Young guns Brock & Nash Clark are on the tools and learning new skills as they bring what was once their grandfather’s unfinished project car to life. Here’s a brief rundown of where it all started and what their future plans are for the car, as told by their proud dad, Simon.

First published in the December 2024 issue of Street Machine

“My father-in-law bought this XM sedan delivery in the late 70s, and had plans to do it up, but it sat in
his yard until the early 2000s, so he ended up giving to me. I had a plethora of cars at the time, and a mate’d had a serious accident on his motorbike, so I gave him the rolling body so he could focus on it during his rehabilitation. He pulled it all apart, but then it lived under sheets of tin for 15 or so years.

“Three years ago, I got a phone call: “Are you interested in the van?” So, I brought it back home for my young sons to build. They learnt how to weld, solder, make brake lines, fix rust and plenty more. My eldest boy, Brock, was the chief style master, and he opted to give the XM an XK front for that early gasser Super Stock look.

“My youngest, Nash, worked on the stock 170 six-cylinder mill before fitting it and the stock three-speed, and helped unpick spot welds, weld panels in, fit the windscreen, make gaskets and more, all in our shed. The only thing it left the shed for was a new rooflining and the wheel alignment.

“It now has front and rear rollpans, frenched number plates and aerial, a remote-control rear electric window, fuel filler hidden behind a tail-light, a larger Mustang fuel tank, rear wagon seat and Smiths gauges. There’s even an Apple CarPlay system with reversing camera that pops up out of the dash!

“The boys’ eventual plan is to flame it and airbag it, and put either a 221 with three carbies in or the V8/four-speed combo that I have tucked away. But for now, it’s on the road and we’ve done 1000 kays in it in the past two weeks.

“My father-in-law was chuffed when his grandson took him for a cruise in it on L-plates!” Words: Simon Clark.