With a 6/71 blower poking through the bonnet and the sort of old-school stance that turns heads wherever it goes, the 1977 sedan is hard to miss.

But for Clive, the HZ has become much more than a local cruiser.

It’s the car that’s taken the Echuca local all over the country for Drag Challenge since 2017, clocking up hundreds of passes, plenty of highway kilometres and even a top-10 finish in Dial Your Own along the way.

Now he’s bringing it back for another crack — only this time, he’s upping his game.

After years of chasing a number in Dial Your Own, Clive will line up in the 10.50 class and see how the old-school Holden goes against the clock.

“I just loved the vibe around Drag Challenge, the people around it,” Clive says.

“It was just an incredible event. Just loved it from the first day we did it.”

Clive has been around cars since he was 16, starting out as a mechanic before working in dealerships and eventually running his own business.

These days, after selling the business, he spends his time restoring cars and heading to the drag strip whenever he gets the chance.

He started racing at Heathcote Park, his home track, before Drag Challenge came along and gave him a reason to take the HZ much further afield.

The car itself is unmistakably old school, with a blown small-block Chev, 6/71 blower, Turbo 400 and nine-inch rear end, along with a full retro GTS interior.

And despite the punishment it’s copped over the years, Clive reckons the HZ has been remarkably reliable.

“We haven’t touched the diff or trans in it the whole time we’ve done it,” he says.

“The car’s probably done seven or 800 passes. It’s all hanging in there still.”

That reliability has allowed Clive to concentrate on the part of Drag Challenge he enjoys most — having a crack and having a laugh along the way.

He’s had some strong results in Dial Your Own over the years, including a top-10 finish, but says the outright win has always remained unfinished business.

“I would have really liked to give it a fair old nudge to turn around and win it one year,” he says.

This year, though, he’s decided to try something different.

Rather than chasing a Dial Your Own number, Clive will aim to run consistent 10.50-second passes and see where the HZ lands in the class.

The catch is that he hasn’t done much racing recently.

“I probably haven’t had a race for nearly two years,” he says.

The HZ has only been out a handful of times since its last Drag Challenge, with Clive’s time increasingly taken up by work, family and life away from the track.

There’s also plenty happening at home in Echuca, with Clive juggling house renovations and other commitments before heading off for Drag Challenge.

So this year is as much about getting back into the swing of things as it is chasing a result.

“I should be able to drive it pretty well,” Clive says. “I think I could drive it pretty consistently and go close to my number.”

And after so many years of Drag Challenge, Clive knows that simply getting to the finish is an achievement.

The event throws everything at the cars and crews, from heat and long highway drives to repeated passes and the constant need to keep an eye on things before doing it all again the next day.

“You learn a lot about your car,” Clive says.

“You learn just where your car’s at. If it’s not put together properly you’re going to have problems.”

So far, the HZ has managed to avoid the sort of dramas that have ended plenty of Drag Challenge campaigns.

There was a cracked fuel tank one year, but even that didn’t stop Clive from making it into Mildura.

And back when he first entered in 2017, the old-school blown Holden stood out for another reason.

Turbocharged and naturally aspirated combinations were becoming increasingly common, while Clive was rolling into Adelaide with a big 6/71 sticking through the bonnet.

“I think there was only two blown cars,” he says.

“That was mine and I think it was one called Crankenstein from Adelaide.”

His mate had a pretty simple assessment.

“He turned around and goes, mate, I think we’re 15 years too late.”

But it seems that the HZ has had the last laugh.

Clive has brought it back year after year, proving the old-school combination can handle the punishment.

But for him, Drag Challenge has never just been about the numbers.

Some of his favourite memories have happened away from the track, including the time he helped fellow competitor Donny Zircus repair a lifter on the side of the road near Toowoomba.

“We stripped his car down on the side of the road in the dark under a lamppost outside this old broken-down pub,” Clive says.

“We pulled it all apart and changed the lifter and got it going and got him back into Warwick.”

It’s that sort of camaraderie that keeps Clive coming back from Echuca every year.

“You meet out there and you make friends,” he says.

“Some of those friends last and last and stay connected, some are just momentarily I suppose. But yeah, it’s just such a good bunch of guys there.”

For anyone who has never experienced Drag Challenge, Clive says it’s difficult to explain just how much happens across the week.

“Come and breathe in the tyre smoke, the fuel fumes, the adrenaline, just watching it all happen,” he says.

“The cruise, the drag racing is one thing, and I love the racing, but when you’re travelling from track to track, some of the beautiful scenery that you go through in a different country that you come across, it is amazing.”

“And just going out at night, enjoying each other’s company and food and having the odd bevvy or two, it’s just a fun-packed weekend.”

Now, after almost two years away from racing, Clive is looking forward to getting the HZ back onto the track and seeing what it can do.

There’s no grand prediction from the Echuca local — just a hope of running his 10.50s, keeping the old Holden together and enjoying another week on the road.

“It’s just one of the best things you can do,” he says.

For a car that has already survived seven or eight hundred passes, another five days should be right up its alley.

Street Machine Drag Challenge, presented by VPW, runs from Tuesday 27 October to Saturday 31 October 2026, starting and finishing at Victorian Motorsports Park. Tickets are on sale now HERE