For owner Steve Millias, this HK Kingswood is much more than simply a tough, impeccably finished classic – although it certainly is that – it’s also a treasured keepsake of a fallen mate. “I bought the car as an unfinished project off the partner of a good friend who had tragically passed away,” he explains.

First published in the March 2025 issue of Street Machine

But despite his emotional attachment to the HK, Steve wasn’t above making some changes. “I gave the car to Grgic Bros to complete the build and make it more to my style,” he says. “The boys did a fantastic job. I just dropped the car off there and said, ‘I want everything done as if it was your own car.’ Their workmanship is second-to-none and they can fabricate anything – they did the radiator, catch cans, intercooler, the whole lot.”

Yet despite their extensive work on the car, the Brothers Grgic aren’t into fornicating with arachnids, managing to turn the HK around in a scant three months, including some panel and paint fixes.

That said, anyone who knows this car from the few times it had previously been publicly displayed could be forgiven for thinking that nothing has changed. It’s still got the white paint, red interior, sun visor and blacked-out LSA in the engine bay, but there’s a lot more going on than first meets the eye.

For a start, where it previously wore GTS Monaro guards, Steve swapped in the original Kingswood ones. All the stainless trim had also been removed, which Steve wasn’t keen on, so he sourced all the required pieces and put them back on. He didn’t go into full restorer mode, though; the HK is still devoid of door locks and the HOLDEN badging across the bootlid, while the fuel filler, which is usually on the left rear quarter, now resides in the boot. Steve did return the Kingswood badges to the front guards, as well as the 186 badge, although not many would be falling for that.

Those changes meant the car needed to go back for some further panel and paint touches, and there’s few better than Neil Moneypenny and the team at Xclusivefx to match that Glasurit custom-mix white with a perfect finish.

Inside, Steve put a little Monaro DNA into the car, swapping out the previous custom doorcards with OEM Monaro-style trim from Winner Products, which brought a splash of stainless to the interior as well. The seats had been rebolstered and trimmed in a custom pattern when Steve bought the car, and he thought better of messing with them. “I was thinking of stripping it all out and putting it back to original, but the seats are so nice, and the quality of the job and the leather is top notch, so I decided to keep them,” he says.

The vinyl-trimmed flat floors were also removed in favour of a more user-friendly option. “We added OEM-looking carpet, fitted around the custom tunnel, which was needed because the car was initially fitted with a 6L80E, but we put in a 4L80E and mounted the B&M Pro Ratchet shifter into the tunnel so it sits nice and low,” says Paul from Grgic Bros.

There were quite a few other changes to the interior as well. “It used to have a Racepak dash and a digital display in the middle, and the rest of the dash was stripped out, but I put the original centre piece with the heater controls back in, as well as the glovebox strips,” says Steve. The Holley digital dash, mounted in a custom binnacle fabbed by Grgic Bros, is now the only real modern touch here.

The extremely subtle reverse-cowl bonnet is one of Steve’s favourite parts of the car. “That was done by Josh Rafferty at Malaga Specialised Restorations; he did a really good job on it,” he says. “It’s not in your face; you’ve got to look for it.”

With the Kinger now fettled to Steve’s liking, all that remains is for him to enjoy the hell out of driving it. “It goes hard for what it is, but it drives so nice too; that’s the best part about it. With the 4L80, you hit the freeway and punch it into top gear and you’re just cruising – it’s beautiful,” he says. “The engine’s had a cam, valve springs, a little pulley upgrade and injectors, and that’s about it.”

The injector upgrade was required for the LSA’s new diet of E85, and with that pretty mild combination it punches out 640hp at the tyres. Even for a bloke used to racing an eight-second car in Super Sedan, it’s plenty of fun!

Some choice suspension upgrades helped the HK find those easy cruising manners, with a Castlemaine Rod Shop front end on the turning end, and a mono-leaf rear out back with sliders and CalTracs, cradling a 35-spline nine-inch diff. Despite the lack of mini-tubs, Steve managed to squeeze a pair of 15×8 Welds wrapped in 255/60 tyres under the rear with a little massaging of the guard lips. Up front are some nice and skinny 17×4.5s with 185/55 rubber for that contemporary pro street look, and there’s Wilwood disc brakes all ’round.

While Steve was considering racing the car, he’s now having second thoughts given how well it’s turned out. “I was going to put a rollcage in it, do a bit more work to the engine and race it, but no one wants a ’cage in it – they reckon the car’s too nice to start chopping up!” he laughs. “So, I’m looking around for another race car instead – Top Sportsman or Super Sedan. Something I can have a bit of fun with.”

STEVE MILLIAS
1968 HK HOLDEN KINGSWOOD

THANKS
My wife for putting up with me and my cars; Grgic Bros for finishing the car to the level it is and the finish I didn’t expect; Nick, Benson, Matty and Josh at MSR; Neil Moneypenny at Xclusivefx.