It’s been bountiful year for tough, flared 80s survivor Monaros. First Neil James’s rad Eager Maniac HQ resurfaced, and now it’s BONGO’s turn!
We featured the HG Monaro in our September ‘86 mag, which wore the iconic Castrol Coupe cover. It belonged to Leeton’s Tony ‘Bongo’ Iannelli, who snagged it as a rolling shell for $500 in the late 70s.
After being stripped to bare metal and given hand-hammered steel flares, it was painted by Tony Dalmaso in Porsche Indo Red to match Tony’s other rides: a 911 and flared XD Falcon.
The 350ci Chev mill was built by Canberra racer and engine builder Peter Pulford, with a solid Crane valvetrain, ported heads, and quad Weber induction for – according to Tony – somewhere north of 400hp on the engine dyno. It was paired to an Muncie Rock Crusher four-speed and XY nine-inch rear, which are still in the car.
The current owner is believed to have bought the car in the 90s, and has just listed it on Facebook in the HK HT HG Classifieds group with an asking price of $190k. Although, the seller does say ‘PM me with your six digit offer.’
The whole thing is remarkably faithful to how it sat in ’86, right down to the Falcon pattern front hubs and discs, and shows 79,000 miles on the dash.
Other touches mentioned in the listing include a Bathurst-spec 25 gallon fuel tank and factory-optioned transistor radio, mirrored sunvisor and electric antenna. It’s not entirely clear if the paintjob is original, as it’s now said to be Rally Red.
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