Young gun Joel Sammut’s UC Torana

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Sydney bloke Joel Sammut never stood a chance of avoiding being bitten by the modified-car bug. His dad David’s HZ Statesman (SM, May ’07) is an elite-level dreamboat, built largely in the shed at home. That kind of influence is difficult to dodge. Unfortunately, steel-bumpered classics are a great deal harder and more expensive to come by these days than they were when Joel’s dad bought the Stato from his own father back in 2001. But for Joel, where there’s a will, there’s always a way, as evidenced by his sweet LS-powered UC Torana build.

First published in the October 2026 issue of Street Machine

It sounds like you’ve been around cars since you were young, mate.

I was born into it. Dad finished his Statesman when I was about three, so I was always just around the show scene; back then, his car was a regular at Summernats and MotorEx Superstars. Then as I got a bit older, my older cousins started building cars, and after being around them, it was really just my turn, so I got into it.

How’d you end up with your Torana?

I never really wanted a UC, but at the time we were going through the beginning of COVID, and the prices of cars were just going through the roof. I just thought I’d get something so at least I’ve got a car to work on if I want to. I bought it when I was 16, but then I left it alone for about three-and-a-half years. When I turned 20, I pretty much ripped into it and never looked back.

Did you do a lot of the work on the car yourself?

I probably did about 90 per cent of it myself. I stripped the whole car down, did all the bodywork and spray-painted it – just a backyard job. The only thing I got Wayne [Grima, from Grima’s Garage] to do is build me the motor and assemble the driveline. But I put everything back together, interior- and exterior-wise.

Give us a bit of a rundown on the car as it sits.

It’s had a full rebuild inside and out. It’s gone from the factory 3.3-litre inline six to a 6.0-litre LS with a Turbo 400 and a Ford nine-inch. I kept it the factory colour but resprayed the whole outside and the engine bay. We shortened the diff, and lowered it. The goal was to keep it close to what it should be, so the interior and paint are both still the factory colours, but under the bonnet and underneath the car, it’s a completely different set-up to what it came out with.

MORE Blown Holden six-powered 1980 UC Torana

What’s next for the UC?

The plan is probably to add some boost, and we’ll take the motor back out and give it a birthday. Then one day I’d like to rebuild the car again and aim for the Summernats Top 60; that’s the goal.

APPLES & TREES

When your old man’s car is a Summernats Top 60 stunner, that’s bound to set you on a certain path, as was the case for Joel.

We featured his dad David Sammut’s HZ Stato back in the May 2007 issue of SM. Exquisitely detailed from top to bottom, the car was powered by a mild 308 and equipped with Statesman niceties like air, steer and fast glass. But it was the quality of the finish and the metric tonne of custom billet parts that set it apart from the pack, leading to a 3rd Top Sedan trophy in the Summernats Elite Hall back in the day.

Somewhat fittingly, the Statesman was David’s dad’s car before he came to own and subsequently rebuild it.