John Strachan
HZ Holden ute

“My 1978 HZ ute runs a very worked Holden V8 from a VR Commodore, Edelbrock manifold with four-barrel Holley Demon carb, and pre-pollution, big-valve L34-style heads. That’s backed by a fully reconditioned M21 Aussie four-speed with a billet front bearing support, and a 10-bolt diff with a finned alloy diff plate.

“It has a complete, original WB Caprice front clip, but the HZ GTS guards are original (not welded in). The ute was originally Signal Red, but it’s had a full respray in custom Valencia Orange two-pack, which is how it got the name ‘Vitamin Z’ – it’s an HZ, and oranges are good for you!

“The Vitamin Z logo is embroidered into the fully rebuilt standard bucket seats and new door trims, and the cab also sports new carpet, centre console and headlining, and a tinted rear window.

“A hand-painted Vitamin Z logo also adorns the tailgate. It rolls on early Center Line Telstars.”

Jeff Enchelmaier
1967 Chevrolet Camaro

“This rare 1967 Camaro was purchased from Clay Motors, Pasadena, California on 4 May 1967 by Patricia Borsody during the ‘Camaro Pacesetter Sale’, where dealers were throwing in extra options at ‘no extra cost’.

“This one received the ‘sporty hood stripe’, deluxe steering wheel, whitewall tyres, special interior accents and more, and it was made even more rare thanks to its 327 V8, as the majority of ‘Pacesetter Sale’ Camaros were six-cylinder cars.

“I purchased the car in 2011 with an original 72,000 miles on the clock. It retains much of its original Grenada Gold paint, and also features air conditioning, power steering, factory-tinted green glass, fold-down rear seat, Powerglide with centre console, and an under-dash tissue box holder!

“A newspaper that included the Pacesetter ad was found stuffed behind the back seat, dated 5 May 1967 (below) – published the day after the car was originally purchased! It also came with the original keys, Protect-O-Plate and books.

“Since I’ve had the Camaro, I have concentrated on just keeping it as-is in good, working condition, replacing a few general maintenance items and adding a dual exhaust, as the original single system was just too quiet!

“I’ve regularly driven it to car shows in South East Queensland and also made three 1500km round trips to Rockynats, and she just purrs! She has just clicked over the 100,000-mile mark (above) and is ready for another trip round the odometer!”

David Micallef
Toyota Stout

“This is my 1978 Toyota Stout, which I saved a little over a year ago. The poor thing had been off the road and rotting away for 16 years when I first laid eyes on her. A ground-up restoration was just what this old classic needed, and attention to detail has been my ethos in all aspects of this build.

“It now has new glass and paint, and the original 5R engine has been bored out and the cam given a sports grind. The little 2.0L is topped by a Weber carb and runs custom extractors and stainless exhaust to give it a bit of pep and a nice note.

“The car now has air conditioning to deal with those hot Queensland summers, a simple Pioneer stereo, and I’m currently buttoning up a fresh interior.

“There are a few little things left to do before I consider it truly complete, but I’m already enjoying driving it and amazed at how much attention it gets – the young ones don’t know what it is, and the oldies always seem to have a story about how they remember them back in the day.”

Jason Fuller
Holden VK Commodore

“Here’s my ‘fake Calais’ VK, which I bought with a Buick V6 in it from the local scrap metal guy. I turned it into what it is today over a few years, doing pretty much everything myself except the built engine and transmission.

“It runs a Holden 355 stroker with a Scat crank and a 288 cam, topped by a Harrop single-plane manifold and 750 Holley double-pumper, while the exhaust is a twin 3in system dumped at the diff.

“The driveline is rounded out by a Turbo 400 trans with a 5000rpm stall, and a mini-spooled BorgWarner diff with billet axles and 3.45:1 gears.”

Ron Bruton
HQ Holden

“This 1974 Kingswood was running a 202 and three-on-the-tree when I bought it around eight years ago, and it needed some TLC.

“It had the original seats, dash, dash cover and seatbelts, and the odometer showed only 18,500km! I had engine builders pull down the original 202, and they confirmed it was indeed a very low-kilometre car. Pedders went over the chassis and reported that it was like new, with no sag or twist. I was going to leave it as a six, but I had this itch to go further and a mate in my ear egging me on, so I decided to dive head-first into overhauling it.

“I did the complete strip-down in my garage, bagging and tagging everything and taking photos to help me put it all back together, as I am not trade qualified. I then did about 90 per cent of the build myself, only calling on specialists for the bits I couldn’t do – mostly local people I’d used on my first car 33 years ago: another HQ that ran a 179 HP block.

“The power-to-weight ratio didn’t do that car justice, so I wanted this latest HQ to have some punch. I got Albury Engine Reconditioning, who worked on that 179, to do a 355-stroked 308 mill with a Lunati cam for it. That’s backed by TH700 with a 2500rpm stall converter, with a TCI trans controller routed into the glovebox. The diff is currently a 3.08 Salisbury, but I have plans to swap that out for a 9in rear end with coil-overs and 3.55 gears. My brother Fred chipped in with mechanical help whenever I needed him.

“I had the engine bay and undercarriage powdercoated and the exterior repainted in HDT Firethorn Red, which was the colour of my first Quey. I did as much of the paintjob as I could myself, with help from the same bloke who’d worked on my first car, before it was finished off by an old-school paint shop in Walla, NSW.”

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