After losing his brother, Wayne Pieper fulfilled a promise to rebuild an LX Torana with his wife, Kelly. Together they crafted this 434ci stroker-powered, 10-second beast, mostly built in their home garage. Here’s Wayne’s story on the inspiration and build of the car.

First published in the January 2025 issue of Street Machine

“Back in 1982, I was 16 years old and inherited an LX Torana after my 17-year-old brother, Guy, unexpectedly passed away. It was just a basic six-cylinder SL sedan, but I loved that thing because of the family connection.

“Unfortunately, it was written off by a drunk driver not long after. I always swore that I’d own one again, so when my wife Kelly and I found this six-cylinder LX back in 2012, we knew it was time.

“My inspiration was to make it into what both Guy and I always thought these Toranas should look like, so Kelly and I got busy.

“Between us, we built virtually the entire car – aside from the rollcage – ourselves in the home garage: paint, panel, interior, and driveline, including the assembly of the Pavtek Performance-specced 434ci stroker small-block Chev, full-manual Turbo 400 trans and 3.7-geared, Truetrac-equipped 9in diff.

“Underneath, it has QA1 adjustable suspension front and rear, along with chassis connectors. We had it registered in December 2019, and it’s since run a 10.30@128mph best on 98-octane.”

Photos: Steve Kelly