Declan Harrison
VJ Valiant wagon

“I own a 1975 VJ Valiant wagon that I’ve had since 2020, when I was 15 years old. It was an old farm car and was bone stock.

“Due to being neglected, the car needed to be stripped down to nothing, so I removed all the windows, the drivetrain, and the whole front assembly.

“I then rebuilt the diff, the three-on-the-three gearbox, and the engine. It’s a 265 Hemi with 90thou oversized bores to make a 4in bore size, and it runs a big cam with 550 lift and 270 duration, with bigger valves and porting to match. It’s topped by a 625 Street Demon carby.

“Noise is from a 3in stainless exhaust, which sounds wicked! I will dyno the engine soon, but I am estimating it makes around 300hp.

“I only got it registered in February, and I love to show it off to anyone who is interested.”

Warren Lohmann
1964 Ford Fairlane

“I’ve owned this Compact Fairlane for 20-odd years; I bought it off my old man.

“He’d owned it since I was born, so it’s been in the family for 46 years.

“I’ve hot rodded the drivetrain, using a 347-cube Windsor, a C4 transmission, and a 9in diff under mini-tubs.

“I’ve taken it racing once so far, running a best of 12.56.”

Mahlia Sheppard
1960 Morris Minor 1000

“I am 17 years old, and this is my Morris Minor 1000.

“My dad has a 1967 ZA Fairlane 500, which he has owned since 2005, and a 1972 XA GT, which he’s had since 1993. Being around these rubbed off on me, and I was always looking for an old car to do up as my first car.

“About two years ago, my father was on Facebook Marketplace and came across an ad for this Morris. I fell in love with it, so we drove two hours to Toowoomba, and we ended up getting it for $3500! I paid for it myself, as I have been working part-time after school since I was 13 years old.

“Once home, the car sat around for about 12 months while I saved up more money, but once I finally started working on it, Dad would explain and show me how to do something and then I would take over to finish it off.

“That included putting on all-new brake cylinders, brake lines and shoes, as that was all that was needed in terms of the mechanicals.

“The interior was in awesome condition, so all I did there was install some gauges and add a touchscreen Bluetooth GPS head unit and speakers.

“Dad showed me how to cut the rust out, weld, and then bog and prime the repair area, as well as how to smooth a couple of dents out of the body.

“I just got the roadworthy certificate for it, and by the time you read this, my Morrie will be registered and I will be driving it to and from school, as well as for my part-time job!

“I’m planning on giving it a full respray in a red metallic once I can afford it.”

Stanley Varelias
VE Valiant

“My 1968 VE Valiant Regal runs the original matching-numbers 273 V8 and 904 Torqueflite trans.

“It’s a proper farm find, as it had been sitting rotting in a paddock for years. It’s one of the most original examples of a VE Regal I’ve seen, aside from its jellybean alloys.

“Over the past couple of years, my brother and I have been slowly restoring it. It really didn’t take much to get it running; we got it started and driving in about an hour, after it had been sitting for at least 25 years!

“It is a jump-in-and-drive cruiser, and my goal is to restore the car while maintaining its beautiful patina.”

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].