-up for something different.

“The engine will stay stock for the next couple of months, but once I graduate high school, it’s all over for the stock life!”

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].